A new institute of a unified environmental statement (JES) is to speed up and simplify the process of obtaining permits for construction from the point of view of environmental protection. It will be introduced by a new law approved by the Senate yesterday. The opinion will include requirements for environmental impact assessments under up to nine existing laws. The draft will now go to the President for signature.
The bill is related to the government’s amendment to the Construction Act, which was also passed by the upper house. Together with it, the overall aim is to make it easier for an applicant to obtain a building permit and to avoid having to seek the opinions of the authorities concerned. The Uniform Environmental Opinion Act is due to come into force in January next year.
Environment Minister Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) said that the law is intended to speed up and streamline construction procedures while fully protecting public interests in environmental protection. The draft will bring procedural unification of currently fragmented administrative actions into one binding opinion. According to the Minister, it will also cover the environmental impact assessment (EIA).
“The builder will not have to go to so many authorities and obtain so many binding opinions,” said Hana Kordová Marvanová (ODS). Independent Senator Daniela Kovářová spoke of a missed opportunity, as even after the adoption of the law there will be no definition of the public interest in environmental protection.
The Senate also approved a related so-called amendment bill. It no longer voted on an amendment proposed by pirate senator Adela Šípová to restore the right of associations established to protect nature and the countryside to participate in all permitting procedures. Such an amendment failed in the Chamber of Deputies. The deputies extended the possibility of public participation in the Nature and Landscape Protection Act. This will include procedures concerning the felling of trees or exceptions to bans on commemorative trees and specially protected species of plants and animals.
The opinion will be valid for five years and can be extended. At the request of the developer, the opinion may be amended. If more than one law requires the same information, the applicant will only have to fill it in once
Source: JES and CTK
