Frequently asked questions

?Who are the competent bodies?
The Ministry of Culture conducts the preliminary assessment for areas of the ecological network if they are also protected areas in the category of national park, nature park, special reserve, nature monument, and for interventions in the area of two or more countries, or the City of Zagreb and counties, and for interventions requiring an environmental impact assessment and procedure of the need for an environmental impact assessment according to special regulations by the central state body responsible for physical planning, environmental protection and construction. The administrative body of the county or the City of Zagreb responsible for nature protection tasks (hereinafter: administrative body) of the territory in which the area of the ecological network lies conducts the preliminary assessment for an area of the ecological network including protected areas (in the category of a regional park, significant landscape, park forest and monument of park architecture), and for interventions in areas that are not specially protected and for which the administrative body of the county conducts the environmental impact assessment and procedure on assessment of the need to conduct an environmental impact assessment according to special regulations. In the preliminary assessment procedure, the administrative body is required to seek the prior opinion of the State Institute for Nature Protection.

?Who submits the request for a acceptability assessment?
The contractor for the assessment can be any legal or natural person. The application is submitted to the competent body and the contractor is required to cover all the costs of the procedure.

?What is the preliminary assessment?
At the start of the procedure, the contractor submits the application for the acceptability assessment of the intervention for nature to the competent body. The application must contain all the basic information about the project as prescribed in Articles 14 and 15 of the Ordinance on the assessment of acceptability of plans, programmes and interventions for the ecological network (OG 118/09). Article 15 pertains to the application for the preliminary assessment of the intervention, which prescribes an assessment of the environmental impact of the assessment, or the need to conduct such an impact assessment. The content of the application is prescribed under Article 15, and must contain the report on the preliminary assessment of acceptability of the intervention for the ecological network, in both written and electronic form, as prescribed under Appendix III of the Ordinance. In the preliminary assessment procedure for interventions most requiring an impact assessment, a report is not compiled, but instead the contractor submits an application to the competent body containing the data stipulated in Article 14 of the Ordinance. The administration body is required to consult with the State Institute for Nature Protection on the likelihood of an impact of the plan or project on the ecological network. If a significantly negative impact can be excluded based on the submitted data, the project is approved. If this is not the case, the contractor is directed to the second part of the procedure, the main assessment.

?Who compiles the report on the preliminary assessment of acceptability of an intervention to the ecological network if a study on the main assessment of acceptability of the intervention is required?

The current nature protection legislation states that all entities authorised to conduct environmental impact assessments are also authorised to conduct acceptability assessments (AAPPIEN). However, given the very specific nature of the AAPPIEN procedure and the varying size of projects, the study can range from a short report prepared by a single expert, to a comprehensive report prepared by a large team of experts.

?What is the role of the State Institute for Nature Protection?
The State Institute for Nature Protection (hereinafter: Institute) conducts expert tasks in the AAPPIEN procedure and communicates with the competent bodies seeking the opinion of the Institute. Via its web based services (catalogue of information), the Institute provides information on the borders of ecological network areas and conservation objectives.

?When is the main assessment carried out separately, and when as part of an environmental impact assessment (EIA)?
The main assessment is carried out as a separate procedure for projects not requiring an EIA, and as an integrated with the EIA procedure where that is required. In the first case, i.e. where the EIA is not required, the project/plan contractor submits an application to the Ministry of Culture or the competent administrative body of the county or the City of Zagreb, as prescribed by the Ordinance on the assessment of acceptability of plans, programmes and interventions for the ecological network (OG 118/09). In the latter case, where the EIA is mandatory, the project contractor submits the results of the preliminary assessment to the competent body in the area of environmental protection.

?What happens in the main assessment?
In the main assessment, the intervention contractor submits a written request for the main assessment of the intervention, containing the study of the main assessment of acceptability of the intervention to the ecological network, to the Ministry or the competent administrative body of the county or City of Zagreb. The Ministry requests the opinion of the State Institute for Nature Protection on the main assessment of the intervention, if necessary, while the competent administrative bodies of the county or City of Zagreb are required to request the prior opinion of the Institute. When the assessment is carried out as part of an EIA, the study is integrated as a section of the EIA study. The main acceptability assessment study contains a description of other possibilities (alternative solutions) of the intervention and proposed measures to mitigate any negative impacts of the intervention. If the proposed measures mitigate, or the alternative solution eliminate the negative impacts, then the competent body issues a decision approving the project based on the assessment conclusions.

?What are the differences in the acceptability assessment procedure when the main assessment is carried out as part of an EIA?
If the acceptability assessment is carried out as part of an EIA, the committee member representing the competent body for nature protection consults with the State Institute for Nature Protection and communicates with the bearer of the intervention at the committee meetings. The results of the acceptability assessment are included in the EIA decision, which is finally sent to the Ministry of Culture for opinion. If the project or plan is not approved due to a negative result of the acceptability assessment, the approval process based on the EIA is also stopped. The procedure is the same for strategic environmental impact assessments (sEIA).