Benefits and costs of

transboundary EIA
Applying the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a
Transboundary Context

This paper outlines the benefits, and costs, of environmental impact assessment (EIA) in a
transboundary context. There are substantial benefits of EIA, including transboundary EIA,
though these are generally difficult to express in monetary terms. The costs of transboundary
EIA can be estimated and are generally very low as a proportion of total project cost.

in particular in a transboundary context. This it

What is transboundary EIA? does by helping countries carry out an EIA when
Environmental damage can often be anticipated. a project is likely to have a cross-border impact.
For instance, it is possible to assess the impact
that a project will have on the environment
when it is still at the design stage. However,
environmental threats do not respect national
borders so, for a project that might have
adverse environmental impact across borders,
the impact assessment may be incomplete if
other countries are not consulted.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an
important tool for an integrated approach to the
protection of the environment, as it requires a
comprehensive assessment of the
environmental impacts of an activity.
EIA has been included in the national legislation The Convention was the one of the first
of a large number of countries and there is multilateral treaties to specify the procedural
much experience with its implementation. EIA is rights and duties of Parties1 with regard to
applied at the project level to: transboundary impacts of planned activities and
to provide procedures for the consideration, in a
‘ identify and assess the likely environmental
transboundary context, of environmental
impacts of the project
impacts in decision-making.
‘ report on those impacts and on measures to
be taken to prevent, reduce or mitigate The Convention was adopted in 1991 in the
them Finnish city of Espoo – and it is often called “the
‘ allow the public and other stakeholders to Espoo Convention”. The Convention entered into
comment on the project and the EIA report force, with 16 Parties, in 1997 and by 2009 had
‘ provide this information – the EIA report 43 Parties.
and the comments of the public and other
The Convention requires that an EIA be carried
stakeholders – to the decision-maker
out for an activity planned by one Party, which
The UNECE Convention on Environmental is likely to have a significant environmental
Impact Assessment in a Transboundary impact within an area under the jurisdiction of
Context was negotiated to promote another Party. It specifies what has to be
environmentally sound and sustainable develop- considered at an early stage of planning and it
ment, while also enhancing international
cooperation in assessing environmental impact,
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A Party is a State that agrees to be bound by a treaty.
also lays down the obligation of countries to
notify and consult each other and the public
on all major projects that are likely to have a
significant adverse environmental impact across
borders. The key additions of transboundary EIA
to domestic EIA (those not involving other
countries) are thus:
‘ Notification by the “country of origin” that a
planned project might have transboundary
impact
‘ Response by the “affected country”
indicating whether it therefore wishes to
participate in the EIA procedure
‘ Sharing of information
Consultation between the authorities in the concerned
‘ Consultation between authorities countries is key to successful transboundary EIA.
‘ Participation of the public in the affected
country
‘ While, at the same time retaining decision-
Benefits of transboundary EIA
making power in the country of origin, and Transboundary EIA offers the benefits of EIA
not affecting the protection of information and more, with many benefits being enhanced
the supply of which would be prejudicial to through the inclusion of stakeholders from
industrial and commercial secrecy or affected countries, by providing information and
national security leading to changes in design:
The stages of transboundary EIA according to ‘ Identification of the key environmental
the Convention are illustrated in this flowchart. issues of a project, and awareness of the
environmental consequences of project
Flowchart of the stages of an assessment implementation
according to the Convention ‘ Improvement of project design, and higher
standards of mitigation
Initiation Initiation ‘ Protection of the environment, including the
by the by the avoidance of environmentally sensitive
Party of affected areas through project re-siting or re-design
Applica- origin Party ‘ Identification of project alternatives
tion (alternative locations or technology, for
stops if Notification
the
example) and mitigation and compensatory
affected measures that reduce the environmental
Confirmation of partici- Public
Party is
partici- impact of the project. Suggestions may
not pation in the application come from the public, EIA experts, the
interest of the Convention pation
ed in
developer and other stakeholders
partici- (may ‘ Opportunities to consider climate change
Transmittal of include
pating
information
adaptation
one or
more By improving decision-making:
rounds)
Preparation of EIA
documentation
‘ Better informed and more objective
decision-making
‘ A better framework for preparing conditions
Distribution of EIA
documentation for and legal agreements to govern future
participation of operation of the project
authorities and public of ‘ Public participation in government decision-
affected Party making
And more generally:
Consultation between Parties
‘ Promotion of sustainable development in
Final decision general
‘ Promotion of good governance in the longer
Transmittal of final decision term, with public hearings providing
documentation “important indirect benefits that can
contribute to the capacity for democratic
If Parties governance and an active civil society”
Post-project analysis
so decide
(Almer & Koontz)

