Environmental Assessments and Authorizations: SEA - EIA - IPPC Permit

One year after the disappearance of Bruno Agricola, Director General of the Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea the "Quality Award" was established in his honour in recognition of the activities of public administrations and professionals engaged in the field of environmental sustainability.

The initiative, which will be renewed annually affecting various areas in which quality practices are of particular interest for environmental sustainability, for the environmental information and communications, this year is dedicated to the process of Environmental Assessment rewarding the best " Non-Technical Summary" prepared under a process of Strategic Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Assessment.

The "Non-Technical Summary" is the document in which, with a simplified language, the basic information contained in the Environmental Report and the Environmental Impact Study are reported, to enable citizens to participate actively in the Environmental Assessment. This choice is meant to emphasize the importance of an effective environmental information and communication to allow a conscious involvement of the community in decision-making.

The proceeding/proposer Authorities and the developers who have carried out the SEA or EIA processes at national, regional and local levels, which have been concluded, can transmit the documents attached to the application form for the Award nomination. In the event that the documentation is already available online, the transmission can be replaced by an indication of the web address where the documentation can be downloaded.

A committee will evaluate the best non-technical summaries received on the basis of the requirements listed below, to which during the evaluation phase will be assigned equal weights:

• Clarity, with the use of non-technical language, or of technical terms also adequately described in simplified form;
• Completeness of the information, in relation to the content of the related reference documents (Environmental Report and Environmental Impact Study);
• Presence of representative project documentation allowing an easier understanding of the text and an effective contextualization of the topics covered (maps, images, diagrams, graphs, etc.).
• Conciseness of the information provided.

Nominations and related documentation must be received by November 15, 2012 (extended to 31 December 2012) to the Ministry of the Environment via certified mail (DGSalvaguardia.Ambientale@PEC.minambiente.it) in the manner indicated in the form.

The award will be presented in a dedicated event which will be announced through the SEA-EIA website of the Ministry of the Environment