PORTUGAL: 'ENVIRONMENT made SIMPLER'

Within the energy sector, when discussing how to speed up the energy transition (notably through faster renewables deployment), a concern ranking high-up in the list pertains to the expediting of licensing of projects. Portugal has just delivered on that front, by implementing amendments to its environmental licensing regime towards greater simplication: 'Environment made Simpler'.

Indeed, Decree-Law No. 11/2023, of 10 February 2023, undertakes a broad reform and simplification of the environmental licensing regime. The aim is to significantly reduce the administrative and regulatory burden faced by companies, with particular focus on the energy sector, in order to accelerate the energy transition, entailing a momentous simplification of procedures (e.g. elimination of unnecessary or redundant acts, licenses, permits and processes). The following measures stand out:

Environmental Impact Appraisal (EIA)

·????????Reduction of the cases in which (i) the EIA stems from a case-by-case analysis, under which a discretionary decision is made by the competent authorities, and (ii) the EIA is mandatory (with the possibility of case-by-case analysis remaining), with particular emphasis on the renewables sector and energy infrastructures.

·????????Elimination of the performance of an EIA in a wide range of situations, including the industries of metal processing, minerals, chemicals, food, textiles, leather, wood and paper and rubber, as well as in the energy sector, where the production of hydrogen from renewable sources and water electrolysis is prominent.

·????????Exemption from EIA in the case of industrial development hubs and logistics platforms, if a strategic environmental appraisal was performed.

·????????Creation of a concept of environmental analysis of corridors for certain infrastructures in the areas of water, electricity, natural gas, piped liquefied petroleum gases, public transport and telecommunications.

·????????Elimination of various duplications of permitting acts, e.g. licenses and authorizations, when the issues have already been examined in an EIA performed on the basis of an execution project.

·????????The period for tacit consent starts upon receipt of the environmental impact study (and not the time at which the application is deemed "duly instructed").

Environmental License

·????????Renewal of the environmental license no longer required, except if there is a substantial modification in installations or an update due to advancement in best available techniques.

·????????Possibility of waiving the environmental licensing for certain facilities in the chemical sector of non-industrial scale.

·????????Waiver of air emissions permit for installations subject to an environmental permit.

·????????Elimination of participation of accredited entities in preparatory stages of licensing procedures to obtain environmental licenses.

·????????Elimination of precedence of the approval of a livestock effluent management plan in relation to the issuance of an environmental license.

·????????Tacit consent occurs only by mere lapse of time.

Permit for Usage of Water Resources

·????????Simplification of the regime for production and usage of water for reutilization.

·????????Replacement of licensing procedures by a simple advance notice for construction works for hydraulic infrastructures and water harvesting for usage of private water resources, under certain circumstances.

·????????Adoption of the principle of only one water resources permit per operator.

Waste Management

·????????Elimination of waste permit in cases of industrial facilities that have already obtained a permit under the Responsible Industry System (SIR), replacing it by a binding opinion within the industrial licensing procedure.

·????????Removal, from the scope of application of the legal regime on waste management, of the waste management in the exploitation of mineral deposits and of mineral masses (eliminating the duplication of monitoring obligations).

·????????Possibility of carrying out waste humidification at landfills for non-hazardous waste, relieving operators from the costs of transporting and forwarding of such waste to an appropriate final destination.

Single Environmental Report

·????????Creation of the Single Environmental Report (SER) in environmental matters, with total dematerialization and elimination of redundancies.

Measures with Overarching Impact

·????????Electronic certification of tacit consent for evidencing of the obtainment of a license or authorization before any administrative entity.

·????????The authorities competent for a certain procedure may only request new documents, clarifications, additional elements or information once.

·????????Suspension of decision deadlines limited to cases in which the private individual fails to respond to the request for information within 10 days.

·????????Implementation of measures to accelerate procedures, including: concentration and simultaneous performance of certain acts; prohibition of issuance of opinions after the legal deadline; prohibition for the responsible entity to insist on the issuance of an opinion after said deadline, it being obligated to continue the procedure without such opinion; and reduction of the periods for issuance of opinions.

The measures approved by this statute become effective as from 1 March 2023, with the exception of the certification of tacit consent and the SER, which will only become effective as from 1 January 2024.

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