Court Annuls Decision: No Construction of Small Hydropower Plants on Neretva and Igaščica Without Permits!

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The District Court in Banja Luka has issued a positive ruling for the defense of the Neretva and Igaščica rivers, thereby accepting the lawsuit filed by the Center for the Environment, prepared in cooperation with the Aarhus Center in BiH, and annulled the disputed decision of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of the RS, which exempted the project holder of the Small Hydropower Plant „Marvel“ d.o.o. Kalinovik from the obligation to prepare an Environmental Impact Study for the HPP „Gornja Neretva“ Phase I, which includes the construction of MHP Grebenac Ušće, MHP Mjedenik and MHP Igrašica on the Neretva and Igaščica rivers in the municipality of Gacko.

This ruling means that the Ministry will have to issue a new decision ordering the preparation of an Environmental Impact Study, which will then be made available for public review, giving the professional and wider public the opportunity to submit their comments, suggestions and objections. During this time, the investor must not start construction until all necessary permits, such as environmental, urban planning and building permits, are secured, and only if the Environmental Impact Study is approved! The fight for the Neretva continues!, state from the Center for the Environment.

"We welcome this ruling, as it highlights all the negative aspects of the Ministry's biased conduct in such cases, which can be detrimental to the environment, and mandates that before obtaining any permits, the project's impact on nature must be examined. Hoping for more such rulings, I am confident that we will defend our rivers from the invasion of individuals who only fight for their own profit," emphasized Nina Kreševljaković, legal advisor at the Aarhus Center in BiH.

As proven through the court process, the Ministry did not act in accordance with the law when it issued the disputed decision, because it only states claims that the submitted documentation was analyzed and opinions were considered, and that it was determined that the hydropower system in question would allegedly not have a significant impact on the environment.

However, the reasons and evidence indicating the legality of the opinion, and thus the decision, were missing. The court ultimately finds that not only was the factual situation incompletely and incorrectly determined, and substantive law incorrectly applied, but that the disputed decision contains deficiencies that prevent an assessment of its legality in administrative proceedings before the court.

What the court also considered questionable is the fact that the Ministry stated in the contested act that the hydropower system would not have a significant impact on the environment, taking into account all submitted opinions, despite the fact that one of the submitted opinions from the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage lists numerous negative impacts of this hydropower system on the environment of this area. This opinion mentions that this hydropower system will lead to landscape changes and impacts on aquatic ecosystems, and that there will be a change in nature in terms of ambient value. 

Furthermore, the upper course of the Neretva River from Ulog to its very sources is one of the largest, most important and best-preserved habitats of the brown trout Salmo trutta Linnaeus, and one of the most important measures for protecting and preserving that area is the protection of special habitats, so-called fish spawning grounds. Ultimately, the Institute states that the construction of the hydropower facility of the HPP „Gornja Neretva“ Phase I system is contrary to the principles of nature conservation and protection, which the court particularly valued when issuing the ruling. 

The court states that "the Ministry, to please everyone, not only the aforementioned Institute but also the investor, would in its decision combine what is incompatible, saying that the hydropower system in question would allegedly not have a significant impact on the environment, but also that all the aforementioned opinions are strictly respected.“ 

For all the stated reasons, the court ordered that the disputed decision of the Ministry be annulled and a new administrative act be issued, respecting the legal understanding and objections of the court.