On October 17, 2024, Decree-Law No. 153 was issued, titled “Urgent Provisions for the Environmental Protection of the Country, Streamlining Environmental Evaluation and Authorization Procedures, Promoting the Circular Economy, and Implementing Interventions for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites and Hydrogeological Instability.” It was published in the Official Gazette on October 17, 2024, No. 244, and came into force on October 18, 2024 (the “DL Ambiente”).
Priority Criteria – Amendments to Article 8 of Legislative Decree 152/2006 – Article 1 of the DL Ambiente
Article 1 of the DL Ambiente amended Article 8 of Legislative Decree No. 152 of April 3, 2006 (“Legislative Decree 152/2006”), which, on the topic of environmental evaluations, now stipulates that:
(i) Under Paragraph 1 of Article 8, the Technical Committee for Environmental Impact Assessment (VIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (VAS) and the Technical Committee for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) – National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) are required to prioritize, in handling proceedings within their jurisdiction, in the following order:
- Projects related to programs declared of strategic national interest pursuant to Article 13 of Decree-Law No. 104 of August 10, 2023;
- Those meeting the characteristics outlined in Article 30 of Decree-Law No. 50 of May 17, 2022;
- Projects with a proven economic value exceeding €5 million, or an expected increase in employment of more than 15 positions, as well as projects linked to deadlines within 12 months, set with peremptory deadlines by law or third parties, and projects for already authorized plants whose authorization expires within 12 months of the application submission.
(ii) Under Paragraph 1 of Article 8, project types designated as priority are identified by decree of the Minister of Environment and Energy Security (MASE), in concert with the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (“the Decree”), based on the following criteria: a) Technical and economic reliability and sustainability of the project relative to its implementation; b) Contribution to the decarbonization goals set by the PNIEC; c) Relevance to implementing investments in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR); d) Enhancement of existing works, plants, or infrastructure.
(iii) Under the new Paragraph 1-bis of Article 8, pending the adoption of the Decree, the following project types are to be considered priority, in the following order: a) Projects concerning green or renewable hydrogen plants and related renewable energy plants; b) Modifications, including substantial changes, for the refurbishment, enhancement, or full reconstruction of wind or solar-powered plants; c) Onshore photovoltaic and agrivoltaic projects with a nominal power of at least 50 MW and onshore wind projects with a nominal power of at least 70 MW.
(iv) Under the new Paragraph 1-ter of Article 8, up to three-fifths of the processing capacity is reserved for projects considered priority under Paragraph 1 or Paragraph 1-bis, where applications are processed chronologically within each category, based on the date of notification to the proposer under Article 23, Paragraph 4, of Legislative Decree 152/2006 (according to which the competent authority must simultaneously notify the proposer and all potentially interested administrations and territorial bodies of the publication of the application-related documentation on its website) (“the Notification”).
Non-priority projects are processed for each type of plant in chronological order, based on the date of Notification. To ensure the uniform and consistent application of the project processing order within environmental assessment procedures, MASE informs the Ministry of Culture of the priority order, which then considers this in its decisions.
(v) Under the new Paragraph 2-novies of Article 8, where there are substantiated functional or organizational contingencies, the President of the VIA-VAS Technical Committee and the President of the PNRR-PNIEC Technical Committee may jointly assign projects, which, under current legislation, would typically fall under the PNRR-PNIEC Technical Committee, to the VIA-VAS Technical Committee, provided that the procedural regulations regarding the environmental impact assessment of PNRR and PNIEC projects remain applicable.
Amendments to Article 19 of Legislative Decree 152/2006 – Article 1 of the DL Ambiente
Article 1 of the Environment Decree also amended Article 19 of Legislative Decree 152/2006. Following these changes, the updated provisions are as follows:
(i) According to the new Paragraph 6 of Article 19, once, and within 15 days from the deadline stated in Paragraph 4 (i.e., within 30 days from the publication notification of the documentation on the website), any interested party may submit comments to the competent authority regarding the preliminary environmental study and the accompanying documentation. The competent authority may then request clarifications or supplementary information from the applicant to avoid subjecting the project to the Environmental Impact Assessment (VIA) procedure, granting a period not exceeding 30 days for submission. If the applicant does not provide the requested clarifications or additions within the assigned time frame, the application is considered rejected, and the competent authority must archive it.
