Data Centre & Environmental Impact Assessment procedures: MASE guidelines and Environmental Law Decree no. 153/2024

Published

Nov 07 2024

Written By

Partner
Italy

As a partner in our Rome office, I have long-standing expertise in real estate law, complemented by strong administrative skills, with a practice focusing on the development of assets in the retail, logistics, hotel and entertainment sectors.

Paola Bologna

Senior Associate
Italy

I provide expert advice on environmental issues, both from an administrative and criminal point of view. I'm particularly skilled in providing legal support to obtain environmental permits.

Antonio Castorina

Associate
Italy

I'm an associate in the Real Estate team based in Milan. My expertise covers urban planning and real estate matters.

Practices

By Decree No. 257 of 02/08/2024 of the general management office for the environmental procedures, Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (“MASE”) adopts the “Guidelines for Data Centre environmental assessment procedures”.

The Guidelines, to be combined with the SNPA Guidelines 28/2020 concerning, in general, the environmental impact studies for all sectors under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure (Valutazione di Impatto Ambientale VIA) scope of application, aim to list the critical aspects related to the EIA and EIA Screening procedures for Data Centre projects. They describe the elements to be considered and the methodologies applicable in this specific sector to assess the environmental impacts of the infrastructure.

The Guidelines examine a list of design, environmental, health, socio-economic, ecological protection and biodiversity aspects, exogenous risks, abnormal or accidental risks, landscape and cultural heritage, the issue of cumulative impacts, mitigation and compensation measures, decommissioning and ecological restoration, and the environmental monitoring plan. For each aspect, the Guidelines clarify a set of elements that the applicant should include when preparing its EIA screening or EIA application.

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