The Ministry of Environment and Water proposes changes to facilitate the operation of small hydropower plants

The Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) will propose to the Council of Ministers changes in the Ordinance on the use of surface waters, which achieves compliance with the Water Act.

The proposed amendment removes the current regulation, which contradicts the provisions of the Water Act in the part for required documents for the extension of a permit for water abstraction for hydropower plants. The new texts eliminate the requirement to apply a document for an established building right when extending a permit for a hydropower plant, the Ministry of Environment announced.

The Ministry of Ecology will also submit amendments to the MoEW in the Council of Ministers. The new texts supplement and specify the restrictions on water abstraction from surface waters and, more precisely, inland rivers.

The Collegium of the Ministry of Environment and Water considered the Law on Amendments to the Water Act, which proposes to prohibit the issuance of permits for diversion hydropower plants on inland rivers.

The change is necessary in connection with the need to protect aquatic ecosystems and is a preventive measure against the deteriorating condition of surface water bodies.