Senate to vote Monday on bill changing protected areas. Environmental NGOs call for rejection of the anti-nature law

Press release from Agent Green & Bankwatch România

Bucharest, 10.03.2022. On Monday, the Senate will vote on a legislative proposal allowing changes to protected areas for hydropower projects. Environmental organisations Bankwatch, Agent Green and WWF are sounding the alarm and calling on senators not to vote for a law that will mutilate at least three nature parks.

PL117/2022 proposes changing protected-area boundaries where hydropower projects are under construction and were approved before those areas were declared protected. In a position letter sent to senators, the environmental organisations stress that the law will give the green light to continuing projects declared illegal by Romania’s highest court.

“Taking advantage of the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, several parliamentarians want to justify the illegal spending of substantial sums and are rushing a law tailored to small hydropower projects through the Senate. These projects would completely destroy two national parks and several water bodies. In breach of the usual committee procedures for examining bills, Romania’s Senate intends to adopt on Monday, allowing less than a week for committee examination, a legislative proposal permitting changes to protected-area boundaries,” said Cătălina Rădulescu, lawyer for the environmental organisations.

The organisations warn that the legislative changes contravene the Habitats Directive, transposed into national law by Emergency Ordinance OUG 57/2007, and the Environmental Assessment Directive, transposed by Law 292/2018. Under these directives, only projects concerning public health or safety may be exempted, or projects obtaining the European Commission’s endorsement. The hydropower projects targeted by this law have not been submitted to the Commission, NGO representatives say.

Negative environmental impact and a small energy contribution

The Bumbești-Livezeni and Răstolița hydropower plants are two of the projects for which the law is proposed. They lie within Defileul Jiului National Park and, respectively, Călimani National Park and Defileul Mureșului Superior. Starting up the plants will drastically reduce river flows, negatively affecting all biodiversity and directly affecting otters and fish populations such as bullhead and huchen, an endangered species.

“In reality, the two plants under discussion would contribute at most 0.6% to electricity production in the national energy system and would reduce the affected rivers’ flows. Maximum production would only be achieved with river flows at ’80s levels, conditions that no longer exist today because of climate change. The same amount of electricity could be generated by photovoltaic parks with around 180 MW of installed capacity on the many degraded sites in southern Romania or on house roofs, without harming the environment,” said Ioana Ciută, President of Bankwatch România.

The investments under discussion were made in breach of the environmental laws mentioned above. Consequently, the Jiu plant’s building permit was definitively annulled in 2017, while Răstolița holds an environmental agreement issued in 1990, consisting of two pages and including no environmental protection measures. Once the areas were declared a National Park and the Natura 2000 network was established, environmental procedures should have been revised.

“It is clear that this law is specifically drafted to legitimise the construction of hydropower plants declared illegal. Yet starting them up would have an irreversible impact on biodiversity, whatever the law says. Romania has a major problem with small hydropower plants built in mountain areas, which dry up substantial stretches of rivers. That is why we ask senators not to vote for a law that would destroy even more of Romania’s unique habitats,” said Gabriel Păun, President of Agent Green.

About Bankwatch România

Bankwatch România is an association founded in 2012 to prevent the negative environmental and social impacts of public and private projects and promote sustainable alternatives and public participation in decision-making. Its main field of activity is reducing pollution in the energy sector, with an emphasis on reducing fossil fuel use.

About Agent Green

The AGENT GREEN association is a non-governmental, non-profit environmental protection organisation founded in Romania in 2009. The organisation’s focus is investigating environmental crimes, strategically exposing them, and promoting solutions to conserve biodiversity and ensure the well-being of future generations.