Information about the EIA procedure
Metsä Board has started an environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure for a paperboard mill it is planning to build in Kaskinen, Finland. Metsä Board's EIA programme was open for public consultation from 12 January to 10 February 2023. The EIA authority gave its statement on the EIA programme on 10 March 2023.
Comments and opinions on Metsä Board's EIA report can be submitted to the South Ostrobothnia Regional Economic, Transport and Environment Centre (ELY Centre) from 25 May to 21 July 2023. The report is available at www.ymparisto.fi/kaskinenkartonkitehdasYVA and at the town halls and libraries of Kaskinen, Närpiö and Kristiinankaupunki.
What is the EIA procedure?
Metsä Board is planning a new paperboard mill in Kaskinen. The process requires an EIA procedure, meaning an assessment of environmental impacts. The EIA procedure aims to reduce or prevent any negative environmental impacts that the project may have. The EIA procedure will not result in decisions concerning the project but will instead produce information to support decision making. Anyone affected by the project can participate in the EIA procedure. The South Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment is the EIA authority for the project.
How will the EIA proceed?
The EIA procedure comprises two stages:
The environmental impact assessment programme is a plan describing the organisation of the EIA procedure and the surveys required for it.
The environmental impact assessment report presents the project’s properties, technical solutions and a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts. The assessment report is a description of the environmental impacts of the activities in the project area and the significance of the impacts.
At each stage, statements will be requested from the authorities, and residents and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to express their opinions to the competent authority, which in this case is the South Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.
The EIA procedure concludes when EIA authority provides its statement on the assessment report. The permit authorities and parties responsible for the project use the assessment report and the competent authority’s statement in their decision making.