Bratislava – On Friday, Peter Pellegrini, the President of the Slovak Republic, signed an amendment to the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIA), aligning it with a directive established in 2011. The amendment, which had been sent back to Parliament for further consideration, was confirmed by the presidential office to TASR.
During the second approval process in the National Council, legislators took the President’s suggestions into account, removing two previously included points from the amendment.
The European Union’s EIA Directive aims to safeguard a high standard of environmental protection and ensure that environmental considerations are integrated into the planning and approval stages of projects. Environmental assessments are required for various public and private initiatives, including the construction of airports, nuclear power plants, highways, waste disposal facilities, and wastewater treatment plants.
This updated legislation is designed to streamline the assessment and permitting processes related to environmental matters, reducing bureaucratic delays caused by official discretionary powers. Additionally, the amendment raises the thresholds for evaluating the environmental impacts of certain activities.
Furthermore, the amendment delineates the investigative procedures from the mandatory assessments within the EIA process while preserving the high standards for the expertise of professionals conducting these assessments.
This legislative change also addresses landscape planning, a key component of the Slovak Republic’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. The amendment revises the Spatial Planning Act to enhance the thoroughness of landscape positioning, protection, and development within spatial planning documents, ensuring compliance with all obligations without risking the utilization of recovery plan funds.
Finally, the new legislation seeks to eliminate “gold plating,” which refers to the adoption of more stringent regulations than those mandated by the European Union. (December 13)
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