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The Court of Justice of the European Communities has informed the High Court of Ireland that An Bord Pleanála’s decision in 2018 to extend the planning permission for a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal worth € 500 million in the Shannon estuary should be subject to a new environmental assessment within the EU framework. Habitats Directive.
The proposed terminal was to process LNG from the US for consumption in Ireland and possibly be distributed throughout the EU. The original permit was granted in 2008.
According to Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), which brought an initial action before the High Court, “the ruling is a positive development of previous European Court jurisprudence and has far-reaching implications for other major projects in Europe that will ensure greater environmental Protection. ”.
The European court ruled on Wednesday that the evaluation of the time limit extensions for projects could take into account the results of previous evaluations, but would still have to verify changes in environmental data and if there were relevant changes in scientific knowledge.
These could include more up-to-date surveys, changes to the project and the possible impact of other plans and projects under the EU Habitats Directive, said Fred Logue, a lawyer for the FIE.
The ruling came after a reference to the European Court by Judge Garett Simons in early 2019. The references seek to clarify cases before national courts in which a question of EU law arises.
The court determined that it was up to the “competent authority” to decide whether a proper assessment was needed in the Shannon LNG case and would therefore reopen in the Irish court for interpretation to apply.
Shannon LNG Ltd’s proposal is for four liquefied natural gas tanks, docks to receive LNG ships and associated works near Tarbert, Co Kerry. Objectors, including singer Cher, have raised a number of concerns, including over the proposed use of fractured gas.
The decision casts new doubts on the project, the abandonment of which was a central demand of the Green Party as a precondition for government formation talks.
The Government Program states that “as Ireland moves towards carbon neutrality, we do not believe that it makes sense to develop LNG gas import terminals that import fractured gas. Accordingly, we will remove the Shannon LNG terminal from the EU’s Projects of Common Interest (PCI) list in 2021. We do not support the import of fractured gas and will develop a policy statement to establish that approach. “
The list includes those that are considered key energy infrastructure projects of importance to the EU.
FIE argued that the planning permit should not have been extended until 2023 without an environmental assessment, as the special protection areas in the Shannon estuary, where the terminal would be built, had been expanded in the meantime.
An Bord Pleanála, which granted permission under the fast-track provisions for strategic infrastructure, submitted that there were no changes to the planned development, so the case did not have to be reconsidered before extending the permit.
Advocate General Juliane Kokott, in an opinion issued in April, found that to ensure “complete, accurate and definitive statements that are capable of dispelling any reasonable scientific doubt about the impact,” the permit should not have been renewed without an environmental impact assessment. .
“As early as 2008, that development consent did not contain complete, precise and definitive findings and conclusions capable of eliminating any reasonable scientific doubt about the effects of the proposed works in the area,” he said. “Certainly, today it is unable to rule out the risk that the area is adversely affected.”
The state, according to the attorney general, was obliged to “close gaps” before extending the permit.
In July, anti-fracking activists called on the government to honor commitments to prevent the development of new fracking gas import terminals in Ireland, by immediately publishing a promised energy policy statement.
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