The decree of the Constitutional Court on the annulment of the “Provision concerning the exclusion of oil, geothermal resources, mineral exploration activities from the scope of Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE)”and “Provision enabling the grant of supervisory power to bodies except from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry” of the Legislation on Amending the Environmental Law numbered 5491 has been published in the Official Gazette.

The decree of the Constitutional Court on the annulment of the “Provision concerning the exclusion of oil, geothermal resources, mineral exploration activities from the scope of Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE)”and “Provision enabling the grant of supervisory power to bodies except from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry” of the Legislation on Amending the Environmental Law numbered 5491 has appeared in the Official Gazette.

The decree of the Constitutional Court on the annulment of the “Provision concerning the exclusion of oil, geothermal resources, mineral exploration activities from the scope of Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE)”and “Provision enabling the grant of supervisory power to bodies except from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry” of the Legislation on Amending the Environmental Law numbered 5491 has been published in the Official Gazette.

AFTER THE ENVIRONMENT IS POLLUTED…

It was highlighted in the annulment justification of the Constitutional Court that the ways to avoid the detrimental impacts are quested rather than cleaning the polluted environment or restoring the deteriorated environment as it is too costly to restore the environment after it is polluted or deteriorated and even impossible in some cases. It was reported in the statement underlining that EIE is one of the methods resorted to so that the investments and activities to be taken up for development and financial improvement that the basic element that is aimed to protect through the EIE is the environment and those it accommodates.

HAZARDOUS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

The following was stated in the justification: “It is all out clear that exploration activities excluded from the scope of EIE could lead to changes in the biological variety or in the environment, these changes could bear long term impacts and thus, pose a threat to environment. In this regard, it is a necessity sourced from the commitment to preserving of the environment undertaken by the state as per Article 5 of the Constitution that EIE be stipulated to eliminate and avoid the available hazards in the exploration activities falling under the scope of the legislation. It is in violation of the Article 56 of Constitution to bar the oil, geothermal resources and mineral exploration activities from the scope of the environmental impact evaluation as stipulated by the legislation.”

IT CANNOT BE SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION OF MINISTRY

It was underlined in the justification of the Court to abolish the article on supervisory power that it is against the Constitution to subject the transfer of authority to an institution or organization to the jurisdiction of Ministry without making clear by law to whom the authority will be granted. And in the justification to rescind the amendment regarding ‘A period of respite up to 1 year after legislations are published officially can be granted by the Ministry to the businesses which were operating when the regulation took effect for fulfillment of their commitments’, it was declared that ‘The amendment that conditions the starting date of the one year respite that will be granted for the fulfillment of additional commitments on official publishing of the legislation the date on which it will be published officially has not been made clear is contradictory to the Constitution on the grounds that it leads to ambiguities on the preservation of the right to environment.’ The annulment judgments shall enter into effect in 6 months.