The Bulgarian Green Party (Zeleno dvizhenie) has appealed the decision of the Director of the Burgas Regional Inspectorate for the Environment and Water to assess the need for an environmental assessment of the Detailed Development Plan (DDP) for four plots of land with a total area of 32,058 m², located in the Alepu area, a plot of land belonging to the town of Sozopol, Sozopol Municipality, Burgas Region.
The plan changes the development zone, in accordance with the current Master Plan of the Municipality of Sozopol, from a development zone for villa development – “Ov”, to a development zone for resort and complementary activities – “Ok 4/5”, with development parameters and development indicators for zone “B” under the ZUCHK.
The contracting authority plans to build an apartment hotel and a family-type dormitory on the properties. The permissible built-up area will increase from 6400 sq.m. to 9600 sq.m., and the developed built-up area will increase from 19200 sq.m. to 32,000 sq.m. or by 40%.
The plan treats an area falling within two protected areas of the national Natura 2000 network – “Ropotamo” with code BG0001001 and “Ropotamo Complex” with code BG0002041. The appealed decision also includes a procedure for assessing the need for an assessment of compatibility with the objectives of the Natura 2000 protected areas.
Zeleno dvizhenie
In 2024, an act was drawn up against the owner for illegal logging of part of the entire territory of an area of 24,700 sq.m. trees, shrubs and grasses from the territory occupied by habitat 91M0 (Balkan-Pannonian cerovo-gorun forests) and filling the deforested territory with soil and crushed stone.
The owner has initiated a voluntary agreement, by which he agrees that he committed the violation and will pay the penalty voluntarily. The owner has paid 3500 leva in penalties.
PP “Green Movement” challenges the decision of the Director of the RIEW Burgas with the following reasons:
The decision is in violation of the long-standing practice of the Court of Justice of the EU, based on the principle of loyal cooperation, requiring the Member States to eliminate the unlawful consequences of any violation of European law. It is undoubtedly evident from the Agreement between the investor and the RIEW Burgas that the deforestation carried out in 2024 was subject to an assessment of the need for an EIA, which was not carried out. Therefore, the Director of the Burgas Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and Water was obliged, within the limits of his powers, to take all necessary measures to eliminate the failure to carry out an environmental impact assessment in order for the investor to make such an assessment.
The amendment to the Master Plan subject to the decision falls within the scope of Annex 1 of the Environmental Protection Act (item 24.a – holiday villages, hotel complexes outside urbanized territories with a total area of over 10 decares and facilities thereto) and in Annex 2 (item 1 d primary afforestation and deforestation for the purpose of changing the purpose of the land). This categorically leads to the conclusion that the plan is subject to a mandatory environmental assessment under the procedure of Art. 85 para. 1 of the Environmental Protection Act.
The Director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and Water of Burgas, in the Agreement on the illegal logging of part of the property, considers that what was done falls within the scope of Annex 2 of the Environmental Protection Act, but when assessing whether the deforestation of the entire property and its development with aparthotels, he indicates that the deforestation does not fall within Annex 2 and is not subject to an environmental assessment.
The Director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and Water, instead of fulfilling his obligations under the Law on Liability for the Prevention and Remediation of Environmental Damage and obliging the violator to restore the destroyed natural habitat on an area of 25 decares, allows it to be destroyed on the remaining 7 decares that are still preserved.
The Director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and Water violates the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU in case C 323/17 not allowing the assessment phase to take into account measures to avoid or reduce the harmful effects of the plan on protected areas.
The Director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water, concludes that the plan will not damage any natural habitat type or species in two Natura 2000 protected areas without specifying any of them.
The construction of apart-hotels and family-type dormitories on an area of up to 32,000 sq.m. of gross built-up area, where domestic and fecal water is stored in watertight tanks and subsequently transported by vehicle to the nearest WWTP, is inappropriate in terms of air pollution from vehicle internal combustion engines, the load on road connections in the region and the impact on the quality of life and climate change.
In conclusion, we request that you cancel the Decision of the Director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and Water Burgas N BS-113-EO/08.08.2025 to assess the need for an environmental assessment of a plan as violating the Environmental Protection Act and the Environmental Protection Act, before carrying out a procedure under the Environmental Protection Act and inappropriate with regard to wastewater management.
