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Does "removing barriers" in planning and construction come at the expense of the environment? - Walla! Real estate

2023-03-05T09:48:51.349Z


The policy of "removing the barriers" adopted by the government as part of the infrastructure law incorporated into the settlement law - may have dramatic future consequences for the quality of life of citizens and the environment in Israel


As part of the Infrastructure Law incorporated in the Settlements Law, the government is promoting a policy of "removing barriers" with the aim of speeding up the planning of national infrastructures and enterprises.

But what does it really mean to remove barriers in planning and construction and how might this affect the quality of the environment and life in Israel?



According to a position paper of the organization 'Safe Crossings for Wildlife', which works to reduce harm and extinction of wildlife, caused by the fragmentation of habitats by roads, construction and railroads - the policy of removing the barriers could have dramatic future consequences for the quality of life of citizens and the environment in Israel. Background



:

The Settlements Law groups under one roof, laws and amendments to legislation on various topics. Within it, the Infrastructures Law is embedded - a chapter on the promotion of national infrastructures, which concerns many aspects of environmental considerations, and places gatekeepers to ensure that environmental interests are preserved.

Megiddo Forest (Photo: ShutterStock)

In order to speed up the planning of national infrastructures and enterprises, efforts were made in the Ministry of Finance to replace the environmental consultants with privately employed external consultants, a decision that was recently approved by the government and its result - the removal of the Ministry of Environmental Protection consultants from all planning committees and institutions.



Even though the Ministry of Finance is the main factor these days promoting the change of the Settlements Law while "bypassing", according to the organization, all institutions including the Ministry of Planning.



In addition, the organization wishes to emphasize that it is not the only one, as the initiative is expected to pass separate legislation in the government and the Knesset, alongside the fact that although the decision is expected to harm the powers of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Minister of the Ministry, Idit Silman, voted in favor of it - which illustrates the complexity of the issue and the scope of the influencing factors on him

So what is the problem, and how is it related to the reform of the judicial system?

In the aspect of the National Infrastructures Law - today, the Ministry of Environmental Protection serves as an environmental consultant and supervisory body for the planning institutions, and expresses its position or succeeds in determining changes in infrastructure and construction plans where there is environmental damage, and this according to clear criteria - which creates balance and supervision of decisions that may affect the environment.



The "removing the barriers" policy adopted by the government these days may have dramatic future consequences for the quality of life of citizens and the environment in Israel, the organization claims - since, when the consultants of the Ministry of Environmental Protection are fired, a closed circle of private consultants is created, so that the developer hires a private consultant who supervises him Another private consultant hired by the planning authorities.

In this situation the planning system will lose the environmental balance.



And so, the series of decisions being promoted today creates a number of problems:

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The Ministry of Environmental Protection is out of the picture

The Ministry of Environmental Protection is out of the picture - there is no supervising body and there are no clear criteria for a supervising environmental government body.

As a result, in all the planning projects, which determine on the ground decades ahead, without the Ministry of Environmental Protection retaining the right to monitor, guide, and obtain objections regarding weighty planning procedures.

The reform of the judicial system will make it difficult for the petitioners for the environment

The court is weakened, there is a difficulty in submitting petitions by the Greens because they do not want to lower the reason of reasonableness.

There is no possibility of an in-depth examination because the expedited schedule will not come at the expense of examining all aspects related to the plan, including environmental considerations, quality and complete planning of all its stages and maintaining high standards in all stages of execution.

The power of the commercial interests in the committees increased - an opening for corruption

The environmental consultants who become private are the factor - thus creating a circle of private environmental consultants, where a first consultant conducts an inspection and prepares an environmental report/documents paid by the project developer, and a second private consultant "inspector" - paid on behalf of the planning committee (composed of projects and planning factors that are not owners Environmental matters are distinct and essentially "supervise" themselves), and without the involvement of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.



Thus, it is not clear which interests will influence the private consultants whose salary comes from the planning bodies, there is no certainty whether all the required environmental aspects will be checked in advance or omitted and whether they will be specified in the environmental documents at the request of the entrepreneurial party - something that could increase the power of the commercial interests in the committees, create conflicts of interest and open the door to corruption.

Screenshot from the organization's website (photo: screenshot, "Safe Crossings for Wildlife" organization)

In conclusion, the organization 'Safe Passages for Wildlife' demands from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Finance "not to shorten processes and make decisions that may affect environmental planning in Israel in the long term, and to leave the environmental consultants on behalf of the Ministry of Environmental Protection to the various planning committees."

  • Real estate

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  • real estate

  • environmental quality

Source: walla

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