(ii) Under the new Paragraph 6-bis of Article 19, the competent authority must issue the VIA screening decision within 60 days from the end of the 30-day period following the publication notification, or, in cases under the aforementioned Paragraph 6, within 45 days of receiving the requested clarifications or supplements.
- In exceptional cases involving the project’s nature, complexity, location, or scale, the competent authority may extend the deadline for issuing the VIA screening decision once, by up to 20 days. In these cases, the authority must promptly notify the applicant in writing, explaining the reasons for the extension and providing the anticipated date for the decision. This notice is also published on the competent authority’s institutional website.
(iii) Under Paragraph 10 of Article 19 of Legislative Decree 152/2006, the complete VIA screening decision, including rationale, is published on the competent authority’s website. The VIA screening decision has a defined temporal validity, no less than 5 years, as specified within the decision itself, taking into account the project’s projected completion time, required authorization processes, and any proposal from the applicant included in the VIA screening documentation.
- If the VIA screening decision’s validity period expires without project implementation, the process must be repeated unless the competent authority grants an extension. This extension is based on a request (the “Request”) from the applicant, including an updated explanatory report with relevant assessments of the environmental context and any changes, including to the project, that have occurred.
- Unless there are changes in the environmental context or project modifications, the extension decision will not include any new or additional requirements beyond those set out in the original VIA screening decision. If the Request is submitted at least 90 days before the expiry of the original validity period, the VIA screening decision remains effective until the competent authority makes a determination regarding the extension. Within 15 days of the Request submission, the competent authority will verify the completeness of the documentation. If incomplete, the authority will request additional information from the applicant, allowing a maximum of 20 days to provide it. If the applicant fails to submit the supplementary documentation within the allotted time, or if the authority finds the documentation incomplete after a subsequent review within 10 days of submission, the Request is considered withdrawn, and the authority proceeds with archiving.
Amendments to Article 25 of Legislative Decree 152/2006 – Article 1 of the DL Ambiente
Article 1 of the Environment Decree also amended Article 25 of Legislative Decree 152/2006. Under these amendments:
(i) According to Paragraph 2-quinquies of Article 25, the approval from the Director-General of the Ministry of Culture includes the landscape authorization referred to in Article 146 of Legislative Decree 42/2004, provided that the landscape report allows for a positive assessment of the project’s landscape compatibility. The Ministry of Culture must provide sufficient justification if authorization is denied.
- In cases where the Ministry of Culture disagrees with the favorable opinion from the Environmental Impact Assessment (VIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (VAS) Technical Committee and/or the PNRR-PNIEC Technical Committee, Article 5, Paragraph 2, letter c-bis) of Law No. 400 of August 23, 1988, can apply. According to this law, “The President of the Council of Ministers (…) can refer the decision to the Council of Ministers to ensure a comprehensive assessment and harmonization of the public interests involved in decisions with conflicting evaluations among the relevant administrations.”
- When a decision made under Article 5, Paragraph 2, letter c-bis), of Law 400/1988 overrides the Ministry of Culture’s dissent, it serves as the positive VIA decision and includes the landscape authorization under Article 146 of Legislative Decree 42/2004.
(ii) Under the new Paragraph 7-bis of Article 25 of Legislative Decree 152/2006, in cases involving projects subject to state-level environmental assessments, any measures adopted under Article 5, Paragraph 2, letter c-bis), of Law 400/1988 substitute the VIA decision entirely.
The VIA Application – Article 1, Paragraph 2, of the DL Ambiente
According to Article 1, Paragraph 2, of the Environment Decree, for projects related to energy production from renewable sources, the applicant must include with the VIA application under Article 23 of Legislative Decree 152/2006 a declaration certifying their legitimate control, by any legal means, of the land area and, if required, the resources necessary for implementing the project.
Support from GSE S.p.A. – Article 1, Paragraph 3, of the DL Ambiente
Under Article 1, Paragraph 3, of the Environment Decree, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) may obtain operational support from Gestore dei Servizi Energetici S.p.A. (GSE) for the VIA and VAS Technical Committees and the PNRR-PNIEC Technical Committee in relation to renewable energy production projects. This support, based on a specific agreement, will be available from 2025 onward.
For further details, please contact our Energy Team or refer to the full text of the Environment Decree at the following link: DL Ambiente Text.
