ANNEX I TO THE PROTOCOL ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION TO
THE ANTARCTIC TREATY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
ARTICLE 1
PRELIMINARY STAGE
1. The environmental impacts of proposed activities referred to in Article 8 of the
Protocol shall, before their commencement, be considered in accordance with appropriate
national procedures.
2. If an activity is determined as having less than a minor or transitory impact, the
activity may proceed forthwith.
ARTICLE 2
INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION
1. Unless it has been determined that an activity will have less than a minor or
transitory impact, or unless a Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation is being
prepared in accordance with Article 3, an Initial Environmental Evaluation shall be
prepared. It shall contain sufficient detail to assess whether a proposed activity may have
more than a minor or transitory impact and shall include:
(a) a description of the proposed activity, including its purpose, location, duration
and intensity; and
(b) consideration of alternatives to the proposed activity and any impacts that the
activity may have, including consideration of cumulative impacts in the light
of existing and known planned activities.
2. If an Initial Environmental Evaluation indicates that a proposed activity is likely
to have no more than a minor or transitory impact, the activity may proceed, provided
that appropriate procedures, which may include monitoring, are put in place to assess and
verify the impact of the activity.
ARTICLE 3
COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION
1. If an Initial Environmental Evaluation indicates or if it is otherwise determined
that a proposed activity is likely to have more than a minor or transitory impact, a
Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation shall be prepared.
2. A Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation shall include:
(a) a description of the proposed activity including its purpose, location, duration
and intensity, and possible alternatives to the activity, including the alternative
of not proceeding, and the consequences of those alternatives;
(b) a description of the initial environmental reference state with which predicted
changes are to be compared and a prediction of the future environmental
reference state in the absence of the proposed activity;
(c) a description of the methods and data used to forecast the impacts of the
proposed activity;
(d) estimation of the nature, extent, duration, and intensity of the likely direct
impacts of the proposed activity;
(e) consideration of possible indirect or second order impacts of the proposed
activity;
(f) consideration of cumulative impacts of the proposed activity in the light of
existing activities and other known planned activities;
(g) identification of measures, including monitoring programmes, that could be
taken to minimise or mitigate impacts of the proposed activity and to detect
unforeseen impacts and that could provide early warning of any adverse effects
of the activity as well as to deal promptly and effectively with accidents;
(h) identification of unavoidable impacts of the proposed activity;
(i) consideration of the effects of the proposed activity on the conduct of scientific
research and on other existing uses and values;
(j) an identification of gaps in knowledge and uncertainties encountered in
compiling the information required under this paragraph;
(k) a non-technical summary of the information provided under this paragraph; and
(l) the name and address of the person or organization which prepared the
Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation and the address to which comments
thereon should be directed.
3. The draft Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation shall be made publicly
available and shall be circulated to all Parties, which shall also make it publicly available,
for comment. A period of 90 days shall be allowed for the receipt of comments.
4. The draft Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation shall be forwarded to the
Committee at the same time as it is circulated to the Parties, and at least 120 days before
the next Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, for consideration as appropriate.
5. No final decision shall be taken to proceed with the proposed activity in the
Antarctic Treaty area unless there has been an opportunity for consideration of the draft
Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting
on the advice of the Committee, provided that no decision to proceed with a proposed
activity shall be delayed through the operation of this paragraph for longer than 15
months from the date of circulation of the draft Comprehensive Environmental
Evaluation.
6. A final Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation shall address and shall include
or summarise comments received on the draft Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation.
The final Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation, notice of any decisions relating
thereto, and any evaluation of the significance of the predicted impacts in relation to the
advantages of the proposed activity, shall be circulated to all Parties, which shall also
make them publicly available, at least 60 days before the commencement of the proposed
activity in the Antarctic Treaty area.
ARTICLE 4
DECISIONS TO BE BASED ON COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATIONS
Any decision on whether a proposed activity, to which Article 3 applies, should proceed,
and, if so, whether in its original or in a modified form, shall be based on the
Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation as well as other relevant considerations.
ARTICLE 5
MONITORING
1. Procedures shall be put in place, including appropriate monitoring of key
environmental indicators, to assess and verify the impact of any activity that proceeds
following the completion of a Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation.
2. The procedures referred to in paragraph 1 above and in Article 2 (2) shall be
designed to provide a regular and verifiable record of the impacts of the activity in order,
inter alia, to:
(a) enable assessments to be made of the extent to which such impacts are
consistent with the Protocol; and
(b) provide information useful for minimising or mitigating impacts, and, where
appropriate, information on the need for suspension, cancellation or
modification of the activity.
ARTICLE 6
CIRCULATION OF INFORMATION
1. The following information shall be circulated to the Parties, forwarded to the
Committee and made publicly available:
(a) a description of the procedures referred to in Article 1;
(b) an annual list of any Initial Environmental Evaluations prepared in accordance
with Article 2 and any decisions taken in consequence thereof;
(c) significant information obtained, and any action taken in consequence thereof,
from procedures put in place in accordance with Articles 2 (2) and 5; and
(d) information referred to in Article 3 (6).
2. Any Initial Environmental Evaluation prepared in accordance with Article 2 shall
be made available on request.
ARTICLE 7
CASES OF EMERGENCY
1. This Annex shall not apply in cases of emergency relating to the safety of human
life or of ships, aircraft or equipment and facilities of high value, or the protection of the
environment, which require an activity to be undertaken without completion of the
procedures set out in this Annex.
2. Notice of activities undertaken in cases of emergency, which would otherwise
have required preparation of a Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation, shall be
circulated immediately to all Parties and to the Committee and a full explanation of the
activities carried out shall be provided within 90 days of those activities.
ARTICLE 8
AMENDMENT OR MODIFICATION
1. This Annex may be amended or modified by a measure adopted in accordance
with Article IX (1) of the Antarctic Treaty. Unless the measure specifies otherwise, the
amendment or modification shall be deemed to have been approved, and shall become
effective, one year after the close of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting at which
it was adopted, unless one or more of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties notifies
the Depositary, within that period, that it wishes an extension of that period or that it is
unable to approve the measure.
2. Any amendment or modification of this Annex which becomes effective in
accordance with paragraph 1 above shall thereafter become effective as to any other Party
when notice of approval by it has been received by the Depositary.
