The following contribution deals with the objectives and scopes of the German Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and with the procedural implementation of this act. It begins with a presentation of the goal and content of EIA and the scope of its application. It then turns to the procedure of EIA, specially to the five distinct steps by which the EIA is to be carried out under German law. Finally some remarks are made on the rote of EIA in the decision-making process and on the further development of EIA since the entry into force of the Act on EIA.