4. Federal Law which enacted the Energy Infrastructure Act, amended the Environmental Impact Assessment Act 2000 and repealed the Federal Act on the deadline and the procedure in the cases of Article 12 (3) of the B-VG

The National Council has decided:

table of contents

Article 1:	Energy infrastructure law
Article 2:	Amendment of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act 2000
Article 3:	Repeal of the Federal Law on the deadline and the procedure in the cases of Art. 12 (3) of the B-VG

Article 1

Federal Law on the Implementation of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 on guidelines for European infrastructure (Energy Infrastructure Act-E-Infrastructure G)

table of contents

Part 1
General provisions
§ 1.	Reference to Union law
§ 2.	Scope
§ 3.	Objectives of the law
§ 4.	Definitions
§ 5.	Delimitation of other legislation
§ 6.	Responsible Energy Infrastructure Authority
§ 7.	Tasks of the Energy Infrastructure Authority and the coordination of procedures
§ 8.	Transparency of the PCI selection process
§ 9.	The cross-border impact of a project
Part 2
Procedure
§ 10.	Advance section
§ 11.	Formal Approval Section
§ 12.	Coordination of procedures by the Energy Infrastructure Authority
§ 13.	Experts, procedural costs
§ 14.	Securing the expansion of line systems
Part 3
Transitional and final provisions
§ 15.	Administrative penalty provisions
§ 16.	Transitional provisions
§ 17.	entry into force
§ 18.	Enforcement

Part 1

General provisions

Reference to Union law

§ 1. This federal law provides for the accompanying provisions of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure and repealing Decision No 1364 /2006/EC and amending Regulations (EC) No 347/2013. 713/2009, (EC) No 714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009, OJ L 145, 31.5.2009, p. No. OJ L 115, 25.4.2013, p. 39, (TEN-E-VO).

Scope

§ 2. (1) This federal law is subject to the projects relating to the federal territory which are projects of common interest (PCI) in accordance with Article 2 Z 4 of the TEN-E-VO.

(2) § 1 to § 8 and § 14 to § 18 are to be applied to all projects of common interest (PCI).

(3) § 9 to § 13 are not to be applied to PCI, which is the UVP obligation under the Environmental Impact Assessment Act 2000 (UVP-G 2000), BGBl. No 697/1993, as amended.

Objectives of the law

§ 3. The aim of this federal law is to issue accompanying regulations to the TEN-E-VO, whereby

1.		-to upgrade energy infrastructure in the European Union in order to prevent technically related outages or failures caused by natural or man-made disasters;
2.		To facilitate and speed up infrastructure projects linking the European Union's energy networks with third country networks;
3.		the European electricity grid is to remain stable under the changing conditions caused by the increased volume of energy produced from variable renewable energy sources;
4.		to strengthen Austria's innovation and technology location;
5.		on the faster modernisation of existing energy infrastructures and a faster implementation of new energy infrastructures, in order to achieve the objectives of the European Union's energy and climate policy, in particular:
a)			the completion of the internal energy market,
b)			ensuring security of supply,
c)			the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,
d)			the increase in the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption; and
e)			the improvement of energy efficiency,
thus contributing to the achievement of a cost-optimised, sustainable and secure energy supply. To this end, the approval procedure for projects of common interest (Section 4 (1) (4)) and the public participation will be dealt with in greater detail.

Definitions

§ 4. (1) For the purposes of this Federal Law, the term "

1.		"energy infrastructure authority" means the federal authority responsible for facilitating and coordinating the authorisation procedure for projects of common interest pursuant to Article 8 of the TEN-E Regulation (§ 6);
2.		"Regulatory Authority": those according to the Energy Control Act, BGBl. I No 110/2010, established Energy-Control Austria;
3.		"project" means one or more lines, pipelines, installations, equipment or installations falling within the infrastructure categories (Annex II of the TEN-E Regulation);
4.		"Projects of common interest", "PCI": a project necessary for the implementation of the priority energy infrastructure corridors and areas referred to in Annex I to the TEN-T Regulation, and which is part of the the Union list of projects of common interest;
5.		"Pre-carrier":
a)			a transmission or the transmission system operator or distribution system operator or any other operator or investor who develops a project of common interest; or
b)			in the case of more than one transmission or the transmission system operators, distribution system operators, other operators, investors or a group of such actors, the entity with legal personality designated by a contractual agreement between them and empowered to: to enter into legal obligations on behalf of the parties to the contractual agreement and to assume financial liability for them;
6.		"approval authorities" means the authorities responsible for the approval of a project in accordance with the substantive laws;
7.		"UVP Authority" means the authority responsible for approving an EIA subject to the UVP-G 2000 project;
8.		"timetable" means the procedure for the authorisation procedure to be drawn up jointly with the Energy Infrastructure Authority by the competent licensing authorities;
9.		"Regional groups" means the regional groups within the meaning of Article 3 of the TEN-E Regulation.

