Reflections on the SEIA, 20 years after its creation

Abstract

The article highlights the specific nature of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and its role within the environmental management system, with special emphasis on citizen participation as a key instrument for making EIAs reliable and useful instruments.

It also addresses the problems faced by the SEIA in order to introduce changes and improvements, both to the project and to the environmental management plans, once the investment projects are built and in operation. Finally, it points out the regulatory shortcomings of the cross-sectoral environmental regulation of the SEIA when it comes to corrective Environmental Studies (EA).