Master's thesis focuses on the assessment procedures of new developmental proposals within protected areas (defined in order to protect endangered plant and animal species and their habitats) implemented in two countries, Slovenia and USA. In the American case, The Endangered Species Act protects endangered animal and plant species. The problems appear when some major development proposals seemed to destroy endangered species habitats. To carry-out the permitting process Habitat Conservation Plan has been proposed with the ambition of providing an adequate protection of endangered species while, in the same time, allowing some degree of land development. In Slovenia, the proposals of the areas to be protected in order to protect fauna, flora and habitats were based on the results of scientific studies and according to the European directives: Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the Conservation of Wild Birds % "The Bird Directive" and Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora % "The habitat Directive". The protected areas - Natura 2000 sites - have been established by the Decree on Special Protection Areas (Natura 2000). The developmental proposal within the protected area has to be assessed. In order to compare the HCP and the Slovenian acceptability assessment procedure an analysis of the Slovenian assessment cases as well as some elaborated HCPs procedures has been carried out. Features of the procedures carried out assessing the acceptability of the procedure for issuing environmental approval (in comparison with the procedures HCP): protected areas have been established and secured, before any interventions, interventions are occupied by smaller percentages of protected areas, judged the intervention after the adoption of spatial planning act, the public was incorporated during the public exhibition, less detailed biological studies, several authorized interventions, more detailed mitigation measures, no ex-ante evaluation areas.
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