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‘ Promotion of understanding between the ‘ Preparing and sending the notification
community and developer ‘ Preparing and broadcasting announcements
‘ Promotion of standards (e.g. in the media)
‘ Enhancement of international cooperation, ‘ Translation of documents into the language
including awareness of the importance of of the affected country
the environment in such cooperation, and ‘ Translation of comments and opinions
avoidance of conflict received from the affected country
‘ Encouragement of new approaches ‘ Additional printing
‘ Enhancement of the developer’s environ- ‘ Distribution of documents in the affected
mental credibility country
‘ Organization of public hearings (hiring of
Some specific examples of environmental
hall, etc.)
benefits arising from application of the
‘ Interpretation costs
Convention include:
‘ Travel and accommodation
‘ Environmental protection measures were ‘ Fees charged by the competent authority in
added to, and made stricter for, interim the affected country for the review of the
storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel EIA documentation, where applicable
(Austria) and a flood protection project
Box 3 overleaf provides some real examples of
(Croatia)
the additional costs of transboundary EIA.
‘ Substantial environmental improvements
were introduced into the design of a
Box 2: Costs of domestic EIA
goldmine project (Kyrgyzstan)
60-90% of the cost of an EIA is in carrying out
Box 1 provides an example of benefits provided
environmental studies, and writing the EIA report.
by a domestic EIA procedure. These costs are borne largely by the developer or
project promoter.
Box 1: Example of domestic EIA benefits
Preliminary studies conducted in advance of the
An extension of the runway at Billund Airport formal EIA are also a significant part of the
(Denmark) was foreseen to reduce noise nuisance to developer's overall design costs, although these will
the local community. As a consequence of the EIA, usually be incurred whether or not EIA is required.
consultations and public participation, the project was
revised to provide for new operating procedures Except where fees are charged by the competent
without a runway extension. This resulted in: authority, the cost of reviewing the EIA, and reaching
a decision on whether or not the project should
‘ € 40.4 million saved proceed, falls chiefly on the competent authority, with
‘ 350 hectares of farmland and an old forest some input from statutory consultees.
preserved
‘ more than 2,000 people no longer exposed to Generally EIA costs amount to less than 0.5 % of the
noise above the recommended thresholds overall capital cost. Costs in excess of 1% are
‘ number of homes exposed to noise reduced from unusual, and occur in relation to particularly
1,290 to 328 controversial projects in sensitive environments, or
‘ environmental approval of the airport published where good EIA practice is not followed.
and no complaints lodged
Actual costs of EIA tend to rise in direct relation to
Source: Press Briefing – European Commission’s 5 the capital cost of the project but, when considered
Years Report on Environmental Impact Assessment, as a percentage of total cost, the EIA component
Brussels, 23 June 2003 becomes smaller the larger the project and may be as
low as 0.1%.
Costs of transboundary EIA EIAs are generally completed in under 2 years. The
EIA is a legal requirement in most States. The EIA studies are usually conducted in 6-12 months.
Where the proposed development is located in an
costs of carrying out a domestic EIA may
environmentally sensitive area, data for a full year of
therefore be taken as a baseline, but see Box 1. observations should normally be provided, but this
Those projects subject to transboundary EIA are process can be shortened if the information is already
generally larger projects, so the percentage cost to hand. Preparation of the EIA report typically takes
2-3 months. The subsequent stages of consultation,
is often proportionally at the low end of the
review and decision-making may take 3-6 months,
figures suggested in Box 2. The duration of depending upon the complexity of the issues raised.
transboundary EIA procedures is highly variable, These timescales are indicative, and there is
but generally between one and three years, considerable variation from project to project.
similar to “domestic” EIAs.
Source: EIA - A study on costs and benefits,
The extra costs associated with transboundary European Commission, 1996
EIA may include:

