The 'Umweltanwalt' as a means of 'indirect citizens participation' - A survey of possibilities of the representation of environmental interests in administrative procedures in Austrian law

The central topic of this study is how environmental protection can be ensured within the framework of administrative procedures in Austria. Environmental law in Austria faces two major problems. One is the inadequacy of statutory law; the other a lack of execution. The reasons for the latter are examined in part I. The main part of the study discusses various ways of representing environmental protection interests in administrative procedures, such as licensing. As there are certain limits to citizen's individual rights the study focusses on the participation of groups of citizens and associations as well as ' indirect participation' through an institutionalized representative of environmental interests (a so called 'Umweltanwalt'). Part II gives a comparative analysis of the legal implementation of the 'Umweltanwalt' and similar institutions in Austria's 'Laender' (federal states); it also deals with the pros and cons of creating an 'Umweltanwalt' on the federal level. Part III is dedicated to a proposed amendment of the rules of administrative procedure providing for the participation of the public in environmental decision making. Part IV deals with the question if this procedural approach can be the basis of an appropriate environmental impact assessment. The final part summarizes the positive and negative aspects of the various instruments and pleads for their combination as a solution for the problem of underrepresentation of environmental interests in agency decision making. (author)