Environmental impact assessment in Switzerland
The legal basis for environmental impact assessments (EIA) in Switzerland are the Environmental Protection Act (USG) and the Ordinance on Environmental Impact Assessment (UVPV).
In Switzerland, an EIA must be carried out for planned plants that could have a significant impact on the environment. The EIA is used to check whether a building project complies with applicable environmental law. In this sense, the EIA is to be understood as a “legal impact assessment”. And that is why a project cannot be approved in Switzerland if it does not pass the EIA.
In principle, Swiss law does not provide for an assessment after the project has been carried out (EIA a posteriori): an EIA is therefore only intended for new systems or - under certain circumstances - for changes to existing systems.
The EIA is not an independent procedure, but is embedded in the existing approval procedures (e.g. planning approval or concession procedures) for plants. The authority that decides on the construction of the plant also checks its environmental compatibility; For this purpose it is based on the assessment of the environmental protection agency.
Which authority is responsible for project approval and which environmental protection agency assesses the project depends on the respective type of installation: the appendix to the UVPV lists all installations subject to EIA and the relevant procedure. Depending on the system, this can be a cantonal or federal procedure .
Web links
- EIA website of the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
- EIA manual - federal guidelines for environmental impact assessment
