ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: David A Röttgen, Andrea Farì, Francesco Fonderico and Ermanno Fonderico, Ambientalex Studio Legale
Furthermore, waste plants subject to IPPC legislation are required to carry out a baseline report, set forth by European IPPC legislation, in order to investigate the status of the soil and groundwater. Reclamation obligations may also arise from the applicable “best available techniques” (BAT) conclusions. Furthermore, environmental permits do generally require the opera- tor of a waste management plant to investigate the soil and groundwater upon the occurrence of inci- dents and damage. Breach of the above obligations incurs administrative and criminal sanctions. 16. Environmental Disclosure and Information 16.1 Disclosure and Reporting Requirements Disclosure Italian environmental legislation provides for a wide variety of disclosing obligations related to environ- mental issues, particularly when contamination and/ or environmental damage occurs. The threat of envi- ronmental damage or a case of potential contami- nation is sufficient for the operator to be required to notify the local authorities and to take preventative measures. If the operator fails to immediately notify the authorities about the harmful event and to take the necessary preventative measures, financial penalties are established by law for the period of delay in taking measures. Reporting Requirements Italian legislation allows a wide variety of sources to impose reporting obligations. Environmental permits generally require the operator to comply with specific reporting obligations, both on a regular basis as well as in the case of incidents, damage, pollution, etc. In addition, reporting obligations also arise under sector-specific environmental legislation applicable to the activity exercised by the operator (eg, waste management, IPPC activities, Seveso legislation, ETS, extended producer responsibility legislation, etc). In the case of potential contamination being found, Ital- ian brownfield legislation extends to a reporting obli- gation on the part of owners or entities operating on such land. Reporting orders may also be issued by the competent authorities within investigative actions. Also, civil law agreements (eg, insurance contracts,
lease contracts, M&A deals, etc) may establish spe- cific environmental reporting obligations. Further reporting obligations may also arise under legislation regulating social and environmental disclosure (see 16.1 Disclosure and Reporting Requirements ; 6.5 ESG Requirements ; 15.3 Circular Economy Require- ments ; 15.4 Rights and Obligations Applicable to Waste Operators ; and 16.3 Corporate Disclosure Requirement ). Self-Reporting Requirements Italian environmental legislation provides for a wide variety of reporting obligations – eg, for contami- nated land (see 12.5 Investigating Environmental Accidents ), industrial plant management (see 16.1 Disclosure and Reporting Requirements ), waste management, EPR (see 15.3 Circular Economy Requirements ), etc. Furthermore, reporting obliga- tions may also arise under the respective environmen- tal authorisation regimes. Recent legislation regulating social and environmental disclosure also imposes dis- closure obligations on the subjects indicated therein (see also 16.3 Corporate Disclosure Requirement ). 16.2 Public Environmental Information According to Legislative Decree No 195/2005, trans- posing Directive 2003/4/EC, public entities (referred to in a broad sense) are required to make environmental information available to the public. Further obliga- tions arise under Article 40 of Legislative Decree No 33/2013. The right of access is very broad. From a subjective point of view, anyone who requests documents entail- ing environmental information has a right to be grant- ed access, without the subject having to demonstrate an interest in them. From an objective point of view, the notion of environ- mental information is broad, as such information may be contained in any material. Anyone wishing to obtain access can file a request to the public administration, which must make the docu- mentation available within 30 days from the date of receipt of the request, or within 60 days in the case of a complex or particularly wide request.
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