The Senate returned the amendment simplifying the EIA process to the Chamber of Deputies

Prague - The Senate returned to the Chamber of Deputies a bill that aims to simplify the assessment of the environmental impact of construction projects (EIA). Today, it recommended making adjustments to the draft that would link it to the recently adopted building law. The deputies are expected to address the bill at the September session.

Senators did not accept the proposal by Senator Jitka Seitlová (for the Greens) that municipalities and regions, in addition to non-profit organizations, should be allowed to appeal against the non-implementation of the so-called screening process for constructions that would affect them. The senator justified this by stating that municipalities now have to establish non-profit organizations for this purpose.

"The proposal for the amendment was prepared by the Ministry of the Environment with the declared aim of resolving disputes with the newly amended European directive. However, Minister Richard Brabec (ANO) simultaneously accommodated the interests of industry associations and radically limited the number of projects to be assessed. In reality, this deepens the conflict with European legislation," ecological organizations such as Hnutí Duha, Zelený kruh, and Nesehnutí stated today in response.

"Minister Brabec has taken away people's ability to express their opinions on constructions in their vicinity. He has opposed four-fifths of the citizens of our country, who according to public opinion polls support local people having a say in their environment," added Daniel Vondrouš, director of Zelený kruh. He also pointed out that the minister did not participate in the Senate discussions. "He is in New York, where paradoxically he is presenting a model approach of the Czech Republic to sustainable development based on public participation in decision-making alongside Miss World 2006," he added. Brabec is participating in a debate at the UN headquarters in New York on achieving sustainable development goals.

Among other things, the amendment aims to reduce the number of projects subject to assessment and extend the basic validity period of the EIA opinion from five to seven years. The reasons for proposing the amendment included the fact that the EU had previously refused to provide funding for some Czech transport projects due to outdated EIA assessments.

Brabec had previously stated that there are dozens of transport projects in the Czech Republic with EIA opinions that are up to 15 years old. The amendment will allow for an extension of the basic validity period of the opinion by five years, meaning it could last for 12 years.

Annually, approximately 2,000 so-called sub-threshold projects were assessed in the Czech Republic. According to Brabec, only 300 of these should now be assessed, specifically in specially protected areas. The possibility for the public and affected authorities to express opinions on the assessment is also being eliminated, which will shorten the EIA process by the time for these measures and other related deadlines.

The deputies clarified the provision under which the government could, in extraordinary cases, exclude construction projects from the EIA process when the public interest in their execution significantly outweighed environmental protection interests. Following the intervention of the Chamber of Deputies, the amendment also includes the obligation to evaluate individual project variants in the screening process if they were submitted. The Chamber of Deputies decided to leave the Ministry of the Environment the right to propose the development of solution variants.