The organizations point out that this ‘explicit environmental processing’ standard has not achieved its objective of streamlining authorization processes implementation of renewable energy sourcesbut according to the new renewable energy sources directive it has set a dangerous precedent.
Renewable energy projects that submit applications for administrative permits after December 31 will no longer be eligible for the Environmental Impact Determination mechanism, also known as “express environmental processing,” which is expiring. Environmental organizations are asking the Board to permanently withdraw this measure shortens and excludes citizens from the environmental assessment in the necessary use of renewable energy sources.
The implementation of renewable energy sources
The organizations fear that the Executive may want to expand this mechanism in response to the European Commission’s recent request for non-compliance with the European Renewable Energy Directive regarding streamlining the processing of renewable energy sources. In this case an extension of express environmental processingafter December 31, would be a serious mistake, according to the NGOs.
The organizations recall that the same Renewable Energy Sources Directive, which entered into force after the explicit environmental processing, limits the application of rapid processing mechanisms such as those for the ‘acceleration zones’, prior to the strategic environmental assessment and the presentation of a mitigation plan for potential impacts on the biodiversity. On the other hand, the same directive prohibits the suppression of public participation in rapid processing mechanisms. Therefore, there is an extension of the deadline for promoters to qualify for the express environmental processing It would represent a further violation of the same directive.
For this reason, NGOs are asking the government to urgently implement alternatives to accelerate the transition that do not lead to losses environmental guarantees and citizen participation in the development of renewable energy sources.
There are options such as the digitalization of procedures, the creation of a single point of contact, improving coordination between governments and territorial planning for the deployment of renewable energy sources that exclude areas protected and very ecologically sensitive. All these measures are mandatory in accordance with the Renewable Energy Directive and are, however, not being implemented in Spain, despite the deadline for doing so passing in July 2024.
Environmental organizations share the need to speed up procedures for renewable energy sources, but the mechanisms that shorten environmental guarantees and eliminate public participation respond more to the interests of certain companies than to general interests and encourage social rejection, which ultimately leads to delays. the opposite effect that was aimed for with the standard.
They also point out that this streamlining should be possible by providing more resources and staff for the processing of permits, in addition to ensuring that the evaluations are as rigorous and accurate as possible, so that they do not defeat the purpose of preventing ecological and social consequences.
Furthermore, they ask to replace it environmental processing through acceleration mechanisms that include citizen participation and that promote projects in anthropic areas (ports, roads, parking lots, polygons, landfills or old mines among others), urban, industrial, developable areas, with low environmental sensitivity, roofs, existing infrastructure and by energetic communities.
NO more ‘expressive environmental processing’
Environmental groups claim so nothing justifies the elimination of public participationnot even in areas with low environmental sensitivity. Never mind that the entire unprotected area is de facto converted into acceleration zones without even having carried out a prior strategic environmental impact assessment, as required by the revision of the European Renewable Energy Sources Directive.
NGOs share the need to urgently replace fossil and nuclear energy with sustainable energy, in addition to reducing consumption an improvement in energy efficiency, and they remember that the way to do this is clear: give more resources to the departments responsible for environmental assessment and territorial planning and zoning, and plan an orderly and binding commitment that gives priority to the projects that are most closest to where it is consumed.
Facilitate the development of renewable energy sources in areas of low environmental sensitivity, giving priority to degraded areas (e.g. heavily urbanized areas, industrial areas, areas occupied by infrastructure, etc.), and, as the government already had in June 2022 decided, in those areas that have been identified as having a low environmental impact.
The mechanism for determining environmental impact is known as ‘expressive environmental processing’. In 2022, the Spanish government will de facto establish a number of zones acceleration for sustainable energy in which environmental safeguards are relaxed, giving the civil service only two months to prepare an environmental impact report (in the event that the project is admitted to go through the fast-track route) and suppressing public participation in the environmental process.
A distinction must be made between two versions of the express environmental processing: the “limited” and the “without limits.” On March 31, 2022, the government began limiting this rapid process only to areas with low and medium environmental sensitivity and a capacity of less than 75 MW for wind energy and 150 MW for photovoltaic energy (“restricted” – RDL 6/2022). Society was against it and it was limited to areas of low sensitivity. Unfortunately, public participation was not reintroduced.
However, on December 29, 2022, the pressure is on to find solutions to the rising cost of living consequence of gas dependencethe government has de facto transformed the entire Spanish territory into an acceleration zone for renewable energy sources (with the exception of the Natura 2000 network and the sea), regardless of the size of the facilities (“without borders” – RDL 20/2022) . A large group of environmental organizations opposed this decision.
Up to 277 projects have requested rapid environmental processing between the first entry into force on March 31, 2022 (RDL 6/2022) and today. Of these, 65 were carried out via the fast track environmental evaluation; another 74 have been named the normal environmental assessment64 have not been admitted to express processing due to non-compliance with legal requirements, in 44 cases the companies have refrained from this procedure and in another 4 no information is available on the meaning of the resolution.
The remaining 26 cases are still in the application phase. However, interest from the same renewable industry is waning as there are only 66 projects left in 2024 have opted for environmentally friendly processing express compared to the 128 requested in 2022 and the 83 in 2023.
The 33 months of explicit environmental processing have shown that citizen participation is not responsible for the delays in the processing of renewable plants. In fact, only 3.5 projects per month are evaluated through the express route, which is a far cry from the massive streamlining promised by the executive branch.
The organizations are asking for the non-extension of explicit environmental processing, because this means a reduction in environmental guarantees public participation in the necessary use of renewable energy sources. They claim that since its entry into force, 277 renewable energy projects have applied for explicit environmental processing, although interest from promoters is clearly waning.