Serbia adopts new Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Act
The National Assembly has adopted the new Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Act ("IPPC Act"). The IPPC Act transposes Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (IED) into Serbian law and aims to ensure more effective prevention, reduction, and control of environmental pollution.
The IPPC Act broadens the scope of activities subject to the IPPC regime, places greater emphasis on the application of best available techniques (BAT) and BAT conclusions set out in BAT reference documents (BREFs), and increases the frequency of environmental inspections.
One of the key changes is the digitalisation of the integrated permitting procedure, aimed at providing a more structured permitting process and increasing the use of electronic communication, thereby reducing administrative burdens for both operators and authorities. Secondary legislation governing this area will be adopted, and the electronic database fully established, within 3 years of the entry into force of the IPPC Act. If properly implemented, these measures could facilitate the processing of applications and provide access to relevant information on the status of individual cases, which is particularly important given the significant number of pending IPPC permitting procedures and the resulting administrative backlog.
Other notable changes include:
- clearer and more detailed application requirements – the IPPC Act provides a more comprehensive framework for the documentation accompanying IPPC permit applications, including clearer requirements for new and existing installations;
- greater transparency and public participation – the IPPC Act maintains broad public access to environmental information and opportunities to participate in consultation procedures. These provisions reflect the requirements of both the IED and the Aarhus Convention and are intended to improve transparency and public participation in environmental decision-making;
- enhanced role of the technical commission – the IPPC Act requires the technical commission to be established within ten days of receipt of a complete IPPC permit application and strengthens its role in providing expert support to the competent authority throughout the permitting process.
According to the IPPC Act, inspection authorities may order existing operators operating without a permit to obtain one, while new operators may be prohibited from commencing operations without the required permit. This distinction creates legal uncertainty as to whether inspection authorities have an adequate legal basis to prohibit the continued operation of existing installations that fail to obtain the required IPPC permit (under the previous legislation, inspection had clear authority to prohibit the operation of installations operating without the required IPPC permit, regardless of whether they were new or existing ones).
IPPC permits issued under the previous legislation will remain valid until their expiry, while procedures initiated before the entry into force of the IPPC Act will be completed under the legislation previously in force. In addition, operators are required to submit a notification to the competent authority within six months of the entry into force of the IPPC Act for the purpose of identifying installations and activities subject to IPPC permitting requirements – the generality of this provision implies that even operators who have already been identified as IPPC operators are required to submit this notification.