FOREWORD
To empower their citizens, governments of Europe and the European Commission adopted the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters on June 25, 1998, at the Fourth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" in Aarhus, Denmark. By the end of that year, 39 countries and the European Commission had signed it. After ratification, the convention, which also covers environmental health, will guarantee the rights of every person in the three fields the convention addresses, without discrimination to citizenship, nationality or domicile and, in the case of legal person (i.e. NGOs), "without discrimination as to where it has its registered seat or an effective centre of its activities."The Aarhus Convention gives the public broad opportunities to be informed and to request actively environmental information from public authorities. It opens the way for the public to participate in environmental decision-making procedures. Provisions concerning access to justice form the necessary complement for citizens to ensure that their rights are not impaired.
"Action in Partnership" is the theme of the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health to be held in June 1999 in London. Public participation will be one of the main conference topics. The present study stresses the important role the convention can play in the field of environmental health. It also offers advice on how its provisions can be improved in the future to better serve environmental health purposes.
Let governments make the best use of it.
Willem J. Kakebeeke
Assistant Director General for
International Environmental Cooperation
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
The Hague, Netherlands
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The structure of this document, suggested by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), was discussed and finalised in two expert meetings held at the REC in Szentendre, Hungary, on Feb. 8, 1998, and May 16-18, 1998. It consists of three parts, which reflect different aspects of access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environment and health matters:- Part I gives an overall assessment of the status of legislation and practices with respect to access to information, public participation and access to justice in Europe in connection with environment and health matters based on 21 country reports prepared by country experts. It builds on the results, experiences and methodology of the survey and the publication "Doors to Democracy: Current Trends and Practices in Public Participation in Environmental Decision-making (Volumes 1-4 on Europe, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the Newly Independent States (NIS) and Western Europe)," prepared by the REC, European Environmental Bureau and Ecopravo for the Fourth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" in Aarhus, Denmark, in June 1998. This report involved carrying out, in cooperation with CEE, NIS and Western European partners, additional research on environment and health aspects not within the scope of the Aarhus survey. The assessment gives an overview of the achievements, problems and needs in the countries of Europe, outlining areas for improvement and evaluating the level of approximation of access to information and public participation standards with European Union and international standards.
- Part II evaluates the implications and problems of implementing selected international legal instruments dealing with access to information, public participation and access to justice in environment and health matters, while also identifying legislative gaps. One of the main focuses of this assessment is the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, opened for signature in June 1998 at the Aarhus Conference. This section includes an analysis of how the Aarhus Convention can be applied to environment and health matters and a discussion of legislative gaps that are not covered in the convention but are important from an environment and health point of view, as well as areas of the convention where some clarification could be beneficial.
- Part III contains an assessment of good practices on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environment and health matters based on the experiences of public involvement in planning, developing, implementing, monitoring and enforcing the NEHAP and LEHAP processes. It also gives examples of successful cases of local partnerships with NGOs and the public and of cooperation of different sectors. Based on criteria developed for identifying good practices on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environment and health matters, as well as background research and examples of good practices, guidelines have been developed to promote stronger and more effective public involvement in environment and health actions and initiatives at the European, national and local level in the future.
