Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment has started work on draft legislation amending the Act of 3 October 2008 on access to environmental information, public participation in environmental protection, and environmental impact assessments, and certain other acts. This Draft Amendment is designed to improve the efficiency, clarity, and effectiveness of environmental permitting procedures, address practical challenges identified in the current legal framework, and ensure alignment with EU legislation.
The government plans to adopt the new law in the third quarter of 2025. The text of the Draft Amendment has not yet been published.
The Draft Amendment seeks to enhance the quality and transparency of environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures by providing a clearer definition of the parties to these proceedings, specifically enumerating the property rights that determine party status. The bill also raises the threshold for the number of parties required to use public notice procedures, which will allow for more direct notifications, and remove the obligation for parties to inform authorities of changes in property ownership. Authorities will have the flexibility to extend the period for public comments beyond 30 days in complex cases, while late comments from the public will not be considered.
A significant focus of the amendments is the digitalisation of administrative processes. The Draft Amendment introduces mandatory electronic submission of EIA applications with limited signing requirements.
Furthermore, the competence for issuing an environmental decision (ED) will be transferred from local or municipal authorities (mayors or wójt, burmistrz, prezydent miasta in Polish) to regional ones (starosts or starosta), and exceptions allowing cases to be delegated to less burdened regional environmental authorities will be eliminated.
In terms of the conduct of proceedings and content of decisions, the Draft Amendment restores previous rules regarding the necessity of EIA for projects that potentially impact protected areas, while introducing changes to allow for negative impact assessments where a full EIA is not required. Environmental authorities will have greater influence on the selection of project variants, and the conditions and obligations specified in EDs will be more detailed. The Draft Amendment also provides for the suspension or termination of proceedings if required documentation is not submitted within three years.
The use and transfer of EDs are also addressed. The Draft Amendment introduces criteria for verifying the continued validity of EDs and extends the obligations arising from such decisions to successors in title, ensuring continuity despite changes in project ownership. The rules for transferring EDs to other entities will be clarified.
According to the Draft Amendment, the suspension of EDs and the repeal of immediate enforceability of EDs will necessitate the suspension of investment works where they are reflected in EDs.
In short, the Draft Amendment represents a comprehensive reform of Poland’s environmental permitting system, with a strong emphasis on digitalisation and procedural clarity.
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