Amend legislation to establish enviromental impact assessment portal (RS0051)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? According to Article 29 of the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 135/04 and 36/09), which regulates the manner of informing the public, it is the competent authority’s obligation to inform the public about the request submitted issuing a decision on the need for influence assessment, then on the time and place of public insight, as well as the decision to give consent, i.e. rejection of the request, through at least one local newspaper, with the possibility of sending the mentioned notifications through electronic media. A similar solution exists when it comes to informing the public about the insight into the documents that are an integral part of the strategic impact assessment, and about which the public is informed through the media, but also in electronic form available on the website of the local government unit. The practice so far has shown the need to further improve these mechanisms, i.e. to make informing the public, and thus the opportunities for greater participation of citizens in these processes, more accessible and efficient. The previous need arises primarily from the fact that, for example, selected local newspapers do not always have to be the main sources of information for the local population, and such information can go unnoticed or can be obtained when it is too late to respond in a timely manner. Given the overall complexity of the impact assessment process and strategic environmental assessment, including the complex competencies of state bodies, it is very important to improve the availability of information on these procedures to the members of the interested public, as it is difficult for citizens to understand which body to address, and where information on the appropriate procedure has been published, making their participation more difficult. Also, in the existing conditions, in which the public is informed in the stated ways, it is difficult to compare and monitor several projects, including a review of completed public debates, data and the like. These problems could be overcome by forming a single database of all assessments and of the strategic assessments of the impact on the environment in the Republic of Serbia, which would ensure that all information on the course and stages of the procedure is available in one place and thus enable greater public participation, but also a more transparent procedure. What is the commitment? The commitment implies creating legal bases for the establishment of a central web portal with all procedures for environmental impact assessment and all procedures for strategic environmental impact assessment at the national, provincial and local levels. More precisely, the implementation of the commitment will make the necessary amendments to two key regulations in this area – the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment and the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment – which will provide for the establishment of this web portal as a searchable 49 database of all impact assessments and strategic environmental impact assessments. Creating legal bases is a necessary step towards the development of a web portal meant to make its use an obligation of the competent authorities, and in practice the portal has become a unique place for informing and involving the public in impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment procedures. In addition to the obligation to create a web portal, the amendments to the said laws will specify the period of two years starting from the moment when the law enters into force, in which it will become functional and enter into full use. How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The establishment and mandatory use of a central web portal will make all information on environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment procedures available in one place. In that way, the interested members of the public will be able to get information about these procedures faster and easier, but also to participate in them. More precisely, through this portal, the competent authorities will inform the interested bodies and organizations, the public and the interested members of the public about all initiated impact assessment procedures and strategic impact assessments, the course of procedures, deadlines and ways of submitting opinions, public debates and direct access to documentation in accordance with law. Also, all interested members of the public will have the opportunity to gain insight and search the mentioned impact assessments in one place, which has not been the case thus far, laying the groundwork for further analytical processing by the professional public. In order to realize the above-mentioned goals and thus ensure uniformity in the use of the central web portal and join the implementation of impact assessment and strategic impact assessment and public participation in them, changes in the existing regulations provided by this obligation are necessary. Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The commitment is relevant in relation to public participation, as it implies the development and improvement of existing mechanisms for the participation of the interested public and the procedures of impact assessment and strategic environmental impact assessment. Also, the commitment is relevant in relation to access to information, because the amendments to key laws lay the foundations for binding and uniform public information, in one place, for all procedures in the Republic of Serbia. Additional information Amendments to the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment and the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment are envisioned by the National Program for the Adoption of the Acquis. 50 Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable Start date: End date: 1. Developing the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment and the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment I quarter of 2021 III quarter of 2021 2. Conducting public debates III quarter of 2021 IV quarter of 2021 3. The Government determines the Proposal of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment and the Proposal of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment, which contain the obligation to establish a central web portal with all environmental impact assessment procedures and strategic environmental impact assessments IV quarter of 2021 I quarter of 2022

Action Plan Review

Commitment 9: Central Web Portal on Information on Impact Assessments

Results Report

Commitment 9. Central web portal on environmental impact assessments

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Modest

● Completion: Limited

● Did it open government? No early results to report yet

The Ministry of Environmental Protection produced draft amendments to the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment and to the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment. [45] Public debates on these two drafts were conducted. [46] However, the government did not adopt the proposals or submit them for adoption in the National Assembly. It is unclear whether the new government, formed in October 2022, will adopt the existing proposals or if new proposals will be produced.