ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: David A Röttgen, Andrea Farì, Francesco Fonderico and Ermanno Fonderico, Ambientalex Studio Legale
Filing an Appeal Without prejudice to the right to ask the competent authority to reconsider its decisions, the plant’s man- ager, or any subjects with legal standing, can file an appeal before the competent regional administrative court within 60 days of notification or publication of the administrative decision taken by the competent authorities. For some sectors, Italian law provides a special shorter term of 30 days within which to take action. However, against many, but not all, types of administrative decisions, it is also possible to file an appeal to the President of the Italian Republic within a longer term of 120 days. Rulings of the regional administrative courts can be appealed before the Council of State ( Consiglio di Stato ). 4.3 Regulators’ Approach to Policy and Enforcement The regulator is paying increased attention to environ- mental issues. In particular, rules are being adopted to regulate the various disciplines established at EU level into Italian law. Although the strategic discussion is now predominantly at EU level, the implementa- tion of the NRRP has prompted deep reflection on the opportunities offered by the green economy, trigger- ing numerous changes in laws to simplify procedures and reduce conflict (eg, territorial) for the construction of infrastructure. However, there has not been a cor- responding change to the legal framework related to administrative sanctions or criminal offences affecting the environment. The legal framework related to administrative sanc- tions and offences affecting the environment has recently increased penalties and transformed many of the offences from contraventions to crimes (see 3.2 Breaching Protections ). 4.4 Transferring Permits/Approvals Environmental permits can be transferred. However, due to changes in regulations, this transferral depends on the type of permit and its specific regulations. Recent corporate changes in many industrial groups have had consequences for the permit process in both administrative and legal terms. Administrations
have received many more requests for permit trans- fer. However, while the transfer is regulated in detail for some permits (such as for the IPPC), for others (such as waste treatment permits) the legal frame- work is established by the regions or the provinces, which sometimes have slightly different positions on an issue. 4.5 Consequences of Breaching Permits/ Approvals The legal and practical consequences of breaching a permit/approval may be of: • a criminal nature in more serious situations (eg, in connection with environmental disasters and pol- lution, waste, environmental permits and remedia- tion); • an administrative nature (eg, in connection with an EIA); or • a remedial nature (eg, in connection with liability for environmental damage). The measures that should be taken to avoid this type of liability are to obtain a permit and to comply dili- gently with the relevant conditions. According to the type of liability, ordinary remedies may be sought before the criminal or civil and/or administrative judi- cial authorities. Depending on the respective environmental sectors involved, key types of liability may arise under admin- istrative, criminal and/or civil law. Administrative fines or criminal penalties are imposed according to a clas- sification set forth by law, depending on the serious- ness of the offences. Civil liability may arise under specific provisions of the Italian Civil Code ( Codice Civile ), under other special legislation as well as under contractual law, depending on the type of operation (eg, M&A transactions, purchase contracts, etc). Although Italy recognises the “polluter pays” principle, in practice this principle cannot always be complied with. Therefore, liability may also arise for landowners that do not qualify as operators or polluters. In gen- 5. Environmental Liability 5.1 Key Types of Liability
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