S.L. 549.46 Art. 23Final assessment by the Authority.

(1) The Authority shall analyse the concluded EIA

report and shall prepare its own final assessment. The Authority shall take a decision in public giving the opportunity to the applicant and the public to make comments and representations. The Authority’s position shall be made publicly available on the Authority’s website without delay and not later than fifteen (15) days from its finalisation. Without prejudice to regulation 32A, due consideration of, and clear reference to, the Authority’s position shall be included in all relevant permit application reports compiled by the permitting authority in accordance with the provisions of the relevant legislation.

(2) In preparing and arriving at its final assessment, the Authority shall give due regard to the conclusions reached in the EIA report prepared by the consultants, including any relevant ancillary documentation, as well as to the comments received from the public concerned at any stage of the process pursuant to these regulations, and any other environmental considerations that may be relevant. As part of its final assessment, the Authority shall give adequately detailed reasons as to whether it agrees with or does not agree with the conclusions reached by the consultants in the report, in whole or in part.

(3) Wherever the available information is deemed by the Authority to be insufficient for acceptable decision-taking on the project or wherever the Authority deems that the risk factor or hazard factor or both are too high, the Authority shall adopt the precautionary principle. This sub-regulation shall apply notwithstanding the provisions of regulation 18.

(4) The Authority’s report shall also include all relevant consultation submissions and replies, and minutes of the consultation meetings, as appendices or annexes. Such documents, together with any addenda, shall be made publicly available in accordance with sub-regulation (1).