Legal dispute over gas bores: Nature conservation laws on the test bench!
Legal dispute over gas bores: Nature conservation laws on the test bench!
The Austrian government is facing a change in nature conservation law! The Constitutional Court (VfGH) recently felled a fundamental judgment that could turn the legal foundations for nature conservation upside down in Upper Austria. The decision was necessary after the environmental roof association and the nature conservation association had submitted a complaint against the approval of gas test bores in Molln at the end of 2023 at the State Administrative Court (LVWG). These holes are located not far from the Kalkalpen National Park and had triggered considerable concerns.
like Kleine Zeitung reported, the approval of the nature conservation authority before the VfGH was contested. A central point of the decision is the new regulation in the nature conservation law from 2014, which introduces a reversal of evidence. This means that a complaint no longer automatically leads to a suspensive effect, but the need for this must be proven. This could significantly influence nature conservation, since previous legal protective mechanisms are undermined.
In this context, there are efforts to check and adapt the legal bases. The responsible politician expressed the intention of legally clarifying whether the current wording in the law may be too general. The effects of these decisions are pursued intensively because they could have far-reaching consequences for future projects in the field of environmental and nature conservation. The situation in Molln could therefore be the trigger for a comprehensive reform in the Upper Austrian Nature Conservation Act, as well as the VfGH-decision.| Details | |
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| Ort | Molln, Österreich |
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