Order No. 864 of the Ministry of Water and Environmental Protection validating the Procedure for assessing the impact on the environment in a transboundary context and for public participation in decision-making in the case of projects with transboundary impact.

This Order establishes the responsibilities of the competent authorities and the specific requirements relating to activities falling under the scope of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, establishing the framework procedure for environmental impact assessment and for approving the list of public or private projects subject to this procedure. It emphasizes the importance of public participation and transparency in the evaluation process, ensuring that stakeholders have the opportunity to voice their concerns and contribute to the decision-making process. The provisions of this Order apply to activities that take place in whole or in part on the territory of Romania with a significant adverse impact on the environment under the jurisdiction of another state. The central public authority for environmental protection shall cooperate closely with the competent authority of the affected party and shall take jointly or separately all appropriate and effective measures to prevent, reduce and control any significant adverse transboundary impact generated by the proposed activities. The environmental impact assessment procedures, including the one in the transboundary context, shall be carried out in accordance with the legal provisions in force on the territory of Romania, except for the deadlines provided for the actions of the public authorities for environmental protection, which shall be correlated with the response deadlines of the affected party, established by this order and/or by bilateral or multilateral agreements. The central public authority for environmental protection is responsible for: (a) applying the environmental impact assessment procedure; (b) notification of affected parties regarding any proposed activity with potential transboundary impact; (c) regular communication with the competent authority of the affected party; and (d) ensuring open discussions regarding the assessment of environmental impact in a transboundary context and the issues related thereto. The information received from the affected Party, together with the comments of the public of that Party, shall be included by the central public authority for environmental protection in the guidelines drawn up for defining the scope of the environmental impact assessment. The environmental impact assessment study and the report of this study shall be carried out in accordance with the national legislation in force.