(2) The designations used in this Federal Act are to be understood as gender-neutral.

Delimitation of other legislation

§ 5. To the extent that this federal law does not contain any regulations, the administrative provisions relating to the approval and security of projects, including the possibility of granting compulsory rights, shall continue to apply unchanged. The obligation to require plants and plant parts is also addressed in the same way as the handling of project changes according to the material laws to be applied.

Responsible Energy Infrastructure Authority

§ 6. The competent national authority (energy infrastructure authority) according to Art. 8 of the TENs-E-VO is the Federal Minister for Science, Research and the Economy.

Tasks of the Energy Infrastructure Authority and the coordination of procedures

§ 7. (1) The tasks of the Energy Infrastructure Authority are:

1.		the perception of the energy infrastructure authority in the TEN-E-VO according to the public authority scheme of Art. 8 (3) lit. c TEN-E-VO obligations, in particular:
a)			the implementation of the PCI pre-application section, which is not subject to the EIA requirement,
b)			the coordination of authorisation procedures for PCI, which are not subject to the EIA requirement,
c)			the coordination of the EIA procedures for PCI, which are subject to the EIA requirement and which are subject to the approval of several EIA authorities;
2.		the reimbursement of reports to the European Commission and the regional groups;
3.		the representation of Austria in the regional groups;

(2) The exercise of the discretion conferred on the Energy Infrastructure Authority in the TEN-E Regulation shall be carried out in accordance with the principles of simplicity, simplicity and cost savings.

Transparency of the PCI selection process

§ 8. Projects which extend to the territory of Austria and which have been proposed to a regional group for the selection as projects of common interest shall be available on the Energy Infrastructure Authority's website with the possibility of: , to submit comments on the proposed projects. The publication shall contain the information referred to in Annex III, Chapter 2, Z 1, to the TEN-E-VO, with the exception of commercially sensitive information. The relevant information shall be made available to the Energy Infrastructure Authority by the subcarrier in electronic, publishable form.

The cross-border impact of a project

§ 9. In the case of projects which are not subject to the EIA requirement and which have significant transboundary effects within the meaning of Annex IV Z 1 TEN-E-VO, the Energy Infrastructure Authority shall have the State concerned as early as possible, at least in the Advance section and, at the latest, when the public is informed of the project, on the expiry of the authorisation procedure and on the nature of the possible decision to be taken. The State concerned shall be given the opportunity to deliver an opinion with a reasonable period of time, the deadline being such that it is also possible for the State to make the application documents available to the public and give it an opportunity to comment.

Part 2

Procedure

Advance section

§ 10. (1) In the case of projects of common interest which are not subject to the EIA requirement, the subcarrier shall apply to the Energy Infrastructure Authority for the implementation of the pre-application section under Article 10 of the TEN-E Regulation.

(2) In particular, the application shall be annexed to this request:

1.		a report on the broad guidelines and the technical design of the project;
2.		in the case of piping, an overview of the tentatively touched route and the manifestly touched, public-interest-related installations;
3.		an overview of the main other possible solutions examined by the project holder and a justification for the choice of the provisionally intended route, or the location;
4.		a concept of public participation, including a report on public hearings which have already been held.

(3) The Energy Infrastructure Authority shall forward the application and the project documents to the competent authorities likely to be responsible for the approval of the project and shall give the opportunity to comment on this, in particular: Question whether the documents submitted are ripe for the start of the pre-application period. At the latest three months after receipt of the application, the Energy Infrastructure Authority, the application or the justification shall confirm that there are obvious defects in the project or documents which do not allow the start of the preliminary section of the application. It shall take account of the opinions received. With the written confirmation of the application, the procedural deadlines will begin to run. If two or more Member States are affected, this legal sequence shall enter into force with the last confirmation in a Member State.