There is a clear need for:
- a coordinated, integrated and systematic approach to guarantee that all areas linked to environment and health are covered by the same level of rights to public access to information, both in the legal system as well as in implementation and practice;
- an inclusive and uniform definition of "environment and health" to outline the minimum areas to be covered for public access to information;
- the establishment of legal obligations for all public authorities, persons or bodies providing public services, to ensure a general and broad public access on information related to environment and health matters that should be in the public domain;
- a strong public interest test governing exemptions to access to information related to environment and heath matters, so that information may not be withheld where the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm arising from the disclosure;
- easily accessible integrated information systems, registers, data bases or other arrangements that facilitate public access to information related to environment and health matters;
- enforcement of laws regarding the legal responsibility of state officials to disseminate information in the case of the lack of active dissemination of such information, and introduction of the legal obligation for one designated public authority to coordinate the dissemination of environment and health information;
- up-to-date and integrated "environment and health information" dissemination, especially on risks and hazards, using electronic channels including the Internet;
- stronger public participation in decision-making on environment and health matters;
- the right of direct legislative initiative and referenda in all countries in environment and health matters;
- legal guarantees on early notification and due consideration of public comments, not only for decision-making on projects but for law-and policy-making on environment and health matters as well;
- inclusion of environment and health issues into the scope of environment and health impact assessment (EIA) and the permitting process, and promoting good practice of environment and health impact assessment (EHIA);
- an instrument that would bring together issues of EIA and access to information, public participation and access to justice in environment and health matters in an international context;
- additional legal guarantees of access to information, public participation and access to justice in NEHAP and LEHAP processes and implementing guidelines on good practices;
- an ombudsman institution with the competency to deal with environment and health cases;
- measures to provide broad general standing in administrative decision-making affecting environment and health and administrative appeal of such decisions, and clear rules for challenging administrative decisions on formal grounds and merits;
- clear legal rules for establishing causation in environment and health cases and for the admissibility and credibility of environment and health data and standards before the court;
- stronger access to justice provisions in the field of worker health and safety regarding environment and health matters;
- application of the provisions contained in the Aarhus Convention in environment and health matters.
Marianna Bolshakova, The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), Hungary
Jiri Dusik, Sofia Initiative ñ Environmental Impact Assessment, The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), Czech Republic
Pavla Jindrova, Center for Community Organizing, Czech Republic
Zsuzsanna Kartali, Ministry of Environment and Regional Policy, Hungary
Albin Keuc, Environmental NGO Coalition, (hosted by GAJA ñ Society for Sustainable Development), Slovenia
Csaba Kiss, Environmental Management and Law Association, Hungary
Ryo Kosaka, The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), Hungary
Grazyna Krzywkowska, The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), Hungary
Fe Sanchis Moreno, TERRA, Environmental Policy Center, Spain
Anna Onisimova, MAMA-86/Alliance of Northern
Peoples for Environment and Development (ANPED), Ukraine
Alan Pinter, "B. Johan" National Institute of Public Health, Hungary
Andrea Radnai, National Institute of Environmental Health, Hungary
Kia Regner, International Federation of Environmental Health, Sweden
Gita Rutina, Ministry of Welfare, Latvia
Maria Tchoutchkova, National Center of Hygiene, Medical Ecology and Nutrition, Bulgaria
Magdolna Toth Nagy, The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), Hungary
Gaudenz Silberschmidt, International Society of Doctors for the Environment ñ ISDE, Switzerland
Stephen Stec, The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), Hungary
Ondrej Velek, "Community Right to Know," Env.
