Sobotka: The amendment addressing issues with EIA will be ready by the end of the month

Prague - The Ministry of the Environment will prepare an amendment to the law by the end of the month that will allow the construction of 11 selected transportation projects without repeating the EIA process. This was stated by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (CSSD) on his Twitter account. The government today approved materials from the Ministries of Transport and the Environment, concerning the acceleration of construction preparations for projects whose older environmental impact assessments (EIA) are not recognized by the EU.

There are problems with environmental assessments for over a hundred transportation projects worth approximately 130 billion crowns in the Czech Republic. The Ministry of the Environment's material will include conditions under which 11 projects can be removed from this package, which will be prepared in a special expedited procedure and for which it will not be necessary to repeat the whole EIA process.

"We will open the door to replace the EIA with a government decision for those 11 projects, which will say that based on the submitted materials, the project can continue in the construction process," said Transport Minister Dan Ťok (for ANO) to journalists during the cabinet meeting.

According to the government, priority should be given to projects such as the Prague bypass near Běchovice, the construction of a missing section of the D1 motorway near Přerov, the highway bypass of České Budějovice, and the D35 construction near Opatovice nad Labem. For other projects, it is likely that the EIA process will need to be repeated. This could take at least a year and a half and will come with costs for the preparation of materials for a new assessment. The cost of repeating assessments is estimated by the Roads and Highways Directorate at 217 million CZK.

However, according to environmental activists, the government's approach violates European directives, and there is a risk of halting EU funding for transportation projects. The replacement of the EIA for a specific project by law is only possible in exceptional situations. "Currently, we are not experiencing a natural disaster, so explaining to the European Commission the adoption of the law as an exceptional situation has a minuscule chance of success," warned Daniel Vondrouš from the environmental association Green Circle.

Ťok stated that the Czech Republic has already discussed preliminarily with European institutions. "Further steps will be consulted with the European Commission. We will be very sensitive to how they perceive it. We do not think that they will warmly welcome this approach, but they might accept that these are the key projects where this procedure can be applied," he said.

The issue of EIA assessments, which the EU refuses to recognize, has also made its way onto the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies. The opposition ODS and TOP 09 initiated a special session of the lower house last week due to this and advocated that the Chamber reject the position of the European Commission. The Chamber ultimately did not reach any resolution at that time.

List of projects for which the government wants to obtain an exemption

1) D3 bypass of České Budějovice

- D3 0310/I Úsilné - Hodějovice

- 0310/II Hodějovice - Třebonín

2) D6 - bypasses of the municipalities of Řevničov, Lubenec, Krušovice

- D6 Lubenec bypass

- D6 Řevničov bypass

- D6 Nové Strašecí - Řevničov

3) D48 Frýdek Místek - bypass

4) D35 - Opatovice - Ostrov

- D35 Opatovice nad Labem - Časy

- D35 Časy - Ostrov

5) D49 Hulín - Fryšták

6) D55 Otrokovice bypass

7) D11 Hradec Králové - Smiřice

8) I/11 Ostrava, extended Rudná

9) D1 Říkovice - Přerov

10) D0 SOKP 511 D1 - Běchovice

11) Modernization of the railway line Sudoměřice - Votice

Source: Ministry of Transport