(4) Within the framework of the preliminary section, the parties concerned are within the meaning of Annex VI Z 3 lit. a TEN-E-VO.

(5) The Energy Infrastructure Authority has a public discussion in accordance with Section 44c (1) and (2) of the General Administrative Procedure Act 1991-AVG, BGBl. No 51/1991, as amended, with the assistance of all the authorities, the legal parties and the authorities to be involved in the administrative provisions to be applied in the authorisation procedures, in each of the federal states in contact with the project , In doing so, the head of the project has to explain the main features of the project and the main other possible solutions which have been examined and to justify the choice of the proposed project. The Energy Infrastructure Authority shall publish the documents referred to in paragraph 2 at the latest three weeks prior to the public discussion on the Internet. In the public debate, everyone is entitled to ask questions to the head of the project, the energy infrastructure authority and the other competent authorities, and to deliver opinions on the project. The Energy Infrastructure Authority shall include a record on the public debate and publish it on its Internet site. Furthermore, the congregations in contact with the project must be sent a copy of the minutes.

(6) After the public debate has been carried out, the Energy Infrastructure Authority shall have the power of ehestpossibility, but no later than six months from the request referred to in paragraph 1, taking into account the opinions of the competent authorities and, if appropriate, also The third party to the documents referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be taken by third parties. In particular, obvious defects in the project are to be identified and, in addition, the necessary information should be given in the permit applications. Any permits required by law are not pre-taken by this communication. At the same time, the Energy Infrastructure Authority shall inform the project holder of the documents to be annexed to the applications for authorisation and shall forward an expiry date agreed with the other authorities responsible for the approval of the project. Schedule for approval procedures.

(7) Not later than nine months after the notification referred to in paragraph 6, the subcarrier shall have the material-legal authorisations, authorisations and non-submissions for the establishment and operation of the project, accompanied by the necessary documentation of the Energy Infrastructure Authority. Where there are reasons not to be influenced by the subcarrier, the Energy Infrastructure Authority may grant an application for extension to an application by the subcarrier. As far as the Energy Infrastructure Authority is not itself the approval authority, the applications will then be forwarded to the respective approval authorities without unnecessary delay from the Energy Infrastructure Authority. In this context, the authorisation authorities shall be given the opportunity to submit their comments within a reasonable period of time as to whether the project in question is to be applied from the point of view of the relevant approval authority. Authorisation rules are ready for the start of the formal approval period and the information to be provided by the carrier is still missing. Within three months after the submission of full applications, the Energy Infrastructure Authority shall either confirm or reject them, taking into account the opinions of the approval authorities.

Formal Approval Section

§ 11. (1) The Energy Infrastructure Authority, to the extent that the Energy Infrastructure Authority itself is not a licensing authority, coordinates the procedures to be followed for the approval of the project.

(2) All the authorities concerned shall, as far as possible, prioritise the applications for authorisation for PCI and ensure the efficient implementation of the procedures. All the authorities have to make the decisions on the applications pursuant to § 10 paragraph 7 without unnecessary delay, at the latest within the decision-making period according to § 73 AVG from the confirmation of the applications pursuant to § 10 paragraph 7.

(3) The authorities concerned may declare the decision-making procedure for the decision-making process closed. This declaration means that no new facts and evidence can be brought forward. Section 45 (3) of the AVG shall remain unaffected.

(4) The Energy Infrastructure Authority may, at the request of the subcarrier, by transmitting the information available to the Energy Infrastructure Authority and which the subcarrier requires for the preparation of the submission documents, support. The protection of business and business secrets must be taken into consideration. In the case of free provision, the information may only be used for the realization of the project. The topics and issues that are likely to be essential for the approval procedures can be announced in the framework of this investor service for the preparation of the project by the Energy Infrastructure Authority.

Coordination of procedures by the Energy Infrastructure Authority

§ 12. (1) For coordination, the Energy Infrastructure Authority may use the following instruments:

1.		assistance to other licensing authorities in the procedures to be followed;
2.		Coordination with the other licensing authorities to coordinate the efficient processing of procedures;
3.		Preparation of coordinated, streamlining schedules for the preliminary application section and the approval procedures (Section 4 (1) (8)), together with the authorities involved, with a maximum of two years for the preliminary section of the project, and are to be provided for the authorisation procedure until a maximum of one year and six months for the decision;

(2) The subcarrier shall inform the Energy Infrastructure Authority of delays in the preparation of the submissions.

