The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands is preparing the first regional decree that will regulate discharges from land to sea in the archipelago, a regulatory tool that will allow, among other purposes, to reinforce the protection of marine ecosystems.
The decree also aims to simplify and streamline administrative procedures and provide "greater legal certainty" to administrations, companies, and citizens, as the Ministry reported this Wednesday in a statement, detailing that the document is in the public consultation phase.
The participation process for citizens, entities, and interested organizations will be open until June 30 through the participation portal of the Government of the Canary Islands.
The preparation of this decree responds to the need to provide a solution to a problem that the Canary Islands have been facing for years due to the lack of its own regulatory framework that allows for greater guarantees in managing discharges into the sea.
Until now, the archipelago only had general state regulations and non-binding guidance documents, a situation that generated administrative difficulties and a lack of homogeneity in procedures.
The Director General of Environmental Quality, Ángel Montañés, has pointed out that this initiative is part of the roadmap that the Ministry has launched to advance in the effective protection of the marine environment.
"The Canary Islands have been living with a reality that requires decisive solutions and planning for too long. Our objective is clear: we want our coasts and our marine environments to be in good health and have the necessary tools to guarantee their conservation and recovery," he explained.
Montañés recalled that last year the Ministry presented the update of the Canary Islands' discharge census, a work that provided an updated overview of the existing situation in the archipelago.
According to the Director General of Environmental Quality, the future regulation will allow, for the first time, a specific regional procedure for the application, processing, and granting of discharge permits, homogeneously defining emission limits, control and monitoring mechanisms, and the conditions that permits must meet.
Among the main objectives of the decree is the creation of an autonomous procedure for granting discharge permits, the discharge fee, and the regulation of its content and control conditions, among others.
The establishment of homogeneous maximum values for the entire archipelago, the creation of a public registry of permits, and the integration of these procedures with concessions linked to the public maritime-terrestrial domain are other aims of this decree.
Likewise, the norm aims to regulate the deadlines and conditions for review, renewal, expiration, and termination of permits, establish a transitional regime to adapt existing ones, and contribute to simplifying both authorization procedures and monitoring and inspection tasks.
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