Law no. 127 of 2018 concerning the Environmental Impact Assessment of Certain Projects.

This Law, consisting of 55 articles and nine appendices and implementing the Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, amended by the Directive 2014/52/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private works plans on the environment, aims at providing a substantial contribution to ensuring a high level of protection of the environment, public health and quality of life in maintaining the integrity of the areas of the nature and its components and the efficient use of resources, through the assessment of the environmental impacts of public and private sector projects. This Law applies to every project that falls under a category of projects of the First or Second Annex, including public projects, except if the projects concern: a) habitats of protected wild fauna and flora, including special conservation zones and special protection zones, b) coastal areas and areas of special environmental value, c) protected natural areas, d) landscapes, sites or structures of historical, cultural, architectural or archaeological importance.
In order to confirm that a project has not significant adverse effects on the environment, a specialised environmental impact assessment is carried out. The Law defines the following relevant terms: permit or approval or authorisation; development; local authority; geological heritage; public consultation; special conservation zone; special ecological assessment; project; special protection zone; Environmental Impact Assessment; environmental authority; place of community importance; impacts on the environment, as the effects of a project on: population and human health, biodiversity and especially protected species and habitats, landscape, groundwater and surface water, soil, sea and the atmosphere. Projects listed in the Appendices, requiring an environmental impact assessment, concern: Crude oil refineries; thermal power plants and nuclear combustion plants; integrated chemical plants; inland waterways and ports; waste disposal facilities; groundwater pumping projects; projects for the diversion of water resources; sewage treatment plants; renewable energy projects; agricultural reclamation projects; use of uncultivated land or semi-natural areas for intensive agricultural crops; water resources management projects for agriculture; afforestation and deforestation for the purpose of conversion to another type of land use; intensive animal husbandry facilities; intensive fish farming; reclamation of land from the sea; projects in food industry.