(3) If, according to the administrative provisions for a PCI, different authorisations, authorisations or modest findings are required, the project documents prepared for this purpose shall, if possible, be jointly in contact with the To lay down locational communities and publish them on the website of the Energy Infrastructure Authority, in accordance with the technical possibilities. In any case, in addition to the documents provided for in Annex VI, Z 6 TEN-E-VO, a report on the technical design of the project is to be published; in the case of line installations, a general plan with the planned route, possible alternatives and the clearly in contact with public interests, as well as a justification for the choice of the provisionally intended route, or of the location. The relevant documents shall be made available to the Energy Infrastructure Authority by the subcarrier in electronic, publishable form.

(4) Where there is a need for a number of authorisations, authorisations or modest findings in accordance with the administrative provisions of a PCI, the procedures shall, where possible, be coordinated and by the Energy Infrastructure Authority; to coordinate. A separate negotiation procedure shall be admissible if it is in the interests of convenience, purity, simplicity and cost savings.

Experts, procedural costs

§ 13. (1) In so far as the Energy Infrastructure Authority must use experts to carry out its tasks, the recovery of non-official experts shall be permissible even without the existence of the conditions set out in Article 52 (2) and (3) of the AVG. It is also possible to appoint specialist institutions, institutes or companies as experts.

(2) The costs incurred by the Authority in carrying out the procedures under this Federal Act, such as fees or fees for experts or mediators, shall be borne by the subcarrier. The Authority may be informed of the direct payment of such costs by the Authority after verification of the factual and computational correctness by the Authority.

Securing the expansion of line systems

§ 14. (1) In order to maintain the exemption for the construction of PCI, the electrical wiring systems and extend to two or more federal states, the necessary base areas as well as the safety-related protective areas of the line systems , the Energy Infrastructure Authority may, after consultation with the country concerned, by means of the area shown in a map, which is eligible for a subsequent management of the electrical line (Trassenscheduling area), by: (a) Regulation determining that, for a period of five years, new, up, up, and installations and installations in a specified limited area, without the consent of the Energy Infrastructure Authority, or the establishment of which shall be subject to certain conditions to be met by the Energy Infrastructure Authority Securing of the production of the line system is linked.

(2) A Regulation referred to in paragraph 1 may only be adopted if:

1.		the preliminary application section has been requested in accordance with § 10 or § 31 UVP-G 2000 and the public discussion has been carried out;
2.		It is to be feared that structural changes in this area will make the planned construction of the electrical line system considerably more difficult or much more expensive;
3.		the project advertiser presents the necessary planning documents, including an assessment of the impact of the implementation of the management on the public interests to be taken into account in accordance with the power-path-path.

(3) The five-year period may be extended by five years if the formal approval period has been applied for. A Regulation referred to in paragraph 1 shall be repealed before the expiry of its period of validity as soon as the reason for its release has been omitted.

(4) Prior to the authorisation of the Regulation, the documents referred to in paragraph 2 Z 3 shall be placed for a period of six weeks in the congregations in contact with the public authorities. The time and place of the edition are to be made known by the attack on the official board of the congregation. Within the period of application, written statements can be made to the Energy Infrastructure Authority by the owners of the area affected by the Leitungstrasse as well as by the relevant federal states and municipalities. It shall have appropriate consideration of the opinions delivered.

(5) The Regulation referred to in paragraph 1 shall also be available in the municipalities concerned in a local manner.

(6) No compensation shall be paid for the disadvantages caused by the restrictions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

(7) Construction projects which have been approved for more than two years before the entry into force of a regulation in accordance with paragraph 1, but which have not yet begun to be implemented, may be granted during the period of validity of the Regulation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Regulation and 3 shall only be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation referred to in paragraph 1.

(8) The consent of the Energy Infrastructure Authority is to be granted to new, to-, up, to-, and installed, installations and installations within the area planning area, if it is not to be feared that the intended structural changes will result in a change in the the planned pipeline construction is significantly impeded or substantially more expensive, or if these intended structural changes are necessary for the protection of the life and health of persons.

