The Council declares actions without environmental impact assessments null and void

The Consell has approved Decree-law 9/2026, of November 6, on urgent measures for the modification of the environmental prevention and control regime of activities and waste management, which declares null and void by operation of law the acts of granting or formalization of activities issued while omitting the required environmental impact assessment. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV) number 10493, of November 13, 2026, within section I, General Provisions, with the official reference DOGV-C-2026-34588. It enters into force on November 14, one day after its publication.

The reform is issued under article 50.6 of the Statute of Autonomy regarding environmental matters and modifies Law 6/2014, of July 25, on environmental prevention, quality, and control of activities, and Law 5/2022, of November 29, on waste and contaminated soils for the promotion of the circular economy. The text, consisting of 17 pages, responds to the Agreement of February 24, 2026, of the Bilateral Cooperation Commission of the General State Administration-Generalitat, which required the rewriting of the section introduced by Decree-law 6/2025, of May 7, to avoid a jurisdictional conflict. The Consell justifies the urgency based on the litigation and legal uncertainty generated by the current framework.

Nullity by operation of law and evaluation in sanctioning proceedings

The new section 6 of article 14 of Law 6/2014 establishes that acts of granting, formalization, modification, and review of activities issued while omitting the applicable environmental impact assessment procedure shall be null and void by operation of law, without prejudice to any applicable sanctions. Furthermore, when the execution of a project subject to regional environmental assessment without a prior declaration or report is sanctioned by a final ruling, the sanctioning resolution may impose the obligation to evaluate the significant effects on the environment.

The preamble specifies that such evaluation may in no case be considered an impact assessment for the purposes of Law 21/2013, of December 9, and shall be based on the principles of compensation and reversal of impacts. The regulation also rewrites articles 32 and 43, which set the deadline for the environmental pronouncement at two months and the deadline for discrepancy between bodies at twenty business days, and updates article 63 regarding substantial modifications of facilities with an environmental license: the holder may execute a non-substantial modification if the city council does not oppose it within one month.

Closure of facilities and control of collaborating entities

A new article 63 bis is incorporated, which regulates for the first time the definitive cessation of activities subject to an environmental license. Before the closure, the holder must:

• Remove, control, contain, or reduce the hazardous substances present in the facility.
• Prevent and avoid the contamination of soil and groundwater.
• Avoid emissions of gases or pollutants derived from the activity.
• Eliminate or minimize the risks of fire, explosion, or accident.

The competent body may require a closure action plan and additional restoration measures. In parallel, Article 84 extends to fifteen days the prior hearing before the closure or shutdown of activities without an enabling title, and Article 93.3 incorporates as a serious infringement the issuance of reports containing falsehoods or essential inaccuracies by collaborating entities, as well as acting in areas for which they are not authorized.

Waste: electronic traceability and emergency capacity

In Law 5/2022, Article 58.5 makes the electronic processing of waste transfers mandatory through the ADCR 3.0 platforms for those subject to prior notification, and TRAZA for identification documents. Article 59 imposes an electronic chronological archive with a minimum preservation period of five years available to the Valencian Agency for Waste and Circular Economy.

The new tenth additional provision allows the Consell to mobilize facilities during emergencies: supra-municipal entities must make all their resources available to the Generalitat, and disposal plants, regardless of ownership, the treatment capacity determined by a reasoned resolution. The regulation also adjusts Annex II and sets the environmental license for poultry farms of more than 60 large livestock units and pig farms of more than 75, and reforms Article 22 of Law 8/1998 on foundations, requiring prior authorization from the Protectorate for the most relevant contracts.

The decree-law directly affects companies with an environmental license, project promoters, and city councils, which assume the verification of non-substantial modifications and closures. The regulation declares that its application will have no impact on the Generalitat’s budgets and refers to subsequent parliamentary processing for its validation.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana, no. 10493, November 13, 2026, Section I. General Provisions, page 1 (official reference: DOGV-C-2026-34588).