Interreg IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020 STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY Final revised versions that incorporates inputs from consultations with the public and relevant authorities Zagreb, May 2015 IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia–Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020 Strategic Environmental Impact Study Document quality information Authors of SEA Jiří Dusík, Dipl. Engineer - Water Resource Engineering Study Marta Brkić, B.Sc. Agronomy - Landscape Architect Ivana Šarić, B.Sc. Biology Jelena Fressl, B.Sc. Biology M.Sc. Konrad Kiš, B.Sc. Forestry Ivan Juratek, B.Sc. Agronomy - Landscape Architect Vjeran Magjarević, B. Sc. Phys. Tomislav Hriberšek, B.Sc. Geology Ines Geci, B.Sc. Geology Mario Pokrivač, B.Sc. Traffic, Occupational Safety Specialist Authors of Ivana Šarić, B.Sc. Biology Appropriate Jelena Fressl, B.Sc. Biology Assessment M.Sc. Konrad Kiš, B.Sc. Forestry Tajana Uzelac Obradović, B.Sc. Biology Project name Ex-ante evaluation and Strategic Environmental Assessment for Interreg IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programme Croatia–Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020 Document name Strategic Environmental Impact Study Version and Final draft incorporating comments after public consultations (20 May dates 2015) Reference U070_14 Managing Directorate for Managing Cooperation Programmes and Regional authority Development within the Agency for Regional Development Sent to Service for Managing Cooperation Programmes Sent on (date): 20 May 2015 Contact to the DVOKUT ECRO d.o.o. consulting Trnjanska 37, Zagreb service provider tel. +385 1 6114 867 fax. +385 1 6155 875 www.dvokut-ecro.hr Director Marta Brkić 2 IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia–Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020 Strategic Environmental Impact Study TABLE OF CONTENTS TERMS AND ACCRONYMS __________________________________________________________________ 5 NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY _______________________________________________ 6 1 INTRODUCTION TO PROPOSED PROGRAMME ___________________________ 16 1.1 Outline of the programme ____________________________________________________ 16 1.2 Types of actions to be supported within the programme ___________________________ 17 1.3 Relationship of the proposed cooperation programme with other relevant plans and programmes ____________________________________________________________ 21 2 SCOPE OF THIS STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT STUDY ______ 23 2.1 Key environmental issues of interest relevant to the proposed programme ____________ 23 2.2 Inputs obtained through consultations on the scoping report _______________________ 25 2.3 Alternatives considered and analytical approach used in this SEA ___________________ 29 2.4 Difficulties and uncertainties __________________________________________________ 29 3 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE CONDITIONS ______________________________ 31 3.1 Seismic risks ________________________________________________________________ 31 3.2 Climatic conditions and related risks ___________________________________________ 32 3.3 Hydrology and flood risks ____________________________________________________ 35 3.4 Water quality _______________________________________________________________ 41 3.5 Forests and forestry _________________________________________________________ 44 3.6 Biodiversity, fauna, flora _____________________________________________________ 46 3.7 Cultural heritage ____________________________________________________________ 55 3.8 Air quality _________________________________________________________________ 59 3.9 Hazardous industrial sites and environmental hotspots in the programme area ________ 61 4 CONSISTENCY OF THE PROPOSED PROGRAMME WITH THE RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OBJECTIVES ___________________________ 64 5 EXPECTED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS, ASSUMPTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR MITIGATION AND ENHANCEMENT __________________ 68 5.1 Greenhouse gas emissions_____________________________________________________ 68 5.2 Climate change adaptation and risk management _________________________________ 69 5.3 Air Quality _________________________________________________________________ 70 5.4 Soil _______________________________________________________________________ 70 5.5 Water quality _______________________________________________________________ 71 5.6 Forests ____________________________________________________________________ 72 5.7 Biodiversity, fauna, flora _____________________________________________________ 73 5.8 Cultural heritage including architectural and archaeological heritage, landscape ______ 75 5.9 Population and human health _________________________________________________ 77 5.10 Possible synergistic and cumulative effects _______________________________________ 78 3 IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia–Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020 Strategic Environmental Impact Study 6 APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS ON NATURA 2000 NETWORK __________________________________________________________ 79 6.1 Characteristics of the Ecological Network Areas __________________________________ 79 6.2 Characteristics of the CBC programme implementation impacts on the ecological network ___________________________________________________________________ 83 6.3 Alternative solutions and their possible impact on the ecological network _____________ 89 6.4 Mitigation measures for the programme implementation __________________________ 89 6.5 Conclusion on the CBC programme impact on the ecological network _______________ 92 7 RECOMMENDED MITIGATION AND ENHANCEMENT MEASURES ____________ 93 7.1 Introduction ________________________________________________________________ 93 7.2 Recommendations for implementation of activities within programme Specific Objective 1.1. _______________________________________________________________ 94 7.3 Recommendations for implementation of activities within programme Specific Objective 2.1. _______________________________________________________________ 94 7.4 Recommendations for implementation of activities within programme Specific Objective 2.2. _______________________________________________________________ 95 7.5 Recommendations for implementation of activities within programme Specific Objective 3.1. _______________________________________________________________ 96 7.6 Recommendations for implementation of activities within programme Specific Objective 4.1. _______________________________________________________________ 98 8 MEASURES ENVISAGED CONCERNING MONITORING ____________________ 98 9 CONTENTS CONTROL SHEET ________________________________________ 100 4 IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia–Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020 Strategic Environmental Impact Study TERMS AND ACCRONYMS BiH Bosnia and Herzegovina CBC Cross Border Cooperation CP Cooperation Programme HR Republic of Croatia EC European Commission EU European Union EUSAIR European Union Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance MNE Montenegro MENP Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection MRDEUF Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds Programme area Area targeted by interventions proposed in this cooperation programme SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA Directive Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment. SO Specific objective 5 IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia–Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020 Strategic Environmental Impact Study NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY Introduction This SEA study is prepared for the proposed Interreg IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia- Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020 (hereafter cooperation programme) that aims to strengthen the social, economic and territorial development of the cross-border area between Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. The programme has been prepared for an area covering 12 counties on the Croatian side, 109 municipalities on the side of Bosnia and Herzegovina and District Brčko and 10 municipalities on the Montenegrin side. This amounts to total of 87.453.95 km2 of programme area with 5.587.836 inhabitants. The programme has a total indicative EU budget of EUR 57.155.316 million for the 2014-2020 period. With this budget and territorial focus, the cooperation programme focuses on four priority axes: Priority Axis 1: Improving the quality of the services in public health and social care sector (8.573.297 €) with one Specific Objective o 1.1 ´To improve services in the area of public health and social sector across the borders´ Priority Axis 2: Protecting the environment and nature, improving risk prevention and promoting sustainable energy and energy efficiency (14.288.830 €) with two Specific Objectives: o 2.1. ´To promote and improve environment and nature protection and management systems for risk prevention´ and o 2.2. ´To promote utilization of renewable energy resources and energy efficiency´ Priority Axis 3: Contributing to the development of tourism and preserving cultural and natural heritage (17.146.595 €) with one Specific Objective: o 3.1. ´To strengthen and diversify the tourism offer through cross border approaches and to enable a better management and sustainable use of cultural and natural heritage Priority Axis 4: Enhancing competitiveness and developing business environment in the programme area (11.431.063 €) with one Specific