Environmental impact assessment procedure in transport construction projects

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has emerged as an essential element of a preventive approach to environmental protection and resilient development and has accordingly received considerable attention. The EIA aims to deliver answers to what will happen as a result of the project, what will be the extent of the changes, do the changes matter, what can be done about them and how can decision-makers be informed of what needs to be done. The analysis is focused on the legal framework and implementation challenges in major transport construction works with the elaborate analysis of administrative and court procedure in the Republic of Croatia presented on a case study of motorway construction within nature park. Improper environmental impact assessment enforcement in the case highlighted can thus be seen as a resistance of the practitioners to change and to face the challenges created by inevitably complex systems. In authors opinion, the case law of the courts that are competent to decide in administrative disputes indicates the lack of training of the judiciary in complex environmental issues, particularly the evaluation of environmental impact procedure, resulting in erroneous application of applicable law.