REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW
AMENDING ARTICLES 1, 6, 7, 8 AND 15 OF AND THE ANNEX TO LAW NO I-2223 ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND REPEALING ARTICLES 16, 17 AND 18
27 June 2017 No XIII-530
Vilnius
Article 1. Amendment to Article 1
Article 2. Amendment to Article 6
Article 6(7)(6) shall be amended to read as follows:
“6) participate and submit conclusions and proposals in the processes of the environmental impact assessment of the proposed economic activity and screening for environmental impact assessment;”.
Article 3. Amendment to Article 7
Article 7(1) shall be amended to read as follows:
“One or more natural or legal persons and the public concerned shall have the right:
1) to obtain information on the environment in accordance with the established procedure;
2) to participate, in accordance with the established procedure, in the processes of screening for environmental impact assessment of the proposed economic activity and environmental impact assessment and submit proposals;
3) to require termination of the harmful environmental impact of the economic activity;
4) to organise and participate in exercising public control of the environment;
5) to require state government and administration institutions to organise environmental education and instruction, also to freely promote environmental protection;
6) to file, in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws of the Republic of Lithuania, a complaint/application demanding to take appropriate action to prevent or minimise environmental damage or restore the environment to its baseline condition and demanding to punish the persons guilty of causing a harmful effect to the environment and the officials whose decisions or acts/failure to act has violated the rights of citizens, the public concerned, other legal and natural persons or the interests protected under the law;
7) to visit natural areas, with the exceptions of those whose visiting is prohibited or restricted;
8) to refer, in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws of the Republic of Lithuania, to court where he/they believes that his/their application filed in the accordance with the procedure laid down by the legal acts regulating the right to obtain information on the environment has been unlawfully dismissed, has been provided with a partially or completely inappropriate response or has not been given proper regard in compliance with the legal acts regulating the right to obtain information on the environment.”
Article 4. Amendment to Article 8
1. Point 3 of Article 8 shall be amended and set forth to read as follows:
2. Point 5 of Article 8 shall be amended and set forth to read as follows:
“5) where the proposed economic activity is subject to a screening for environmental impact assessment in accordance with provisions of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Environmental Impact Assessment of the Proposed Economic Activity, evaluate and have regard to proposals of the public concerned regarding the performance of environmental impact assessment of the proposed economic activity;”.
3. Point 6 of Article 8 shall be amended and set forth to read as follows:
Article 5. Amendment to Article 15
Article 15 shall be amended to read as follows:
“Article 15. Planning of the economic activity likely to affect the environment and issue of permits
The economic activity of a natural person, a legal person or a division thereof (including a foreign legal person or another organisation, also a division thereof) (hereinafter in this Article – a ‘natural or legal person’) which may have an impact on the environment shall be planned according to territorial planning documents.
The organiser (developer) of the proposed economic activity intending to pursue an economic activity subject to the procedures prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Environmental Impact Assessment of the Proposed Economic Activity shall complete these procedures prior to the issue of the permit referred to in the fourth paragraph of this Article.
State institutions and an executive institution of a municipality participating in the process of environmental impact assessment of the proposed economic activity in accordance with the procedure established by laws shall, in accordance with the procedure established by laws, evaluate the submitted documents of environmental impact assessment and, within their remit, submit conclusions or a reasoned decision regarding the environmental impact of the proposed economic activity.
The permits stipulated by laws (a construction permit, an authorisation to exploit subsurface resources or cavities, an integrated pollution prevention and control permit, a pollution permit and the permits specified by other laws) the issue whereof is subject to the obligation to submit, together with an application submitted to the issuing authority, a decision of the competent authority regarding the environmental impact of the proposed economic activity according to which the proposed economic activity meets the requirements specified by legal acts (hereinafter in this Article – a ‘decision’) or a conclusion of a screening for environmental impact assessment that environmental impact assessment is not obligatory (hereinafter in this Article – a ‘screening conclusion’) may be issued subject to a valid decision of the competent authority or the screening conclusion.
If a natural person or a legal person holds a valid construction permit or authorisation to exploit subsurface resources or cavities issued during the period of validity of a valid screening conclusion or decision, the issue of an integrated pollution prevention and control permit, a pollution permit or another permit on the basis whereof the economic activity indicated in the screening conclusion or the decision will be pursued shall not be subject to provisions of the fourth part of this Article, except in the cases when planning changes in the economic activity likely to have adverse environmental impact.
The legal persons and the natural persons preparing the design documentation for the construction, reconstruction of the structures wherein the economic activity likely to affect the environment is to be pursued or other design documentation specified in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Construction must envisage in a structure's design documentation measures for the rational use of natural resources, design measures to avoid adverse environmental impact, to prevent, reduce and, if possible, to offset it and follow the decision referred to in the fourth paragraph of this Article or the screening conclusion when the decision or the screening conclusion is obligatory in accordance with requirements of legal acts.
The conformity of the design documentation for the construction or reconstruction of the structures wherein the economic activity likely to affect the environment will be pursued with environmental requirements shall be verified prior to the issue of the construction permit by an institution responsible for environmental protection as indicated in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Construction. The permit referred to in the fourth paragraph of this Article must be consistent with the solutions set out in the decision or the screening conclusion.”
Article 7. Amendment to the Annex to the Law
Annex 2 to the Law shall be supplemented with point 4 as follows:
“4. Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (OJ 2012 L 26, p. 1), as last amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (OJ 2014 L 124, p. 1)”.
Article 8. Entry into force and application of the Law
2. The requirement stipulated in Article 15(4) of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Environmental Protection set out in Article 5 of this Law shall not apply if an integrated pollution prevention and control permit or a pollution permit issued, replaced or amended until 1 November 2017 is replaced for reasons other than a change to or extension of the operation of an existing facility or the activity pursued therein.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.