Part 3

Transitional and final provisions

Administrative penalty provisions

§ 15. In so far as the action does not constitute a criminal offence within the jurisdiction of the courts or is punishable under other administrative criminal provisions with a stricter penalty, an administrative surrender shall be carried out and shall be: Fines of up to EUR 10 000 to be punished, who, despite being requested by the Energy Infrastructure Authority or the regulatory authority,

1.		Contrary to Article 5 (1) of the TEN-E Regulation, no implementation plan is drawn up or contrary to Article 5 (4) (lit). c TEN-E-VO not adapted;
2.		contrary to Article 5 (4) of the TEN-E Regulation, its annual reporting obligations are not met in good time;
3.		contrary to Art. 5 (7) (lit). e TEN-E-VO does not provide the necessary information or does not provide the necessary information;
4.		, contrary to Article 9 (3) (2) of the TEN-E Regulation, does not comply with its information obligation;
5.		as a subcarrier, contrary to Article 9 (7) TEN-E-VO, does not establish or update any website.

Transitional provisions

§ 16. (1) The provisions of this Federal Act shall not apply to projects for which a subcarrier has submitted the application documents before 16 November 2013.

(2) The provisions of this Federal Act shall not apply to projects for which an authorisation procedure has been initiated under the direct application of Article 10 TEN-E-VO before the entry into force of this Federal Law.

entry into force

§ 17. The provisions of this Federal Act shall enter into force with the day following the customer's notice.

Enforcement

§ 18. The following shall be entrusted with the task of enforcement:

1.		in respect of § 5, insofar as the enforcement of the law is the federal government, the relevant Federal Minister;
2.		with regard to the other provisions of the Federal Minister for Science, Research and the Economy.

Article 2

Amendment of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act 2000

The Federal Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (Environmental Impact Assessment Act 2000), BGBl. N ° 697/1993, as last amended by the Federal Law BGBl. I n ° 14/2014, shall be amended as follows:

1. § 1 (2) shall be inserted at the end of the following new sentence in front of the item:

" and accompanying provisions of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure and repealing Decision No 1364 /2006/EC and amending Regulation (EC) No 713/2009, (EC) No 714/2009, and (EC) No 715/2009, OJ L 145, 31.5.2009 No. L115, 25.4.2013, p. 39, "

1a. § 3 (7a) reads as follows:

" (7a) If the Authority finds, in accordance with paragraph 7, that no environmental impact assessment is to be carried out for a project, an environmental organisation recognised in accordance with section 19 (7) or a neighbour in accordance with section 19 (1) (1) (1) shall be entitled to complain to the Federal Administrative Court. From the date of publication on the Internet, such an environmental organisation or neighbour/neighbour of such a neighbour shall be granted access to the administrative act. The registration area designated in accordance with section 19 (7) of the recognition decision shall be decisive for the registration of the environmental organisation by the environmental organisation. "

2. In accordance with § 3a, the following new § 3b is inserted:

" Experts, costs

§ 3b. (1) The confiscation of non-official experts in proceedings under this Federal Act is permissible even without the existence of the conditions of § 52 (2) and (3) AVG. It is also possible to appoint specialist institutions, institutes or companies as experts.

(2) The costs incurred by the Authority in carrying out the procedures under this Federal Act, such as fees or fees for experts, shall be borne by the project shipyard/project shipyard. The authority may inform the project advertiser/the project shipyard to pay directly these costs after examination of the factual and computational correctness by the agency. "

3. In § 12, para. 2 and 3 are deleted. The previous paragraphs 4 to 8 are given the names "2" to "6" .

(4) § 12a last sentence reads:

"Section 12 (6) shall apply with the proviso that a summary assessment shall be drawn up in lieu of an environmental impact assessment."

4a. In Section 23a (2), Z 3 reads:

" 3.		Extension measures of any kind on federal roads, if a protected area of categories A, B, C, D or E of Annex 2 is touched and can be expected on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the extent and the sustainability of the The environmental impact of the protected habitat (category B of Annex 2) or the protective purpose for which the protected area (categories A, C, D and E of Annex 2) has been established is significantly affected, with the exception of:
a)			the new construction of connecting points which touch a protected area of category E,
b)			the contact of protected areas solely by means of protective structures for the elimination of hazardous areas or by relocations of existing routes caused by disasters or by new construction of bridges,
c)			the construction of additional parking spaces with fewer than 750 parking spaces,
d)			the establishment of additional holdings according to § 27 of the Federal Road Act 1971, with a land use of less than 5 ha,
e)			the allocation of creep marks and ramp closures,
f)			the establishment of additional single ramps at existing nodes or connecting points,
g)			Changes in the road axis or the levelling of the road by less than 5 m,
h)			Installations for road operations and environmental protection measures; and
i)			other structural measures on existing federal roads, which do not extend the traffic relations in comparison with the stock. "

