The Salvem les Valls platform has filed objections against the extension of the Environmental Impact Declaration for the Olot and les Preses bypasses. The group maintains that the project can no longer be extended with the same document approved in 2022 because elements affecting the assessment have changed since then, particularly the protection of the fluviovolcanic aquifer of Vall d'en Bas.
The tension of the file lies at that point. The Generalitat de Catalunya is processing an extension of an environmental declaration that expires on June 21, 2026, but the platform maintains that the affected environment is no longer the same as that analyzed then because the aquifer was declared an underground natural reserve in 2023.
The platform links the extension to an aquifer protected since 2023
The environmental declaration for the Olot and les Preses bypasses was published on June 21, 2022. Now, the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Mobility has asked the environmental body to extend it before its expiration.
Salvem les Valls alleges that the law only allows extending that document when there have been no substantial changes in the elements examined in the initial assessment. Its filing places that change in the fluviovolcanic aquifer of Vall d'en Bas, incorporated in 2023 as an underground natural reserve within the Management Plan of the River Basin District of Catalonia 2022-2027.
The group maintains that this subsequent protection directly affects the project's feasibility. It also claims formal opposition from the Catalan Water Agency, the Natural Park of the Volcanic Zone of La Garrotxa, the Department of Agriculture, and the city councils of Olot, les Preses, and Vall d'en Bas.
The project increases the daily discharge to 86,400 cubic meters
One of the central points of the objection concerns the false tunnel planned in the infrastructure. Salvem les Valls maintains that this solution could compromise water extraction from the aquifer and discharge into the Fluvià river.
In this comparison, the platform points out that the current project plans to discharge up to 86,400 cubic meters per day, whereas the initial forecast was 30,400. The range included in the objection now places this volume between 43,200 and 86,400 cubic meters per day, with possible impact on both the underground reserve and the Natura 2000 Network linked to the Fluvià.
The entity's request is to halt the extension and require a new environmental impact assessment before authorizing any extension of the file. Its argument is that the environmental conditions of 2022 cannot be maintained after the new protection of the aquifer.
The administration has three months to decide on the request
The administrative procedure is now in the hands of the environmental body. The administration has three months to resolve the extension request submitted by the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Mobility.
Before deciding, it must obtain reports from the affected administrations. These bodies have 30 days to respond, with the possibility of extending that period by another 15 days.
This timeline places the institutional response in a phase prior to any effective extension of the environmental declaration, while the debate focuses on whether the protection approved in 2023 requires a new review of the entire impact of the route on the Vall d'en Bas and the Fluvià environment.
The allegation presented by Salvem les Valls expressly requests that the extension be rejected and that the project be resubmitted for environmental assessment due to the changes introduced and the subsequent protection of the fluviovolcanic aquifer of the Vall d'en Bas.