Amendments to Bulgaria's Environmental Protection Act passes first hearing

On July 27, a draft bill of amendments and supplements to the Bulgarian Environmental Protection Act passed its first hearing in the nation's parliament, and will be the subject of proposals and suggestions until September 25, after which the bill will return to lawmakers for a second hearing.

As previously reported in Law-Now, this draft bill – among other things – makes the Minister of Environment and Waters competent to decide on:

• the necessity of having environmental impact assessments for investment proposals, their extensions or amendments in the Black Sea; or
• to issue a resolution for such assessments.

As the Act currently stands, the Director of Regional Inspection of Environment and Waters is responsible for rendering the above decisions.

This change will, in particular, have great implications on offshore projects involving prospecting, and oil and natural gas exploration in the Black Sea.