European Neighbourhood Instrument Cross - Border Cooperation Programme Latvia - Lithuania – Belarus, 2014-2020
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EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENT CROSS - BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME LATVIA - LITHUANIA – BELARUS, 2014-2020 STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REPORT September 2015 Contact person: Date Version No. Viktorija Podgaiskytė Tel. +370 5 210 72 10 September 2015 04 Fax. +370 5 210 72 11 [email protected] [email protected] EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENT CROSS - BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME LATVIA – LITHUANIA – BELARUS 2014-2020 STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REPORT Managing Authority: Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania Prepared by: AF-Consult UAB Responsible: Viktorija Podgaiskytė Environmental consultant Approved by: Rasa Alkauskaitė-Kokoškina Environmental section manager UAB AF-Consult Lvovo st. 25, LT-09320 Vilnius Tel. +370 5 2107210 Fax. +370 5 2107211 www.afconsult.com, Company code: 135744077, VAT code: LT357440716 EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENT SEA REPORT CROSS - BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME LATVIA - LITHUANIA – BELARUS 2014-2020 Public entity “Joint Technical Secretariat” September 2015 3 (45) CONTENT NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY 7 1.1 Introduction 7 1.2 Programme objectives and territory 7 1.3 Description of territories that can be affected 8 1.4 Likely significant effects on the environment 8 1.5 Monitoring 8 1 INTRODUCTION 10 2 PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES AND CONTRIBUTION TO OTHER STRATEGIES 11 2.1 Programme initiator 11 2.2 SEA Report prepared by 11 2.3 Legal framework 11 2.4 Programme eligible area, objectives and priorities 12 TO1: Promotion of social inclusion and fight against poverty 14 TO2: Support to local and regional good governance 15 TO3: Promotion of local culture and preservation of historical heritage 16 TO4: Promotion of border management, and border security 16 2.5 Contribution to other strategies, international and national environmental objectives 22 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE TERRITORIES THAT CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED 26 3.1 Republic of Latvia 26 3.2 Republic of Lithuania 29 3.3 Republic of Belarus 31 3.4 Existing environmental issues in the Programme area 32 3.5 Likely evolution thereof without the implementation of the Programme 33 4 LIKELY SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT 34 4.1 Approach and methodology 34 4.2 Summarised Results of Strategic Environmental Assessment 35 TO1: Promotion of social inclusion and fight against poverty 36 TO2: Support to local and regional good governance 36 TO3: Promotion of local culture and preservation of historical heritage 38 TO4: Promotion of border management, and border security 39 4.3 Large investment Projects (LIPs) 39 5 MONITORING 43 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 44 AF-Consult UAB 2015 EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENT SEA REPORT CROSS - BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME LATVIA - LITHUANIA – BELARUS 2014-2020 Public entity “Joint Technical Secretariat” September 2015 4 (45) ANNEXES: 45 ANNEX 1. Protected and Natura 2000 areas. ANNEX 2. Consultations with public ANNEX 3. Consultations with competent and environmental authorities AF-Consult UAB 2015 EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENT SEA REPORT CROSS - BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME LATVIA - LITHUANIA – BELARUS 2014-2020 Public entity “Joint Technical Secretariat” September 2015 5 (45) SEA report versions: Version Date Description 01 2014-10-23 SEA report submitted to JTS 02 2015-02-10 SEA report available to public and competent authorities 03 2015-06-12 SEA report revised according to comments from Authorities of the Republic of Latvia 04 2015-09-15 SEA report revised according to comments from Authorities of the Republic of Lithuania AF-Consult UAB 2015 EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENT SEA REPORT CROSS - BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME LATVIA - LITHUANIA – BELARUS 2014-2020 Public entity “Joint Technical Secretariat” September 2015 6 (45) List of abbreviations BY/Belarus Republic of Belarus CBC Cross Border Cooperation EC Europe Commission ENI European Neighbourhood Instrument ENP European Neighbourhood Policy EU The European Union EUSBSR European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region FEZ Free economic zone GDP Gross Domestic Product GIS Geographic Information System JOP Joint Operational Programme LIP Large Infrastructure Project LT/Lithuania Republic of Lithuania LV/Latvia Republic of Latvia OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PPP Purchasing Power Parity Programme European neighbourhood instrument cross – border cooperation programme Latvia – Lithuania – Belarus 2014-2020 pSCI Proposed Sites for Community Importance R&D Research and Development / Research and Technological Development Report Strategic environmental assessment report