The court decisions on EIA are useful for clarifying environmental norms as well
as identifying the conditions for the proper implementation of EIA. The need for
coordination between the MoEU and the Governorates with respect to court
judgements related to “No EIA is Required” decisions was emphasized by the
participants during the 2019 Workshop on EIA. These decisions are mostly taken at
Governorate level and, in the case of court appeals, strong coordination between the
MoEU central units and the Governorates is required. Dissemination of the court
decisions to all the Governorates is necessary to identify and solve the problems
which have similarities. This may provide coherent implementation of the EIA
legislation throughout the country.
Concerning the substantial shortages related to various modes of impact
assessment, the entry into force of the SEA legislation can be considered a positive
achievement. There is also a need for steps to be taken for the integration of
cumulative environmental assessment and social impact assessment. The integration of cumulative environmental assessment into legislation and practice will
improve the overall quality of the EIA process from the scoping to the EIA
preparation phase. Under current EIA legislation, there is no legal impediment to
conduct cumulative impact assessment within the context of the project proposal’s
special format, but it would be better to make it mandatory. During the 2019
Workshop on EIA, the integration of cumulative impact assessment into EIA
practices as a compulsory obligation was one of ideas shared in common. There
were also calls to integrate social impact assessment, which is not part of the current
EIA By-Law, into the EIA process as well. It was agreed that the narrow understanding and poor implementation of the public participation requirement of the
EIA By-Law must be extended towards the comprehensive coverage of social
impact assessment.
There are challenges related to the actors responsible for the proper implementation of the EIA process. In the face of the high number of projects which
require EIA, the organizational structure and functioning of the MoEU and the
Governorates should be strengthened and consolidated. There is also a need to
address the challenges related to the Qualified EIA Agencies. The quality of the
EIA process is directly linked to the quality of the Qualified EIA Agencies. These
agencies are diverse in terms of magnitude and capabilities, which can result in EIA
practices of varying standards. A classification system could address these challenges. Qualified EIA Agencies are not organized on a sectoral basis, such as
energy, transportation, agriculture, mining etc. Once they get the Certificate of
Competency, they are eligible to conduct EIA in every sector. Sectoral specialization and expertise are needed to increase the overall quality of the EIA. These
agencies have difficulty in finding experts all the time. The creation of a ‘common
expert pool’ could be a good solution to this problem. In order to improve the
quality system as a whole, the MoEU could be advised to set up an awards system
alongside the current system, which is based on sanctions. The Commission has a
significant role to play throughout the EIA process, starting with scoping and
continuing with the examination and evaluation phases. While EIA Reports are
prepared by the Qualified EIA Agencies, examination and evaluation of these
5 Environmental Impact Assessment in Turkey: …
95
as identifying the conditions for the proper implementation of EIA. The need for
coordination between the MoEU and the Governorates with respect to court
judgements related to “No EIA is Required” decisions was emphasized by the
participants during the 2019 Workshop on EIA. These decisions are mostly taken at
Governorate level and, in the case of court appeals, strong coordination between the
MoEU central units and the Governorates is required. Dissemination of the court
decisions to all the Governorates is necessary to identify and solve the problems
which have similarities. This may provide coherent implementation of the EIA
legislation throughout the country.
Concerning the substantial shortages related to various modes of impact
assessment, the entry into force of the SEA legislation can be considered a positive
achievement. There is also a need for steps to be taken for the integration of
cumulative environmental assessment and social impact assessment. The integration of cumulative environmental assessment into legislation and practice will
improve the overall quality of the EIA process from the scoping to the EIA
preparation phase. Under current EIA legislation, there is no legal impediment to
conduct cumulative impact assessment within the context of the project proposal’s
special format, but it would be better to make it mandatory. During the 2019
Workshop on EIA, the integration of cumulative impact assessment into EIA
practices as a compulsory obligation was one of ideas shared in common. There
were also calls to integrate social impact assessment, which is not part of the current
EIA By-Law, into the EIA process as well. It was agreed that the narrow understanding and poor implementation of the public participation requirement of the
EIA By-Law must be extended towards the comprehensive coverage of social
impact assessment.
There are challenges related to the actors responsible for the proper implementation of the EIA process. In the face of the high number of projects which
require EIA, the organizational structure and functioning of the MoEU and the
Governorates should be strengthened and consolidated. There is also a need to
address the challenges related to the Qualified EIA Agencies. The quality of the
EIA process is directly linked to the quality of the Qualified EIA Agencies. These
agencies are diverse in terms of magnitude and capabilities, which can result in EIA
practices of varying standards. A classification system could address these challenges. Qualified EIA Agencies are not organized on a sectoral basis, such as
energy, transportation, agriculture, mining etc. Once they get the Certificate of
Competency, they are eligible to conduct EIA in every sector. Sectoral specialization and expertise are needed to increase the overall quality of the EIA. These
agencies have difficulty in finding experts all the time. The creation of a ‘common
expert pool’ could be a good solution to this problem. In order to improve the
quality system as a whole, the MoEU could be advised to set up an awards system
alongside the current system, which is based on sanctions. The Commission has a
significant role to play throughout the EIA process, starting with scoping and
continuing with the examination and evaluation phases. While EIA Reports are
prepared by the Qualified EIA Agencies, examination and evaluation of these
5 Environmental Impact Assessment in Turkey: …
95