3
How to enhance benefits and Public hearings for EIAs in post-communist
Bulgaria: do they work? in Environmental
to reduce costs Impact Assessment Review, 24 (2004), pp. 473-
These are some tips on enhancing the benefits 493, Almer, H.L., & T.M. Koontz, 2004
and reducing the costs of transboundary EIA: Second review of implementation of the Espoo
; Start early – make contacts early on, Convention, Draft, UNECE, 2007
informally at first if appropriate. Box 3: Examples of transboundary EIA
; Scope carefully – focus on what’s important. additional costs
The lack of a proper scoping exercise to
‘ The cost of public participation in a project for a
determine the direction and focus of the EIA
power line from Muhos to Torneå (Finland) was
is likely to cause delays later.
€8,000-10,000.
; Scope with others – the involvement, in
scoping and preparing terms of reference, of ‘ The total cost of organizing all public participation
the competent authorities and other in the impact assessment procedure for the Baku-
stakeholders in the concerned countries Tbilisi-Ceyhan and South Caucasus pipelines was
US$ 1.5 million. The total cost of these projects is
helps to avoid nasty surprises later, as well
about US$ 5 billion.
as building relationships and understanding.
; Don’t short-cut – make sure the study is ‘ The costs of public participation in the
adequate. The failure to undertake a transboundary EIA of a planned paper mill
systematic study, and provide relevant, or (“Complant”) in Kyrgyzstan were US$ 2,000 in
sufficient, data may result in the need for Kyrgyzstan and US$ 500 in Kazakhstan.
supplementary information causing delays. ‘ For the multipurpose hydropower system on the
; Translate enough – to avoid delays when Drava River, Croatia, the cost of preparing,
more information has to be translated. printing and distributing booklets in the affected
; Involve the public in the concerned countries Party was about €6,000; the cost of the public
as early as possible, preferably during hearing was €10,000 (including leaflets, transport
scoping. and interpretation). The total project cost was
estimated at €500 million.
; Operate a strict timetable for each stage of
the process, and formalize inputs from the ‘ For the Nuclear Power Plant (“Loviisa-3”) in
various participants, to achieve a shorter Finland, the proponent produced 100 booklets in
timescale. Russian (total cost €1,500) and a non-
governmental organization (NGO) organized
Find out more public participation in the Russian Federation
(€500). The power plant is expected to cost about
To find out more about the Convention and €3 billion.
transboundary EIA, contact the secretariat of
the Convention: ‘ For the Danube River crossing, between Vidin
(Bulgaria) and Calafat (Romania): each
Convention on Environmental Impact participant from the relevant authorities in both
Assessment in a Transboundary Context, countries, from NGOs and from the concerned
United Nations Economic Commission for public paid their own participation cost;,
Europe document translation was organized by the
developer; and local municipalities covered the
Address: 429-1, Palais des Nations,
costs of public hearings and associated
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland Romanian/Bulgarian interpretation. The total cost
Tel: +41 22 917 1193 of the project is expected to be €236 million.
Fax: +41 22 917 0107
E-mail: eia.conv@unece.org ‘ The cost of translating and copying the EIA
documentation of a planned large-scale dredging
And visit the website www.unece.org/env/eia. operation in the English Channel was around
£50,000; advertising in local newspapers cost
References another £5,000. The competent authority met the
cost of advertising nationally (£200).
Benefits of Strategic Environmental Assessment,
Brochure, REC and UNDP, 2003 Source: Guidance on Public Participation under the
Espoo Convention, UNECE, 2006
EIA - A study on costs and benefits, European
Commission, 1996 (Volume 1, Main report,
ISBN 92-828-3572-3; Volume 2, Detailed case Photograph courtesy of Nune Darbinjan.
studies, ISBN 92-828-3573-1) Illustration courtesy of Jonatan Hildén.

Guidance on Public Participation under the Informal – for information only.

Espoo Convention, ECE/MP.EIA/7, UNECE, 2006 Produced by UNECE in October 2007.