Decree-Law no. 153 of 17 October 2024, the so-called “Environment Decree”, was published in the Official Gazette No. 244 of 17 October. It introduces urgent provisions regarding the environmental protection of the Country, the streamlining of environmental assessment and authorisation procedures, the promotion of a circular economy, and the implementation of interventions for the remediation of contaminated sites and hydrogeological instability. The text approved by the Council of Ministers on 10 October entered into force today.

Briefly, the decree aims to (a) simplify environmental assessments on renewable sources, (b) boost remediation and combat hydrogeological instability (c) strengthen protection of waters, and (d) promote the circular economy.

To this end, priority is given by law to projects concerning plants which produce electricity from green hydrogen or renewable energy sources, interventions for the modification, even substantial, refurbishment, upgrading or complete reconstruction of wind or solar plants, as well as on-shore photovoltaic and on-shore agrivoltaics projects with a nominal capacity of at least 50 MW and on-shore wind farms with a nominal capacity of at least 70 MW.

Thanks to the Environment Decree, in order to speed up environmental assessment times, in cases where there are justified contingent needs of a functional and organisational nature, the Via-Vas Technical Commission may be assigned the assessment of projects that would otherwise be the responsibility of the Pnrr-Pniec Technical Commission.
With specific reference to projects for energy production from renewable sources, both Commissions may make use of the operational support of the Gse (Italian Energy Services Manager).

In addition, the Decree suspends the issuance of new research permits and liquid hydrocarbon production concessions – except for those concessions related to research activities that have already been carried out or that are in progress with permits already issued at the date of entry into force of the Decree – and reduces the minimum distance from the coast for gas extraction from 12 to 9 miles.

In order to strengthen soil protection and the fight against hydrogeological instability, on one hand, there is a census and monitoring system which is implemented through the Rendis platform (National Repertoire of interventions for soil protection); on the other – also in order to prevent droughts – the decree introduces, in Legislative Decree no. 152/2006 (Consolidated Law on the Environment), the definition of “treated wastewaters” i.e., domestic and industrial wastewater that, once treated in a treatment plant, can contribute to the recharge or increase of groundwater bodies.

On the subject of waste, the reformulation of Art. 11 of Legislative Decree 49/2014 for the restitution of WEEEs stands out: the “One-for-One” system is introduced alongside the “One-for-Zero” system in order to simplify the collection and storage of WEEEs and improve the level of awareness on the correct management and recycling, favouring the recovery of critical raw materials. In addition, the End-of-Waste Unit will be set up, which will have the specific task of providing qualified support for the identification of criteria for the cessation of waste status pursuant to Article 184-ter of Legislative Decree 152/2006.

Lastly, the simplification in the rules to identify the Technical Manager of waste management for SMEs is important.
From a reading the new rules, it is clear that the Government intends to simplify the procedures for environmental assessments, restore certainty to the rules, and ensure compliance with the deadlines to achieve the decarbonisation objectives, as well as for the spread of renewable energy and energy security provided by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) and the Energy and Climate Plan (Pniec). It will be necessary to wait for the implementation of the new provisions to verify their actual innovative scope as well as their effectiveness in terms of pursuing and achieving the set goals.