Czech Deputies Pass Building Law Amendment: Critics Warn of a Rollback in Nature and Heritage Protection

The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament has passed a sweeping amendment to the building act that environmentalists, lawyers and the ombudsman say will significantly weaken protections for nature, historic monuments and citizens' rights in construction matters. According to environmentalist Jaroslav Blaha, deputies from ODS played a key role in toughening an already controversial bill, repeatedly siding with the government majority to push through some of its most damaging provisions.

He explains that the new law concentrates all building-related decisions in the hands of a single central building "super-authority." Critics warn this will not only raise the risk of corruption but effectively strip protection from monuments, nature and the environment, since decisions will be made by officials whose main job is to approve construction rather than assess its consequences. There are fears that such centralization could cause the entire building-permit system to collapse.

The amendment also significantly restricts the rights of citizens and property owners to voice their opinions on planned developments, while narrowing their options for judicial protection. Before the final vote, the Czech ombudsman sent deputies a list of especially problematic provisions, warning of violations of basic legal principles and restrictions on the rights of those involved in building procedures. Similar warnings came from the Czech Chamber of Architects, the Czech Chamber of Certified Engineers and Technicians in Construction, academic experts responsible for heritage protection, and a number of municipalities.

Although experts largely describe the law as "beyond fixing," some deputies tried to soften at least individual provisions — but nearly all such attempts failed.

For instance, the amendment undermines territorial planning: developers will now be able to push through changes to municipal master plans via a municipal council, bypassing the elected representative body — meaning without public input or scrutiny from opposition deputies. Deputy Marie Krškova (KDU-ČSL) and her colleagues from the Green and Pirate factions tried to fix this, but their proposal was blocked by deputies from ANO, ODS, SPD, the Motorists, three STAN deputies and one Pirate deputy.

The law also lifts protection from the most valuable farmland along motorways and first-class roads, opening the door to warehouse complexes and shopping centers being built right next to highways. Deputy David Pražák (ANO), together with colleagues from the agriculture committee, tried to preserve soil protections, but the outcome was a compromise — lifting protections within a 500-meter radius of highways rather than the originally proposed 1 kilometer. Deputy Karel Haas (ODS) pushed for an even more drastic reduction of farmland protections, but this extreme version was supported only by deputies from his own party.

Environmentalists are especially outraged by the scrapping of mandatory approval from nature-protection authorities for construction and other potentially harmful activity in buildable zones within national park buffer areas. Deputy Veronika Kovářová (Pirates) and colleagues opposed this, but ultimately a proposal by deputy Vojtěch Krňanský (Motorists for Themselves) passed, which eliminates the requirement for national park administration approval even within a 150-meter zone outside the buildable area — covering pesticide use, changes to water regimes and other potentially harmful actions. No clear justification was given for this particular figure. The measure passed thanks to near-unanimous support from ODS: without their votes it would have failed, since three ANO deputies did not back it.

The law also weakens protection for urban trees: an attempt to preserve the existing rules for assessing tree removal in protected zones around water and sewage pipelines (which often cover substantial areas) failed due to votes from the ANO majority, all ODS deputies, part of SPD and all the Motorists. A similar fate befell an alternative proposal from the Greens and Pirates.

Another new provision simplifies the legalization of unauthorized construction: attempts by KDU-ČSL, the Pirates and STAN to block this failed to gather a majority against votes from ANO, ODS, SPD and the Motorists.

Thanks to an amendment from deputy Filip Turek (Motorists for Themselves), the law also simplifies the construction of hazardous-waste incineration facilities (making it easier than for ordinary waste incinerators) and radioactive-waste storage sites, leaving municipalities and local residents with fewer ways to influence such decisions. Once again, ODS votes, joining the government majority, proved decisive here.

Deputies Marie Pošarová and Libor Vondráček (SPD) secured a provision giving hydropower plant construction automatic priority over nature conservation, even in protected areas and zones of pan-European significance — in conflict with EU directives. This provision was backed by the ANO majority, nearly all ODS deputies (except former Prime Minister Petr Fiala), all of STAN, part of KDU-ČSL, almost all of SPD, most of the Motorists, and two TOP09 deputies. Only the Pirates voted unanimously against it.

Separately, the law scraps the requirement for environmental impact assessments when designating new mining sites.

Some deputies also tried to introduce positive changes — for example, enshrining climate-change adaptation measures as a matter of public interest to be considered in territorial planning. This initiative from the Pirates and Greens was rejected by votes from ANO, ODS, SPD and the Motorists. An attempt to ease restrictions on the participation of environmental organizations in approval procedures also failed.

The amendment's final text also includes provisions with nothing to do with construction at all — such as an initiative from Filip Turek that shifts liability for injuries on hiking trails in national parks onto landowners. This will force them to cut down trees en masse along trails or post warning signs at every turn, even though it would make more sense to leave wilderness excursions at the hiker's own risk. A more balanced alternative — a clarification of the civil code releasing landowners from liability for damage caused by falling trees or branches in windy conditions — was proposed by deputy Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL), but it was rejected by ANO, ODS, SPD and the Motorists.

As the author of this analysis stresses, this is only part of the picture: numerous other initiatives, mainly from the Pirates and KDU-ČSL, aimed at preserving landscape protections and preventing corruption schemes, were blocked by the government majority, which was joined by ODS deputies in nearly every instance.

The final word may now rest with the Senate and the president, who have the power to send the law back to the Chamber of Deputies for reconsideration. In that case, its final passage would require 101 votes.

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Source: ekolist.cz