4b. § 24 (5a) reads:

" (5a) If the Authority finds, in accordance with paragraph 5, that no environmental impact assessment is to be carried out for a project, an environmental organisation recognised in accordance with section 19 (7) or a neighbour in accordance with section 19 (1) (1) (1) shall be entitled to complain to the Federal Administrative Court. From the date of publication on the Internet, such an environmental organisation or neighbour/neighbour of such a neighbour shall be granted access to the administrative act. The registration area designated in accordance with section 19 (7) of the recognition decision shall be decisive for the registration of the environmental organisation by the environmental organisation. "

5. In § 24c, para. 2 and 3 are deleted. The previous paragraphs 4 to 8 are given the names "2" to "6" .

§ 24d last sentence reads:

"Section 24c (6) shall apply with the proviso that a summary assessment shall be drawn up in lieu of an environmental impact assessment."

7. In Section 24f (8), the last sentence is deleted.

8. § 24h (7) reads:

"For the procedures referred to in paragraphs 2 and 5, § 23" shall apply.

9 According to § 29, a new 6 becomes. Section inserted and the previous 6. Section receives the label " 7. Section " .

" 6. Section

Specific provisions for projects of common interest

Projects of common interest

§ 30. (1) The provisions of this section shall apply to projects subject to EIA under Art. 2 Z 4 of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 (TEN-E-VO) projects of common interest (PCI).

(2) Procedures relating to projects of common interest shall be dealt with by the Authority as a matter of priority and it is necessary to ensure that they are carried out efficiently.

(3) The Energy Infrastructure Authority according to § 6 of the Federal Act on the Implementation of Regulation (EU) No. 347/2013 on the Guidelines for European Infrastructure (Energy Infrastructure Act-E-Infrastructure G), BGBl. I n ° 4/2016, supports and coordinates the tasks of the Authority, as required under Chapter III of the TEN-T Regulation.

(4) Where several EIA authorities are responsible for a project of common interest, the Energy Infrastructure Authority shall support and coordinate the implementation of the procedures provided for in this Section. To this end, the Energy Infrastructure Authority shall have the following tasks and powers:

1.		Support for the EIA authorities in the preliminary section and in the EIA process;
2.		setting up a working group to coordinate the efficient processing of procedures;
3.		coordination of the preparation of coordinated timetables for the preliminary section and the EIA procedure, with a maximum of two years for the preliminary section and for the EIA procedure up to a maximum of one year and six months for the decision;
4.		monitoring compliance with the timetable;
5.		Collection of information and reports on the progress of the procedure, including file inspection.

Advance section

§ 31. (1) The project advertiser of a project of common interest shall apply for the implementation of a preliminary section of the project in accordance with Article 10 of the TEN-E Regulation. The application is a presentation of the main features of the project, a concept for the environmental impact statement, an overview of the main other solutions examined by the project advertiser/the project manager, with a justification of the project. Election of the proposed project and a concept for public participation, including a report on any information and public hearings which have already been made.

(2) The Authority shall have the documents referred to in paragraph 1 of the Energy Infrastructure Authority, the participating authorities, the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, the Environment and Water Management and the Environmental Advocate General for the opinion, whether the documents are ripe for the start of the preliminary section of the application. In the light of the comments received, the Authority shall inform the project advertiser/the project manager at the latest three months after the date of application whether the documents are ripe for the start of the pre-application period, or that the Authority shall state that: there are obvious defects in the project or documents which do not allow a start of the preliminary section of the project.

Participation in the pre-application section

§ 32. (1) The Energy Infrastructure Authority shall be included in the lecture section and the participating authorities, the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, the Environmental Attorney, the local municipality (n) and in accordance with Section 19 (7) of the recognised environmental organisations, whose scope extends to the state of the site, they shall be consulted on the project and the documents submitted and may issue an opinion. The documents shall be available on the Authority's website.

