EIA and public participation in development decisions in Armenia

Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment Law was adopted in Armenia in 1995.The Law has a mission to control environmental decision-making in the country and comply with the international treaties and conventions ratified by Armenia. The recent rapid developments of environmental hazards in Armenia have raised a concern whether the existing Law is meeting the needs of the country and its citizens. The comparative doctrinal research has been conducted to question the legal provisions, implementation and compliance of the RA EIA Law with International Environmental Treaties, which Armenia is a Party. The comparison of the existing RA EIA Law with similar laws in European Union and the USA was necessary to assess the instrument’s best practice to find out the errors and make possible recommendations for improvement of the environmental governance in the country. In the process of the research work, the RA EIA law was amended in 2014. Therefore, the research had a chance to compare both legal texts and assess their similarities, differences and positive development of the Law. The comparative analysis of all mentioned instruments revealed existing deficiencies of the RA EIA Law and provided further improvement and development recommendations as an outcome of this unique and unprecedented work.