Environmental Impact Assessment Act (No. 106 of 2000).

This Act shall apply to all projects which may involve significant environmental effects, whether they are on land, in Icelandic territorial waters or air space, or in Icelandic pollution zone (not defined). The objectives of this Act are: a) to ensure that, before consent is granted for a project which may, due to its location, the activities which it will involve, its nature or extent, have significant effects on the environment, an assessment of the environmental impact of the project is carried out; b) to encourage cooperation of parties with interests at stake and concerned parties with regard to a project which affects the environment; c) to make public information on the environmental impact of a project which may involve significant environmental effects and mitigating measures to deal with them and to give the public the opportunity to comment and contribute information before a ruling on the environmental impact assessment of a project is issued. The Minister for the Environment shall have overall control on implementation and enforcement of issues covered by the Act. The Planning Agency shall issue a ruling on the environmental impact assessment of a project and its resulting activities and decide whether a project, as referred to in Article 6, shall be subject to environmental impact assessment. The projects listed in Annex 1 to this Act shall always be subject to EIA. Projects listed in Annex 2 to this Act shall be subject to an environmental impact assessment when they could have significant environmental effects due to their scope, nature or location.