ANNEX 6
Here are the answers to your questions about EIA on Unit 2 Cernavoda.
My best regards,
Daniela Pineta
Written questions about the Cernavoda 2 NPP and the Romanian
Environmental Legislation:
? When did the SNN submit the environmental agreement Application to the
competent environmental authority ?
The Cernavoda 2 NPP application form was received at the Environmental
Protection Inspectorate - Constanta in July 2001, as a result of the Law
nr.335/11.07.2001 for approval of the Governmental Ordinance nr.126/2000
to carry on the Unit 2 construction.
? Did SNN advertise the application as requested in the Environmental
Protection Law ? When and through which media ? Did you receive
preliminary public comments based on this publicity announcement of the
project?
Yes, the public announcement was published in 2 local newspapes -
"Observatorul" on July, 26th , 2001 and « Telegraful on August, 1st,
2001) and in a central newspaper « Adevarul » on July, 30th , 2001.
After the annoucement was published the Environmental Protection
Inspectorate in Constanta received written comments from different
bodies and institutions acting in the energy production field or in the
environmental protection field, regarding the opportunity of this
activity. These comments are registered in a file.
? Are the guidelines that the Local Environmental Protection Authority (LEPA) have to prepare in order to figure out what have to be addressed
in the environmental impact study, publicly available ? ( I refer to the
guidelines mentioned in article 4.3.1 of the Ministerial order No.
125/196).
On which technical assistance and survey of the affected population the
guidelines have been based ?
When did LEPA produced them ? Could we get a copy of them ?
According to art.4.3.1 of the MO 125/1996 the guidelines are transmitted
to the developer and they take into account certain comments of the
public.
EPI Constanta had the support of the experts in radioactivity, they paid
great attention to the potential affected population, as a consequence,
EPI Constanta has asked for the elaboration and implementation of the
environmental radioactivity monitoring plans, monitoring of the
environmental media, measures for rapid and efficient implementation of
the emergency plans outdoor and indoor of the area.
The guidelines were elaborated in November 2001, the guidelines are in
Romanian.
? Which documentation was given to the competent environmental authority
by the would-be license holder, according to the procedure described in
the article 4 of the Ministerial Order No. 125/1996 ?
Is this documentation, so called "Report on the impact study" in your
legislation, fully available to the public ? Do you consider that the
minimum contents of the Report on the EIA as described in Annex 5 have
to be disclosed to the public ? automatically or upon request ?
The developer submitted to EPI-Constanta the application form, the
technical presentation of the project, the Report on EIA made by AECL,
the EIA Report made by ICIM, all the preliminary endorsements, the
termic impact study, the report on the public debate.
The report on the public debate of the project is entirely publicly
available.
For 6 months the AECL EIA Report was on the Internet page, publicly
available.
So, being on Internet it was automatically disclosed to the public, and
it is also made public upon request.
? Did you request any additionnal information or surveys to this report?
EPI Constanta considered that the 2 EIA studies, the termal impact study
and the questions arised during the public debate- questions clarified
on the spot or afterward, in writing, have covered all the aspects on
the environmental media impact.
We consider additionnal information the termal impact study.
? On which documentation was based the Public consultation which
took place from 15.08.01 to 21/09/2001 ?
It was based on : the AECL EIA Report, the technical description of the
project, The ICIM EIA Report.
The public consultations took place in Constanta, Cernavoda, Medgidia
and Bucharest.
? Who is competent for organizing the public debate and ensure en
effective public consultation ?
The public consultation is coordinated by the EPI but it is the
obligation of the developer to organize and to give financial support of
the action, according to MO 125/1996.
? Why a second study was produced by ICIM in January 2002 ? The first
one carried out by AECL was not sufficient ?
The second study was asked becouse, according to national legislation
the EIS has to be made only by a natural or legal person certified
according to MO 278/1996 and the EIS has to be done according to the MO
125/1996 requirements.
? Your legislation concerning the EIA process and the public
participation has changed in order to put the Romanian Legislation in
compliance with the European legislation. What are the main changes
brought out by this new legislation regarding the Environmental
assessment and the public participation to this process ?
The main changes are:
The 4 annexes of the Directive 97/11/EC are entirely transposed into the
GD nr.918/2002;
The stages of the EIA procedure are well defined: screening, scoping and
review of the quality of the EIS, in GD 918/2002;
The transboundary provisions on EIA are entrirely transposed in GD
918/2002.
The public and the other authorities consultations, including the
transboundary public consultations are provided for in the GD 918/2002.
The detailed provisions for implementing the requirements of the GD
918/2002 are given in the MO 860/2002 and the MO 863/2002.
? You ratified the Aarhus Convention in 2000 (Law No 86, May 10 2000).
Could you tell me if once the Convention ratified, it is compulsory for
you ? Or do you need to transpose it in national law ? In this case, are
you working on its implementation and, is this Convention already
partially applicable ?
After ratification, any convention is compulsory, but we need subsequent
legislation for implementation.
Apart this, the EC asked us to transpose the Access to Environmental
Information Directive 90/313/EEC, so first, we transposed it into GD
nr.1115/2002 and we are working now on implementation, that is on MO
1182/2002 regarding the management of the environmental imformation held
by the environmental public authorities.