Environmental impact assessment of projects

Aena Aeropuertos, promoting sustainable development, carries out environmental assessment of projects.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) of projects

The Environmental Impact Assessment of projects (EIA) is an instrument enabling the preservation of natural resources and the defence of the environment by introducing the environmental variable in decision-making on projects which can be foreseen to have significant impact on the environment.

It provides greater reliability and trust in the decisions taken, as it permits choosing, from among different viable alternatives, the one which while safeguarding the public interest, takes into account all the effects arising from the projected activity, from an overall, holistic point of view, ensuring adequate channels of information and public participation.

This instrument was developed through European, Spanish and regional standards.

In the European ambit, the legislation on environmental impact assessment of projects (EIA) is represented by Directive 85/337/EC, issued by the European Parliament and the Council on 27 June 1985, on the assessment of the impact of certain public and private projects on the environment. A basic principle of this Directive is prevention, integrating environmental impact assessment in the scheduling and execution of projects in the most important economic sectors, in accordance with the rulings of article 6 of the European Constitution, according to which the requirements of protection of the environment must be included in the definition and realisation of the other policies and actions of the Community in order to encourage sustainable development.

This was later amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC, of 3 March 1997, introducing various rulings intended to clarify, complete and improve the regulations relating to the assessment procedure: substantially extending the projects of Annex I, introducing assessment of the projects included in Annex II, and incorporating the main rulings of the Agreement on environment impact assessment in a transboundary context (Espoo Convention).

At the national level, legislation on environmental impact assessment of projects (EIA) is represented by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2008 (Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2008), of 11 January, approving the reworded text of the Law on Environmental impact assessment of projects. This decree regularises, clarifies and harmonises the extant legal rulings on Environmental impact assessment of projects, while adjusting them to the right of public participation and access to justice in environmental matters.

Royal Legislative Decree 1/2008 (Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2008) was later amended by Law 6/2010 (Ley 6/2010), of 4 March, intended on one hand to specify the phases of the procedure, adjusting them to a set timeline, so that it may be an instrument facilitating economic and social activity notwithstanding all the environmental effects deriving from the projected activity being taken into account to permit appropriate weighting. On the other hand, it enables adjustment to European Parliament and Council Directive 123/2006/EC, of 12 December 2006, on services in the internal market, in relation to the activities subject to communication or statement of compliance.

At the regional level, the Autonomous Regions, in the context of their spheres of responsibility, have also developed rulings on the environmental impact assessment of projects, which may establish more restrictive thresholds or include new types of projects when requiring their environmental impact assessment.

Finally, it should be remarked that in order to ensure compliance with all the conditions set out in each Environmental Impact Statement for building projects, Aena Aeropuertos carries out formal accreditation, before the environmental authority, of compliance with the administrative resolutions for which the company's construction projects are subjected to environmental impact assessment, in accordance with existing legislation.