The Polish government proposes easing environmental regulations for local road projects to expedite infrastructure development, particularly at the municipal level.
Government Aims to Speed Up Road Investments
The Polish government intends to accelerate road investments in local governments through deregulation of environmental decision-making processes.
The Ministry of Infrastructure seeks to exclude certain road expansion or reconstruction projects from the environmental impact assessment procedure and the requirement to obtain an environmental decision. This deregulation is intended to speed up investments, especially those undertaken by local authorities.
Changes to Environmental Impact Regulations
The proposed changes concern the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of September 10, 2019, concerning projects that may significantly impact the environment. Paragraph 3 of the regulation identifies projects potentially significantly impacting the environment, including some road investments.
Current Environmental Review Thresholds
Currently, paragraph 3, point 62 of the regulation generally includes roads with hard surfaces exceeding 1 km in length, requiring a procedure and obtaining an environmental decision (with some exceptions for road or bridge reconstructions serving power plants located outside protected areas).
Proposed Exemptions
The Ministry of Infrastructure now wants to expand the exemptions to include additional investments.
Retroactive Application of New Rules
The new regulations will apply to proceedings for issuing environmental conditions initiated and not completed before the date of entry into force of the proposed changes. The regulation will come into effect 14 days after its publication.
Majority of Local Investments are Minor Roadworks
The Ministry of Infrastructure emphasizes that most investments carried out in municipalities and counties involve reconstruction and repairs of short road sections, primarily surface replacement, sidewalk reconstruction, or improvements to road shoulders and ditches. In most cases, authorities have determined that an environmental impact assessment is unnecessary.
Rationale for Deregulation
“The above aims primarily to facilitate actions and accelerate investment processes carried out by road managers, especially local government roads, giving the project a deregulatory character,” argues the Ministry of Infrastructure. The ministry adds that road repairs positively impact the environment, offering improved parameters, smoother traffic flow, and reduced noise and pollution.
Legal Expert Commentary
“The problem of lengthy environmental decision-making procedures is a general one, so it applies not only to such investments. Nevertheless, I positively assess the action aimed at simplifying the implementation of road investments regarding relatively short road sections,” comments Dagmara Czajka, a legal counsel and expert in environmental law.
Legal Basis and Legislative Stage
The draft regulation of the Council of Ministers amending the regulation on projects that may significantly impact the environment has been submitted for coordination and public consultation.
