The Environment Minister, Maria da Graça Carvalho, announced that the restructuring of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) is practically completed and should be shortly submitted to the Council of Ministers. The minister made this statement to the Lus news agency, on the sidelines of the Castro Mineiro festival in Castro Verde, in the Beja district.
The process is currently with the Minister of the Presidency and Administrative Modernization, Gonçalo Matias, and according to Maria da Graça Carvalho, after a quick meeting, it will proceed to legislative process. The restructuring was announced by the Government in May, with the aim of promoting a deep simplification of licensing procedures.
The minister justified the need for this reform by explaining that there is a great dispersion of responsibilities between the central APA and the regional hydrographic administrations, as well as between the central ICNF and its regional delegations. The restructuring aims to reduce steps, deadlines and administrative requirements, making procedures more efficient and faster.
With these changes, directorates for river basins directly dependent on the national structure will be created within the APA. At the ICNF, decisions related to environmental impact studies will be concentrated at central level, while the regional delegations will focus more on natural parks, biodiversity and regional matters.
