The first step in the environmental impact assessment is the preparation of a programme describing the railway solution to be designed, possible alternatives to the solution, the environment affected, as well as the necessary additional studies and methodology for the environmental impact assessment. According to Roland Müür, Environmental Manager of Rail Baltic Estonia OÜ, the environmental impact assessment is carried out to find the best location and optimal technical solutions for the railway in the planned corridor. “Work on the environmental impact assessment programme for the route section from the border of Harju and Rapla counties to Hagudi is underway and will be made public in October. We are also moving forward with drawing up the programmes for the next two sections. It is important for us to be able to anticipate and try to avoid or minimise the possible effects of the railway on both the natural and human environment during the construction of the railway,” Müür said.

The draft environmental impact assessment programmes were submitted to the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority on 14 October, where their compliance with the law must be verified and opinions of the relevant authorities be sought. After approval by the authorities, the environmental impact assessment programmes shall be made public along with a public display and public discussion.

The draft environmental impact assessment programmes were submitted to the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority by RB Rail AS. The draft is prepared by IDOM Consulting, Engineering and Architecture, a renowned Spanish engineering company in co-operation with Skepast&Puhkim OÜ, Estonia’s leading infrastructure, planning and environmental consulting firm.

The public display of the environmental impact assessment programmes is currently planned to take place this December. In the meantime, anyone interested can consult the current version of the draft programme available in the Rail Baltica Document Library.

So far, draft environmental impact assessment programmes have been completed for three of the eight sections of the Rail Baltica route in Estonia. The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority has already issued an opinion on the draft environmental impact assessment programme for the section from the border of Harjumaa and Raplamaa to Hagudi. Based on this, the draft programme has been updated and will be made public in late October. The public display of the environmental impact assessment programme will last three weeks, during which all interested parties will have the opportunity to submit written questions, comments and suggestions. The public display will be followed by a public discussion where the environmental impact assessment programme will be presented by experts involved and the project team.