The Ministry for the Environment, Energy and the Regeneration of the Grand Harbour, together with the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), have launched a public consultation on the newly proposed Environment Permitting Regulations. The regulations being proposed are the first of their kind since the establishment of the first environmental laws in Malta, 30 years ago.
Through these regulations, the Government is seeking to provide a more consolidated and holistic environmental permitting framework, one which is more efficient to the user, thus benefitting the environment and the economy. This also signals a move away from the current permitting framework, which is highly fragmented.
“Last July, the Government made amendments to the Environment Protection Act to enhance public participation, transparency, and efficiency in environmental decision-making. As a result of these amendments, proposed regulation for Environment Permitting are now being presented today,” stated Minister for the Environment, Energy and the Regeneration of the Grand Harbour Miriam Dalli during a media briefing.
“The main principle has always been transparency and greater public involvement when environmental permits are issued by ERA. The new regulations present an ambitious but well-balanced position which allows for stronger environmental protection and sustainable economic development. Whilst Malta must stay competitive to support the aspirations of its people and overcome the challenges ahead, environmental protection needs to be ensured. That’s why the proposed regulations include more environmental safeguards,” stated Minister Dalli.
The new regulations categorise applications reaching ERA according to environmental risk and determine which standard processes are to be applied so as to process the application. Timelines for the application’s processing are specified to ensure that permits are processed in a timely and efficient manner. Timelines will range from 15 days, when it comes to the processing of routine permits, and go up to 270 days for complex environmental permits.
ERA CEO Kevin Mercieca, noted that “With these new regulations ERA will be able to better standardise its operations and increase efficiency when it comes to processing applications. Such efforts also compliment the hard work that ERA has been doing in terms of digitisation through the ERIS system”.
In addition to making permits available online, the regulations identify applications which will be open to the public, allowing the public to make submissions. This will result in greater transparency and active public involvement.
These regulations will be extending permitting requirements to previously unregulated activities which will now require permitting through a common and consolidated process. Permit application fees will also be revised according to the permits involved.
For further information the public is urged to visit https://era.org.mt/environmental-permitting-regulations-2024 where the consultation documents and other related information may be found. The consultation period is open for eight weeks, and submissions may be sent by email to era.policy@era.org.mt by Wednesday, 17th April 2024.
