Unified Environmental Opinion (JES): Documents for Faster Proceedings

What the JES is and why to address it early

The Unified Environmental Opinion (JES) is a binding opinion on the environmental impacts of a project. It is issued under Act No. 148/2023 Coll., on the Unified Environmental Opinion, in particular for projects permitted under the Building Act and for projects linked to the EIA process.

The purpose of the JES is to replace a number of separate environmental opinions, binding opinions and statements with a single output. For the applicant this is an advantage only if the documents cover all relevant areas. If any part is missing, the authority will suspend the proceedings or call for the application to be supplemented. That wastes the time the JES was meant to save.

In practice it is therefore advisable to deal with the JES already while the project documentation is being prepared, not only when the project is finished and the last document for the building proceedings is missing.

What the JES does not replace

The JES is not a building permit. Nor is it project documentation, an EIA, an integrated permit or an operating permit for an air pollution source. It is a binding environmental opinion that is used as a basis for subsequent proceedings.

The JES also does not necessarily include every administrative act in the field of the environment. For some sensitive areas and special regimes, separate decisions or additional documents may be required. Particular care is typically needed with specially protected areas, sites of European importance, bird areas, serious interventions in nature, water-law aspects, EIA, IPPC or special regimes under other legislation.

In practice: the JES is meant to simplify proceedings, but it will not rescue an incomplete project. The authority must be clear from the documents about what is to be built, where, to what extent, with what impacts and with what measures.

When it is advisable to address the JES

The JES needs to be addressed mainly where a project is subject to a permit under the Building Act and at the same time may affect some component of the environment. For simple buildings the scope of documents may be smaller. For industrial, transport, energy, development, waste or agricultural projects the scope is usually wider.

Particular attention is advisable for the following projects:

For projects subject to an EIA, the link between the EIA and the JES must be monitored. The JES may be issued within the EIA process or after the EIA opinion has been issued, depending on the chosen procedure and the nature of the project. The data in the EIA, in the project and in the JES application must be consistent with one another.

Why delays occur

The Act assumes that the JES is issued on the basis of a complete application. The time limit for issuing it runs only from a complete application. If the application contains defects or documents are missing, the authority calls for it to be supplemented and the time limit is suspended.

Delays most often arise for the following reasons:

Most of these problems can be resolved before the application is submitted. That is cheaper and faster than repeated supplementing after a request.

Basic documents for the JES

The basic document is the project documentation for permitting the project. It must be supplemented with all the data necessary for the environmental assessment. Building drawings alone are not enough. The authority needs to know how the project will operate and what impacts it will have during construction and operation.

For simple buildings, this basis may be sufficient. For more complex projects, expert studies and specific documents must be added.

Air: when to prepare dispersion, emissions or an expert document

Air is addressed in the JES mainly where the project includes an emission source, dust, combustion equipment, technology with VOC, handling of bulk material, traffic or odorous substances.

For an industrial operation, all vents, stacks, technologies, fuels, power inputs, capacities, operating hours and emission reduction measures must be described. For warehouses and logistics, traffic is often decisive. For recycling sites and construction projects, dust, stockpiles, movement of machinery and dust suppression by spraying are often addressed.

A dispersion study is not always necessary. However, it is advisable to consider one if the project includes a more significant emission source, is located in an already burdened area, is close to residential development, or is a project that will be dealt with by the regional authority because of a listed source under the Air Protection Act.

For a quick air assessment, prepare mainly the technical data sheets of the equipment, power inputs, fuel, emission parameters, the location of vents, stack heights, operating hours, capacities and a traffic balance.

Noise: when a general description is not enough

Noise is one of the most common reasons for supplementing documents. The authority or the regional public health authority (KHS) may require proof that the project will not exceed the hygiene noise limits at the nearest protected spaces.

Noise is addressed not only for large operations. A problem may also arise with ventilation, cooling, heat pumps, compressors, loading, ramps, car parks, on-site traffic or night-time operation.

A noise study is advisable mainly where there are residential buildings, a school, a healthcare facility or other protected buildings nearby. Night-time operation is also important. A source that is unproblematic during the day may be critical at night.

It is advisable to prepare, as part of the documents, a list of noise sources, their location, acoustic parameters, operating hours, simultaneous operation of sources, traffic intensities and the position of the nearest protected buildings.

Water and rainwater

For most buildings it is necessary to address how rainwater, sewage and, where applicable, process water will be handled. It is not enough to state that water will be discharged into the sewer if it is not clear which sewer, with what capacity and under what conditions.

For paved areas, car parks, warehouses, industrial sites and handling areas, the risk of contamination must be addressed. It is often necessary to describe light-liquid separators, retention volumes, infiltration, regulated outflow, emergency shut-off devices or operational measures.

Where there are watercourses, flood zones, protection zones of water sources, drainage, wells or a high groundwater level, it is advisable to provide hydrogeological or water-management documents. For projects near wells, we recommend addressing the risk of impact on the quantity and quality of water in advance.

