The government’s proposed amendments to the law on special solutions related to the removal of the effects of floods

The Council of Ministers with draft number UD210 wants to amend the Law on Special Solutions for Flood Recovery (as well as some other laws). The changes are to focus on 4 areas:

1. economy;
2. Real estate management, housing and construction;
3. climate and environmental protection;
4. water management.

Economy

The aim of the changes in this area is to continue providing financial support to those affected by the September 2024 floods, including entrepreneurs in particular, and to optimize the aid instruments introduced so far.

The project in this regard provides:

1. Extension of the deadline for applying for the intervention benefit (until the end of the calendar month after the expiration of 9 months from the date of the regulation, i.e., until the end of June 2025);
2. Extension of the deadline for sending the results of the entrepreneur’s damage estimation (up to 10 months from the date of receipt of the intervention benefit);
3. Changes to the rules for granting and accounting for loans by loan funds (extending to 18 months the possibility for entrepreneurs to apply for a loan; calculated from the date of conclusion of the loan agreement with the fund; abandoning the certificate confirming the damage and replacing it with an affidavit under penalty of criminal liability);
4. Introducing a housing benefit – for injured landlords of business premises to repair damage to these premises;
5. Grant of an additional period for which insurance claims will be eligible for remission.

Real estate management, housing and construction

The purpose of the changes in this area is to provide emergency assistance to the most affected residents and allow them to move to areas located outside the area of special flood risk.

The project in this regard provides:

1. Enabling the exchange of communal housing units for a flood victim who has lost the ability to live in a dwelling unit or apartment building that belongs to him;
2. Introducing the possibility of voluntary sale by their existing owners to the State Treasury of real estate previously developed with residential buildings that were damaged in the September 2024 floods and are slated for demolition (at a price determined in the amount of the market value of the land plus the value of the appurtenances in the form of residential buildings located on these properties, as well as residential and commercial premises constituting a separate object of ownership or cooperative premises located in residential buildings);
3. Granting PGW Wody Polskie the authority to voluntarily purchase real estate for the benefit of the State Treasury (in areas of special flood hazard, where the probability of flooding is high and amounts to at least 10 percent, in order to ensure effective flood protection, at the market price determined in accordance with applicable regulations on property valuation plus 20 percent);
4. Creating a system to control the development of buildings in areas of special flood hazard (records of decisions on development conditions will be periodically made available to PGW Wody Polskie in order to verify on an ongoing basis the decisions issued in terms of compliance with generally applicable regulations on development in areas of special flood hazard);
5. Amendments to the rules for issuing decisions on the location of public purpose investments and decisions on development conditions for buildings destroyed by natural disasters, including floods, rebuilt on other plots of land, including shortening the deadline for their issuance to 45 days;
6. Liberalize the conditions for taking advantage of the simplified procedure for locating residential buildings (special procedure for zoning decisions for the reconstruction of certain single-family residential buildings) and further facilitate and simplify the reconstruction of structures damaged or destroyed by the elements;
7. Propose a flood bonus as a new instrument to support the rehabilitation of multifamily buildings damaged by floods, which would complement the solutions available under the TERMO program.

Climate and environmental protection

Changes in this area are dictated by the need to rebuild damaged water facilities with different parameters, including elsewhere, in order to respond to threats to the population (mainly due to flooding). In this regard, the idea is to dispense with obtaining an environmental decision, and for a limited period of time (i.e., until December 31, 2026), and only for projects that may have an impact on the environment and that involve the construction of water facilities in pre-flood locations. This derogation will not completely exempt from procedures related to the Natura 2000 impact assessment.

This area also includes an extension of the allowance for the cost of electricity or fuel consumption required for dehumidification (to 2025).

Water management

The goal in this area is to introduce solutions that significantly speed up administrative procedures. Regulations will be developed to prevent and protect against flooding (in accordance with the requirements of EU law and the basic principles of national environmental law).

Summary and opinion

Amendments to the Law on Special Solutions for Flood Recovery appear to be moving in the right direction:

• Extension of the period of operation of support instruments;
• Simplifying the terms and conditions of support instruments;
• Introduction of new benefits (e.g., flood bonus, housing benefit);
• Simplifying, often temporarily, administrative procedures to rebuild areas damaged by the September 2024 floods as quickly as possible, including the reconstruction of water facilities on its territory to protect against flooding;
• Introducing the possibility of voluntary sale (of flood-damaged properties), repurchase (of properties significantly threatened by flooding) or exchange of flood-damaged municipal housing units;
• An attempt to create a system (exercised by the Polish Water) to control the development of buildings in areas of special flood risk.

Nevertheless, it should be noted and emphasized that these are suggested changes, and often only proposed legislative directions, and the final shape of the bill, including the scope of the changes, is not known, and therefore we do not know which of the above proposals will be further processed and finally enter into force, and which will not. Moreover, it is not known how the law will shape up in the legislative process, that is, what other changes will be made to it.

MAIN PHOTO: Fototeo Piotr Bieniecki