Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
3
The Vuotos reservoir was a project of national importance in Finland. It had
been under consideration in various guises by the people of Finnish Lapland
since the 1960s. I happened to be writing my doctoral dissertation just as the
Vuotos application by hydropower company, Kemijoki, was being processed,
in accordance with the Finnish Water Act. Kemijoki fi led its application in
1992 before the Water Court of Northern Finland and the matter was
expected to proceed without any problem: inspectors would fi rst survey the
environmental impact of the Vuotos reservoir project and then the Water
Court would decide whether to grant or withhold permission.
Unexpectedly, the Finnish Environment Ministry announced in 1995 that
Finland would apply the provisions of the Convention on Environmental
Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (the Espoo Convention) to
the Vuotos reservoir project. The Convention had been signed in Espoo in
1991 but was not due to enter into force until 1997. The Ministry considered
that Vuotos would probably have environmental impact on the Gulf of
Bothnia including areas under Swedish jurisdiction; therefore Sweden ought
to be notifi ed. This came as a surprise to the Kemijoki company, to the
inspectors, and to the Water Court. There was good reason for this surprise.
It had been expected that the Water Act would govern the application process;
should any transboundary impacts be found by the inspectors, it would be up
to the Water Court to decide, on the basis of the valid international treaty (the
Nordic Environmental Protection Convention), whether Sweden need be
notifi ed or not.
I enquired of the Environment Ministry as to their reasons for insisting that
Sweden be notifi ed about the matter before the inspection procedure had
been completed and before the NEPC would require Finland to act. The
Ministry answered that when the Espoo Convention was signed, the parties
agreed to implement its provisions as soon as possible, even before it formally
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