Partnership PHARE Project, Czech Republic
Jeremy Wates, European Environmental Bureau,
Ireland
Ruth West, United Nations Environment and Development UK Committee (UNED-UK), United Kingdom
List of Experts
Franklin Apfel, WHO Regional Office for Europe,
Denmark
Abbreviations used in this document
CEE: Central and Eastern Europe
EC: European Commission
ECHR: European Court of Human Rights
ECO: Environmental Citizensí Organisation
EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment
EHIA: Environmental Health Impact Assessment
EEHC: European Environmental Health Committee
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
EPCRA: US Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know
EU: European Union
FOI/GMOs: Genetically Modified Organisms
ICESC: UN International Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights
ILO: International Labor Organization
IPC: Pollution Control
IRPTC: International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals
LEAP: Local Environmental Action Plan
LEHAP: Local Environmental Health Action Plan
MEA: Multilateral Environmental Agreement
NEAP: National Environmental Action Plan
NEHAP: National Environmental Health Action Plan
NIS: Newly Independent States
NGOs: Non-governmental Organisations
OSHA: US Federal Occupation Safety and Health Administration
OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
PRTRs: Pollution Release and Transfer Registers
REC: The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
UN ECE: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme
UK: United Kingdom
WHO Europe: World Health Organization
INTRODUCTION
This document was prepared within the framework of the project "Involvement of NGOs, Access to Information and Training" at the request of the WHO and was funded by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, the ABA CEELI and the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe.1 It assesses the involvement of the public and NGOs from the perspective of access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environment and health matters in three different areas. As such it serves as background material for the policy document2 prepared by Jeremy Wates for the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, to be held in June 1999 in London.A European Movement
The European Charter on Environment and Health,3 adopted at the First European Conference on Environment and Health in Frankfurt in 1989, refers to the entitlement of individuals to information and consultation, to participation in the decision-making process and to the important role of NGOs in disseminating information and promoting public awareness. The Environmental Health Action Plan for Europe,4 adopted at the Second European Conference on Environment and Health in Helsinki in 1994, lists public participation among the main tools for environmental management, identifies NGOs as one of the main sectors which should participate in efforts to improve environment and health, and is generally supportive of strengthening public and NGO involvement in environment and health decision-making. The Environmental Action Program (EAP) Task Force identified public information/participation as a specific area for cooperation between the NEAP and NEHAP processes.The Fourth Session of the European Environmental Health Committee (EEHC), held in Riga, Latvia, on November 14-15, 1996, supported increased efforts for public participation at the national level and suggested that a paper on NGO involvement in NEHAPs be prepared for its next meeting. The Preparatory Group of the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health was requested to put forward a proposal regarding NGO participation in the preparatory process and the conference itself, with a view to examine "how a wide range of public interests could be taken into account." The EEHC meeting also encouraged "the health sector to participate actively in, or coordinate with, delegations negotiating the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters under UN ECE auspices to ensure that health-related matters are adequately reflected in the Convention." The Aarhus Convention was signed by 35 countries and the European Union on June 25, 1998, at the Fourth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" in Aarhus, Denmark.5 Once ratified and implemented, it will bring significant improvements in the legislation of countries of the UN ECE region regarding citizensí rights and will also have important implications for access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environment and health matters.
The Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health will focus on the implementation of environment and health actions called for in the Conference Declaration and the accompanying policy documents. In doing so, it will need to consider the involvement of the public and NGOs in decision-making and the implementation of environment and health actions, and give attention to the implications of the Aarhus Convention for environment and health matters. This document seeks to provide the necessary input for these considerations by ministers.
Structure
This document consists of three parts. Part I is an assessment of legislation and practices concerning access to information, public participation and access to justice in environment and health matters in Europe. Part II discusses the problems of implementing existing international instruments dealing with the above-mentioned issues. Part III is an assessment of good practices on access to information, public participation and access to justice in the NEHAP (National Environmental Health Action Plan) and LEHAP (Local Environmental and Health Action Plan) processes.Six annexes were also prepared. Annex A "Defining the Public and NGOs" and B "Member States of the WHO European Region" are included in this document. The following annexes are also available upon request from the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe or from the WHO Regional Office for Europe:
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Annex C: Country reports on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environment and health matters;
Annex D: Selected provisions from international instruments relating to access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environment and health matters;
Annex E: Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, Aarhus, June 25, 1998;
Annex F: Case examples on good practices of public/NGO involvement in NEHAP/LEHAP processes and local partnerships.
Endnotes
1 "Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environment and Health Matters." Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 1999 (Substantiation document prepared for Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health).2 "Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environment and Health Matters." Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 1999 (unpublished document EUR/ICP/EHCO 02 02 05/12).
3 European Charter on Environment and Health and Commentary. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 1990 (WHO Regional Publications European Series No. 35.
4 "Environmental Health Action Plan for Europe." Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 1994 (unpublished document EUR/ICP/CEH 212(A)).
5 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, Aarhus, Denmark, June 25, 1998. Geneva, UN/ECE, 1998.
