Ministerial Decision No. 47/2017 on the Regulation on Procedures for Public Consultation and Requirements during the Process of Environmental Assessment.

This Ministerial Decision, consisting of 20 articles divided into seven Chapters, establishes the Regulation on Procedures for Public Consultation and Requirements during the Process of Environmental Assessment. This Regulation applies to all projects proposed in accordance with the Environmental Licensing Law, approved by Decree-Law No. 5/2011. It applies: to the public consultation during the study phase for the collection of information for the elaboration of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) in a proposed Category A project; and the public consultation during the study phase for the collection of information for the preparation of the EIA and the EMP in a proposed Category B project. Purpose of the public consultation during the study phase is to provide information to potentially affected people by the project and to obtain information of people in the study area of the proposed project and who may be affected by the proposed project. The purpose of the public consultation on the EIA proposal and the proposal of the EMP is to obtain feedback and comments from the public that should be taken into account by the project proponent before finalizing and submitting the documents to the Environmental Authority.