The 64th Technical Committee of the Basque Network of Sustainable Municipalities also served to review guidelines on green public procurement and contracting, climate action, Low Emission Zones, soil protection, climate and energy, and asbestos and health. Save Udalsarea 2030 held its 64th Technical Committee meeting at the Europa Congress Palace in Vitoria-Gasteiz to review the network's activities over the past quarter and to outline the work for the coming months. At the meeting, Ihobe, the Network's technical secretariat, summarised the progress made by the working groups on soil protection, green public procurement, climate action, Low Emission Zones (LEZ), climate and energy, and asbestos and health. In addition, the participants were able to learn about the 2026 Strategic Plan, which, among other goals, aims for Udalsarea 2030 to have 214 member municipalities, 101 municipalities with a Local 2030 Agenda in force or in preparation, 60 municipalities with Climate and Energy Plans in force, and 30 municipalities and 6 districts signed up to the Basque Country's Green Procurement and Contracting Programme. The Plan has been sent to the local authorities elected following the municipal elections last May. Aitor Senar Enekotegi, an Environment Expert from Cuadrilla de Laguardia Rioja Alavesa, shared his experience in bio-waste management. This is a service for 11,200 inhabitants of the municipalities of Baños de Ebro, Elciego, Elvillar, Kripan, Labastida, Laguardia, Lanciego, Lapuebla de Labarca, Leza, Moreda de Álava, Navaridas, Oion, Samaniego, Villabuena de Álava and Yecora. In his speech, he explained that maintaining the composting areas includes turning, taking temperature readings and data from Monday to Friday, weekly or fortnightly watering according to need, submitting monthly reports, and performing batch analyses of the resulting compost. He also unveiled the Kripan bio-waste collection system pilot project, which is due to launch in 2021. "The results have exceeded expectations, achieving a selective collection rate of 86%. In twelve months, we have collected 35 tonnes of organic waste", he explained. Another inspiring experience was the door-to-door collection and community composting system implemented in Elciego last year. Next, Izaro Basurko (Ihobe) and Mikel Zubiria (Directorate of Natural Heritage and Climate Change of the Basque Government) explained the situation of the 2023 subsidy scheme. In the 2023 call for local sustainable development grants, 249 applications have been submitted, with a total allocation of 4.2 million euros. Overall, 2.35% fewer were submitted than in 2022. However, there has been an increase in the number of ASTEKLIMA and Circular Economy files. Regarding the requests for corrections, the basic data document is the most frequently requested. Concerning the ASTEKLIMA item, documentation is requested because the information is incomplete or does not correspond to the data indicated. With regard to the rest of the items, corrections are required for not including the start and end dates of the projects. On some occasions, certificates certifying compliance with tax and social security obligations have been requested following a negative response in the interoperability query. All other documentation is usually submitted correctly. European, state and regional legislative planning The Technical Committee also hosted a seminar on European, state and regional legislative planning and the implications for local entities, in which José Antonio Armolea (Ihobe) addressed the concerns of the attendees. Environmental legislation has been referred to as varied, dispersed and often confusing; legally and technically complex; highly demanding for the party concerned and for the administration; and with high environmental quality standards that are continually being updated. "The goal is to guarantee the right to enjoy the environment and fulfil the duty to preserve it," he said. Concerning the Draft Law on Energy Transition and Climate Change in the Basque Country, he explained that the aim is to establish a stable legal framework to achieve climate neutrality in the Basque Country by 2050 at the latest and to increase the territory's resilience to climate change through a fair and sustainable social, economic and environmental transition that guarantees equality and solidarity". He stressed that the main implications for local entities are the creation of energy transition and climate change panels through the Energy Sustainability Commission or other existing committees with similar characteristics and functions; inter-institutional coordination on energy transition and climate change through the Basque Council for Local Public Policies; the promotion of public participation through the instruments provided for in Law 2/2016, of 7 April, on Local Institutions in the Basque Country; the drafting of climate and energy plans; and the integration of energy and climate perspectives in the public budgets of local entities. Ekoiure addressed the European environmental policy -the European Green Pact and the 8th Environmental Action Programme. They explained the European regulatory proposals: Urban Waste Water Directive, Water Directive, Soil Directive, Air Directive, Waste Directive, Packaging Regulation and Nature Conservation Regulation. Finally, they explained the State Sustainable Mobility Bill. The draft, approved by the Council of Ministers in December 2022, establishes a certain order of priorities to be considered when planning and regulating aspects related to sustainable mobility. Firstly, active mobility, particularly walking, the mobility of people with disabilities or reduced mobility who use authorised devices in pedestrian areas, and mobility involving bicycles or cycles. Secondly, collective public transport. Thirdly, high-occupancy mobility schemes that provide a benefit in terms of reduced externalities, occupation of public spaces, or other. Finally, in relation to private vehicles, priority should be given to technologies that involve lower emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and to vehicles that occupy less public space.
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