(2) The Authority shall hold a public discussion in accordance with Section 44c (1) and (2) of the AVG in the place which appears to be the most appropriate in the case of the situation. The discussion shall be carried out with the assistance of the Energy Infrastructure Authority, the co-acting authorities and other legal parties and authorities to be involved in the administrative provisions to be applied in the EIA procedure. In the case of public discussion, the project advertiser/project will have to explain the main features of the project and the main other possible solutions to the project, with the justification of the choice of the proposed project. The public debate shall be subject to the publication of a copy to be published on the Authority's website.

(3) If a project of common interest is likely to have a significant environmental impact on another State, the State concerned, in accordance with § 10, on the project and the possible cross-border To inform the State concerned of the effects already in the preliminary section of the lecture and on the public discussion and to give the State concerned the opportunity to comment.

Timetable, Notice

§ 33. (1) The Authority shall, in cooperation with the project advertiser and the Energy Infrastructure Authority, draw up, in accordance with § 7 (1), a timetable for the further steps of the preliminary section of the project and for the EIA method provides a streamline process. In this case, provision should be made for the longest period of one year and six months for the pre-entry section for the longest period of two years and for the approval procedure until the decision (§ 17). Delays in the preparation of the submissions shall be communicated by the project advertiser/project manager of the Authority and the Energy Infrastructure Authority, delays in the procedure shall be communicated by the Authority of the Energy Infrastructure Authority and shall be communicated to the Reasons.

(2) Not later than six months after the application in accordance with § 31 (1), the Authority shall, in cooperation with the Energy Infrastructure Authority, the participating authorities, the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, the Environment, and the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Water management, taking into account the opinions received and the results of the public debate, the documents and the degree of detailiation of the information provided by the project advertiser for the introduction of the Environmental impact assessment (§ 5) is likely to be required and shall communicate with, what aspects should be taken into account when drawing up the detailed project.

Participation of the Energy Infrastructure Authority

§ 34. (1) The Energy Infrastructure Authority shall be involved in the EIA procedure, such as a co-operating authority, and shall, in addition, be regularly informed of the progress of the procedure and any problems encountered in the implementation of the procedure. The Energy Infrastructure Authority shall be notified of the decisions pursuant to § § 17 to 18b.

(2) The Energy Infrastructure Authority shall be involved in proceedings pursuant to § 10 concerning possible transboundary effects.

(3) The Authority shall provide the Energy Infrastructure Authority with the necessary information for the fulfilment of the reporting obligations provided for in the TEN-E Regulation. "

10. In § 46, the following paragraphs (25) and (26) are added:

" (25) The provisions of the newly inserted 6. Section shall not apply to projects for which a EIA procedure in accordance with § 5 or a preliminary procedure pursuant to § 4 under the direct application of Article 10 of the TEN-E-VO before the entry into force of the Federal Law BGBl. I No 4/2016 was initiated.

(26) § 3 (7a) i.d.F. BGBl. I No 4/2016 shall also apply to those cases in which the communication was issued before the date of entry into force of this amendment and the period of appeal has not yet expired. In these cases, the notice of appeal for the neighbouring/neighbours begins to run against the notice of determination with the date of entry into force of this amendment. For projects in which, on 15 April 2015, not all the authorisations or required compulsory rights required by the administrative provisions have been legally granted or in which on 15 April 2015, in the case of authorisations or compulsory rights, a In the case of annulment or annulment, a review of the Administrative Court or a complaint with the Constitutional Court is due to the fact that it is based on the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 16 December 2008. 22 April 2015, C-570/13, as a binding effect of the European Union Notice of determination pursuant to § 3 (7) or § 24 (5) is assumed, § 42a with the proviso that up to the legal force of the replacement modest or replacement part, but not more than three years from the date of delivery of the approval or as The right to establish and operate the project may be further exercised. "

Section 47 is added to the following paragraph 5:

" (5) For the enforcement of the tasks of the Energy Infrastructure Authority after the 6. Section is the Federal Minister for Science, Research and Economics. "

Article 3

Repeal of the Federal Law of 12 March 1926, BGBl. No 62, on the time-limit and the procedure in the cases of Article 12 (3) of the B-VG

The Federal Act of 12 March 1926, BGBl. No 62, on the time limit and on the procedure in the cases of Article 12 (3) of the B-VG, shall be repealed with the expiry of 31 December 2013.

Fischer

Faymann