Report on Legislative and Regulative Amendments to Ensure That Bih Permitting Regime Is Consistent, Transparent and Investor Friendly

The activities resulted in four reports, one for each of BiH, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), Republika Srpska (RS), and Brcko District (BD). The respective governments adopted these reports and instructed Entity ministries to implement the recommendations. The USAID Energy Policy Activity (USAID EPA) continues the efforts on streamlining the permitting regime for the construction of energy facilities in BiH. EPA's task is to work with legislatures and other authorities to ensure that the BiH electricity generation and natural gas permitting regime is consistent, transparent, and investor-friendly. These efforts are primarily aimed at drafting the legislative and regulatory amendments in order to implement EIA's recommendations in the BiH legislative framework, monitoring implementation of those recommendations, and where necessary, drafting new recommendations to address any new obstacles to investments. The draft law on South Natural Gas Interconnection between BiH and Croatia was one of the key recommendations made by EIA. This recommendation aimed to facilitate the construction of natural gas infrastructure, which is a special class of facilities that can cover long distances and impact large areas of agricultural, forest, or habitable land. The draft law was intended to address the permitting procedure for natural gas pipelines and ensure that it is consistent, transparent, and investor-friendly. In the Federation of BiH, several legislative and regulatory amendments were drafted and submitted to the relevant authorities. These amendments aimed to implement EIA's recommendations in the BiH legislative framework and ensure that the permitting regime is consistent, transparent, and investor-friendly. The amendments included changes to the licensing rules, the law on spatial planning and land use, and other relevant legislation. In Republika Srpska, amendments to the law on environmental protection, the law on concessions, and the new electricity law were drafted and submitted to the relevant authorities. These amendments aimed to implement EIA's recommendations in the BiH legislative framework and ensure that the permitting regime is consistent, transparent, and investor-friendly. The amendments included changes to the permitting procedure for energy facilities and ensured that it is consistent with EU acquis. In Brcko District, new laws on electricity and renewable energy sources were drafted and submitted to the relevant authorities. These laws aimed to implement EIA's recommendations in the BiH legislative framework and ensure that the permitting regime is consistent, transparent, and investor-friendly. The laws included changes to the permitting procedure for energy facilities and ensured that it is consistent with EU acquis.