SAC Special Areas of Conservation SCI Sites of Community Importance SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SPA Special Protection Areas TO Thematic Objective AF-Consult UAB 2015 EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENT SEA REPORT CROSS - BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME LATVIA - LITHUANIA – BELARUS 2014-2020 Public entity “Joint Technical Secretariat” September 2015 7 (45) NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY 1.1 Introduction Strategic Environmental Assessment (hereinafter – SEA) is carried out for the European neighbourhood instrument cross – border cooperation programme Latvia – Lithuania – Belarus 2014-2020 (hereinafter – Programme). This Programme is financed by the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), created to support the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The strategic goal defined for the Programme is to strengthen relations, raise capacities and share experience among people and organisations from Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus through the implementation of joined actions aimed at increase of overall quality of life in the border region. The SEA process has been carried out in line with the requirement of Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment and national SEA legislation of Programme Members. The aim of this SEA report is to identify and present the likely significant effects on the environment and to integrate environmental considerations into preparation and adoption of the Programme. 1.2 Programme objectives and territory The eligible area of the Programme includes 11 territorial units of the three following countries – Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus. These include 2 regions in Latvia – Latgale and Zemgale, 5 counties in Lithuania – Utena, Vilnius, Alytus, Panevezys and Kaunas, 5 regions in Belarus – Grodno, Vitebsk, Minsk, Mogilev and the capital city of Belarus – Minsk. The Programme territory The programme initiator and management authority - Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania. Programme addresses the following Thematic Objectives (TO) and the Priorities: TO1. Promotion of social inclusion and fight against poverty: 1.1 Enhancing the access to social and other services for vulnerable groups; 1.2 Stimulating employment through entrepreneurship and innovations. TO2. Support to local and regional good governance: 2.1. Increasing capacity of local and regional authorities to tackle common challenges; 2.2. Strengthening society. AF-Consult UAB 2015 EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENT SEA REPORT CROSS - BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME LATVIA - LITHUANIA – BELARUS 2014-2020 Public entity “Joint Technical Secretariat” September 2015 8 (45) TO3. Promotion of local culture and preservation of historical heritage: 3.1. Promoting and preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage and traditional skills. TO4. Promotion of border management, and border security: 4.1 Enhancing border-crossing efficiency. Priority 4.1 includes following large investment projects (LIP): 1. Modernization of Medininkai-Kamennyj Log border-crossing point (Lithuania-Belarus); 2. Development of infrastructure in Skorina Secondary School (Lithuania-Belarus); 3. Modernization of Asylum Center in Pabrade (Lithuania-Belarus); 4. Improvement of Paternieki-Grigorovshchina border-crossing point (Latvia-Belarus); 5. Bombel 4 (Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus); 6. Modernization of Silene-Urbany border-crossing point (Latvia-Belarus); 7. Construction of an X-ray scanning control system for vehicles at the border crossing point „Urbany” of Vitebsk Custom House (Belarus). 1.3 Description of territories that can be affected The Programme area (with adjoining regions) covers a territory of 198.221 km2, of which 25.289 km2 are located in the territory of Latvia, 38.327 km2 in Lithuania and 134.605 km2 in Belarus. 78.163 km2 (39.43%) of the territory are situated inside and 134.605 km2 (60.57%) outside of the European Union. The majority of territorial units included in the Programme are predominantly rural, over 50 per cent of the total population lives in the rural areas. All three countries of the Programme can be distinguished for being rich in particular natural resources, namely forests and fresh water, as well as protected areas and Natura 2000 areas. There are plenty of fresh water resources in Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus, far exceeding present and future requirements for water consumption in these countries. The Programme area is rich in both tangible and intangible cultural heritage and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 1.4 Likely significant effects on the environment Summarizing, the supported actions are mostly based to a large extent on process designs (i.e. governance structures, incentive and funding schemes, networking arrangements) and the direct environmental effects of such activities are assessed as insignificant. In general actions to be supported under this Programme will have positive effects on environment, by increased accessibility to basic social and other services