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The Parliament of Georgia adopted the Draft Law " On Industrial Emissions" in the first reading.
The Draft Law" On Industrial Emissions" submitted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture to the Parliament of Georgia was adopted at the plenary session in the first reading.
The First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mrs. Nino Tandilashvili, presented the Draft Law "On Industrial Emissions", which aims to fulfill one of the most important obligations set forth in the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, specifically, the transposition of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on industrial emissions.
The mentioned Draft Law envisages the gradual imposition of a wide spectrum of new obligations for industrial enterprises from 2026.
Industrial enterprises must introduce cutting-edge technology and equipment into their manufacturing processes to reduce air, water, and soil pollution.
The proposed draft law envisions the issuance of an integrated environmental permit, within which the existing environmental permits, including environmental impact assessment procedures, will be integrated. Consequently, environmental permits will be issued for businesses through a single-window principle. The mentioned process is entirely consistent with European best practices.
The European Union Directive on industrial emissions regulates activities of large industrial facilities that pose greater environmental pollution risk. Metallurgical and chemical industry enterprises, thermal plants, and other involved companies and activities with potentially high environmental risks are considered to be such facilities.
Considering the new draft law, environmental conditions will be defined for the enterprises within which the enterprise should operate, which refers to air emissions and reduction of air pollution from enterprises, as well as prevention of water pollution, environmental pollution with waste, and soil pollution.
Since the regulations are complex, reasonable deadlines are defined for their implementation.
In particular, from 2026, any new enterprise that decides to start operating in specific sectors defined by the draft law will be required to obtain an integrated permit, and from 2029, new obligations will be gradually imposed on existing enterprises across the country.