How to Prepare for the Effectiveness of the Unified Environmental Opinion Act (JES)?

In our last article (https://www.arws.cz/news-at-arrows/what-is-the-single-environmental-statement-and-what-should-it-deliver) we summarized what the acronym JES stands for and what to expect from the unified environmental opinion. With the approaching effectiveness of the Unified Environmental Opinion Act (as soon as January 1, 2024!), it's crucial to be alert and prepare for the new legal regulation.

(photo: colleagues from the ARROWS Hradec Králové)

Effective from January 1, 2024? Not quite!

Although the JES Act comes into effect from January 1, 2024, it will not apply to all construction plans for another 6 months after this date. A key piece of information, not immediately apparent to the layman's eye, can complicate the realization of your construction plan in practice.

What will JES be used for in the meantime?

During the first 6 months of the effectiveness of the JES Act, it will be necessary to differentiate between individual buildings and choose the right procedure based on this. The JES Act is linked in this respect with the new Construction Act. The fundamental change in construction law processes required their gradual implementation, which is why a transitional period also applies to the application of JES.

The transitional period is from January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2023. During this phase, the JES Act will only apply to specifically defined construction plans - so-called reserved buildings listed in the appendix of the Construction Act. These buildings include, for example, highways, railways, buildings for production and storage, gas and electricity plants, and others.

Who to contact with your request?

Issuing of JES will fall under the jurisdiction of several administrative authorities, from the municipal office with extended competence to the Ministry of the Environment. The authority responsible for issuing JES in a specific case is determined by law – the Ministry of the Environment is responsible for larger projects, where EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) is required, at the regional level, projects subject to EIA (outside the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment), and other projects, where the regions were competent according to the previous legal regulation, will be dealt with, and the municipality with extended competence then has the so-called residual agenda.

How long does it take to issue JES?

The competent authority will issue JES within 60 days of submitting a complete application, with an extension possible for another 30 days considering the specific circumstances. Therefore, if you submit an incomplete application, the deadline will start running only after its completion, so a thoroughly prepared application can significantly speed up the process.

The competent authority did not issue JES within the deadline? Fiction!

Another acceleration of the entire process is the fiction of issuing a consent opinion. If the competent authority does not issue JES within the deadline, there is a fiction that it issued a consenting JES without conditions.

Anna Pokorná collaborated on the article.