4.
Current legislative adaptation of the environmental impact assessment process, including the European basis
The basis for the resulting form of our national legislation governing the EIA and SEA processes is the above-mentioned directives and significant amendments to national legislation arising therefrom:
Infringement amendment
This is a fundamental amendment that the Czech Republic has been forced to accept under the threat of a legal action by the European Commission (EC).
In addition to a series of minor changes, the most significant change was the binding character of the EIA opinion statement. Until then, the EIA opinion was only a non-binding basis for decision-making.
Since 2015, therefore, the outcome of the EIA process is a binding opinion (according to Section 149 of the Code of Administrative Procedure) both procedurally and in terms of the statement (favourable/dissenting opinion), and all the conditions and requirements specified therein must be fulfilled.
A wholly new feature, based on further requirement of the EC, was the introduction of an institute of a verification binding opinion or the so called “coherence stamp” to ensure that there are no significant changes in the project in the subsequent stages of the project preparation compared to the technical solution assessed in the EIA process.
Transposition amendment
Another major amendment, unlike the previous one, was the standard response to the review of the 2014 EU Directive on EIA (Member States are required to take this review separately into their national legislation).
- Totally new Annex 1 to EIA ACT listing the scope and capacity of plans that are subject to assessment,
- Inclusion of a requirement to broaden the scope of assessment by climate changes, biodiversity and concerns protected under the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)
- Inclusion of a requirement for repeated extension of validity of the opinion, which is limited to 7 years (always with a 5-year extension period) to ensure that it stays up-to-date.
Integration amendment
It was the smallest of the previous amendments and was part of the so-called “Large Amendment to the Building Act", which has newly introduced the possibility of joint or merged proceedings:
- zoning procedure and the assessment of environmental and public health impacts of projects,
- zoning and building permission procedures and the assessment of environmental and public health impacts of projects.