After several months of legislative
work at the government level, the Sejm passed a spatial planning reform. The
key elements of the new regulations for the RES industry include:
• Replacement of studies of conditions and directions of spatial development by general plans by the end of 2025.
• Introduction of a simplified procedure for adopting / amending the local plan for RES (so-called ZIP)
• 5-year period of validity of GM decisions which did not become final before the entry into force of the new regulations
• Obligation to locate new PV installations on the basis of the local spatial development plan, excluding installations up to 1 MW located on land other than agricultural land of class I-IV and forest land. However, until the date of expiry of the study of conditions and directions of spatial development of a commune in a given commune, a change in land use consisting in the construction of a PV installation may also take place on the basis of a decision on land development conditions
• Adoption of a local plan enabling the location of RES will be possible regardless of any provisions of the study, and compliance of the plan with the study in this respect will not be subject to verification.
The bill will soon be sent to the Senate, which is obliged to consider it within 30 days from the date of its receipt. The date of entry into force initially planned by the Ministry of Development and Technology is September 2023.
