The bill adopted on Wednesday by Parliament, establishing that any protected area can be destroyed, is a disgrace that will devastate extraordinarily valuable forests for generations to come, Environment, Waters and Forests Minister Diana Buzoianu said in a post on her Facebook page.
„Minutes ago, Parliament passed a bill, backed by the AUR [Alliance for Romanians’ Union], the PSD [Social Democratic Party], the PNL [National Liberal Party] and the UDMR [Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania], which establishes that any protected area can be destroyed. A draft law, pushed and voted for by the AUR and close allies from other parties, who are demanding, in short, that protected area boundaries be changed within 60 days or that projects approved by the CSAT [Supreme Council for National Defence] no longer have to meet any environmental conditions. I have said it before and will say it again when needed: the environmental protection laws exist because we collectively decided not to ruin the water we drink, the air we breathe, to die slowly from pollution and leave a poisoned country for future generations. Those calling to scrap environmental rules play into the hands of clever guys who prefer to get rich fast and throw away the health and safety of millions of Romanians,” Buzoianu underscored.
According to her, the environment laws do not block hydropower plants, but rather block inefficient hydropower plant projects that no longer generate energy because Romania’s waters no longer have the respective flows.
In Buzoianu’s view, „the law adopted today in Parliament is a disgrace that will destroy extraordinarily valuable forests in the country for generations to come.”
„I will continue to fight for Romania’s forests. My duty is not with insolvent companies or state-owned companies, but with all those who will ask us in 20-30 years, ‘What did you do to make this country a better place to live in?’,” Diana Buzoianu pointed out.
The deputies passed a draft law on Wednesday which stipulates that changes to the boundaries of protected areas are allowed only if, as of 29 June 2007, the land in question had investment objectives for hydroelectric developments approved by Government decision or state decree and these projects were either under construction or had been marked out before that date.
The Chamber of Deputies adopted the bill amending Article 561 of the Government Emergency Ordinance No. 57/2007 on the regime of protected natural areas, the conservation of natural habitats, flora and fauna, as well as Article 5(1) of the Law No. 292/2018 on the environmental impact assessment of certain public and private projects.
The bill passed with 262 votes in favour and 33 against. Previously, the Senate, as the first chamber to be notified, had rejected the draft law. AGERPRES