Waste and material flows

The JES addresses not only waste from construction but also waste from future operation. For ordinary buildings, a brief overview of construction waste and the way it is handled is sufficient. For production, recycling or waste facilities, a more detailed description is required.

For waste management facilities it is necessary to state clearly the types of waste, catalogue numbers, capacities, the way of acceptance, storage, treatment, outputs, operating regime and the link to other permits.

A common mistake is that the project describes construction waste but does not address operational waste. For a production operation this can be a serious deficiency.

Nature, greenery, ZPF and forest

If a project affects greenery, agricultural land, forest, a watercourse, a significant landscape feature, a protected area or a habitat, this part must be described specifically.

For the ZPF, the area taken, the land type, the protection class, the purpose of the removal and the link to the site layout of the building are important. For forest, the impact on land intended to fulfil forest functions and on the forest protection zone is addressed. For greenery, it is necessary to state whether trees are to be felled, to what extent and whether replacement planting is proposed.

For nature, it is advisable to verify whether the project is located in a protected area, near a European site of importance, in a bird area or in an area with specially protected species. In these cases, separate documents or decisions outside the usual scope of the JES may be required.

Traffic and construction site

Traffic is often underestimated. Yet it affects noise, air, dust, safety, roads and the surrounding municipalities. For industrial, warehouse, recycling and development projects, it is advisable to prepare a traffic balance already for the JES.

The traffic balance should distinguish passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, supply, dispatch, shift pattern and peak load. For the construction phase, construction traffic, exits from the construction site, road cleaning and dust-control measures must also be described.

For projects in a municipality or near residential development, it is advisable to describe the traffic route and any organisational measures. If traffic increases significantly, a separate traffic assessment may be required.

EIA and the JES

If a project is subject to an EIA or a screening procedure, the data in the EIA, the project documentation and the JES application must be aligned. It must not happen that the EIA states a different capacity, a different technology, different traffic or a different operating regime from the documentation for the JES.

For projects in the EIA regime, the JES may be issued following the EIA process. The choice of procedure depends on the specific project and the stage of preparation. In practice it is important that the documents are consistent and that, already at the EIA stage, thought is given to the conditions that will later be reflected in the JES and in the building proceedings.

If an investor is unsure whether a project falls under the EIA, it is advisable to verify this before submitting the JES application.

Preliminary consultation

The Act allows for a preliminary consultation with the competent authority. It is advisable mainly for more complex projects where it is unclear which components of the environment will be affected and what documents the authority will require.

A preliminary consultation makes sense in particular for industrial sites, waste facilities, larger development projects, energy projects, buildings near protected areas or projects with an unclear link to the EIA.

It is not advisable to go to a consultation with just a general idea. Prepare at least a site plan, a brief description of the project, capacities, technology, traffic connection and the expected impacts. Only then can the consultation be practically useful.

The most common mistakes in practice

The most common mistake is submitting an application without checking that all affected components of the environment are covered. The applicant attaches the project, but data on noise, vents, traffic, water, waste or land take are missing.

The second common mistake is inconsistency between individual documents. The site plan shows a different area from the technical report, the traffic section states different intensities from the noise study, the technology has different parameters from the dispersion study, or the project does not correspond to the EIA.

The third problem is an overly general description of measures. Wording such as "dust will be limited" or "noise will not exceed the limits" is not enough. Measures must be specific, verifiable and tied to actual operation.

Another frequent problem is addressing expert studies too late. If it is found only after the application has been submitted that a noise study, a dispersion study, a hydrogeological assessment or a biological survey is needed, the proceedings are needlessly prolonged.

How to check the documents before submission

Before submitting the application, we recommend going through the project using simple logic: what is being built, where it is being built, how it will operate, what will emanate from it into the surroundings and which components of the environment it may affect.

If any of these questions cannot be answered from the documentation, it is likely that the authority will request supplementary documents.

What you can send us for assessment

Send us the project documentation or at least a site plan, a description of the project, the technology, capacities, traffic, operating hours, data on vents, noise sources, water, waste, affected plots of land and information on whether the project links to an EIA or another permit.

We will check whether the JES documents cover air, noise, water, waste, soil, nature and other relevant areas. For more complex projects, we will propose whether to add a noise study, a dispersion study, a traffic assessment, hydrogeology, a biological survey or other expert documents.

You can find more about our services on the page NATURCHEM Services.

Brief summary

The JES can speed up proceedings, but only if the application is complete and properly prepared in substance. General project documentation without a description of impacts is not enough. The authority must have documents for all affected components of the environment.

Delays most often arise from an unclear description of the project, inconsistencies between documents, and missing data on noise, air, water, waste, ZPF, nature and traffic. For more complex projects it pays to check the documents before submitting the application or to use a preliminary consultation.

The operator or investor should know in advance which studies are really needed and which would be superfluous. Well-prepared documents reduce the risk of requests for supplementation and of needless prolongation of proceedings.

Factual basis of the article

It follows from these sources that the JES is not just an administrative annex to the building proceedings. It is a comprehensive environmental assessment of the project. The speed of the proceedings depends above all on whether the applicant submits complete, consistent and technically usable documents.