3. INTEGRATION OF CIMATE CHANGE ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENTS TOOLS IN NIGER AND EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES
3.1. Assessment of Niger Legislation on Environment
Impact Assessment 3.1.1. History of Environmental Assessment (EA) Procedure in
Niger
Niger officially entered into the EA procedure in 1997 with
the adoption of the Ordinance 97-001 of January 10th, 1997 on the
institutionalisation of EIAs. Article 4 of the Ordinance requires that
development activities, projects or programs that may affect the natural and
human environment, because of their size or their impact are subject to the
prior authorisation of the minister in charge of environment. The authorisation
is granted on the basis of an environmental impact assessment prepared by the
developer.
The operationalisation of EIAs in Niger began in 1998 with the
creation of the Bureau of Environmental Evaluation and Impact Assessment
(BEEIA) and the three implementing decrees of the ordinance adopted in 2000.
The implementing decrees are:
y' Decree 2000-369 / PRN / ME / LCD of 12 October
20006 on the responsibilities, organization and functioning of the
BEEIA;
y' Decree 2000-397 / PRN / ME / LCD of 20 October 2000 on the
administrative procedure of Environmental Impacts Assessment;
y' Decree 2000-398 / PRN / ME / LCD of 20 October 2000
determining the list of activities, works and planning documents for which
environmental impact assessments are required.
As far as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is
concerned, it is important to stress that there are no specific guidelines in
Niger. In practice, SEA is conducted in the same way as EIA or sometimes in
accordance with the funding institutions requirements like World Bank. That
represents a huge gap and deficiency in the strategic planning of PPP.
3.1.2. EIA Procedure in Niger
The Decree 2000-397 sets out the administrative proceeding to
be followed in assessing and examining the environmental impacts of a project
and specifies the content of the EIA report and the public consultation
mechanism. The stages of the proceeding shall include project notification,
screening, scoping, realisation of the EIA, review of EIA report, authorisation
of project and monitoring conditions (Art. 4). In addition, Article 7 of the
decree defines the content of an EIA report.
3.1.2.1. Project Notification
6 The decree 2000-369 has been amended several times.
12
The project Notification is a brief description of the
project, its location, potential positive and negative environmental impacts
which it is likely to generate and the schedule for its completion. It is
submitted to the ministry of environment by the developer. It must be
accompanied by maps, plans, sketches and other relevant documents helping to
situate the project in its context.
3.1.2.2. Screening
The screening allows determining if an EIA is required. It is
conducted by the BEEIA, within a period of ten days from the date of receipt of
the notification to give the minister of environment its opinion. The minister
shall notify the developer within 48 hours from the date of receipt of the
BEEIA opinion. At the end of this period, the developer may consider his
project notification as agreed.
| 
