Reconstructions, work stopped after nine years, the commissioners will be technical and not political – Corriere.it

An Extraordinary Commissioner chosen by the Government among “subjects with specific professionalism and managerial competence”, therefore not a politician, who acts through Ordinances, even in derogation from the general legislation, but agreed with the government. A Coordination Cabinet, made up of the regional Governor, the presidents of the provinces concerned and the representatives of the mayors, with the sole function of assisting the Commissioner. A permanent Conference with all the subjects delegated to issue authorisations, governed by the principle of tacit assent. And a maximum time of nine years to complete the reconstructions, whether after an earthquake or a flood. The draft law of the Meloni government, which will also be the model for dealing with the post-flood in Emilia, is expected in the Council of Ministers in the next few hours.

Six reconstructions, six laws

The law aims to overcome the long reconstruction times, especially after the earthquake, and to define a single national framework. Today in Italy there are six major post-disaster reconstructions, in addition to post-flood Emilia, underway (Aquila, Emilia, Central Italy, Ischia and Catania after the earthquake, Ischia due to landslides). Each has its own governance and rules, which determine, among other things, inequalities in citizens’ rights, but all of them have a very long time frame. “In Belice, hit by the earthquake in 1968, we still have to finish” often recalls the Minister of Civil Protection, Nello Musumeci, who finalized the bill. In Abruzzo, 2009 earthquake, reconstruction outside the capital is still behind. In Central Italy, after the 2016 earthquake, half of the expected files were presented (almost 60,000). Even in Emilia hit by the 2012 earthquake, if the private reconstruction is over, there is still much to do for the public one.

“Technical” Commissioner

The bill provides that for major disasters the state of emergency, if the Civil Protection measures are not enough to return to normal, is followed by a national “state of reconstruction”, decreed by the Council of Ministers for a maximum duration of five years, extendable up to nine years and then again for a maximum of six months, providing for this phase explicit exceptions to tenders for works and services, and to the procurement code. Leading the reconstruction (even in the event of floods, and it would be the first time) will be an Extraordinary Government Commissioner. A technician and not a politician, endowed with managerial skills and specific professionalism. The Commissioner can be revoked by the Government, but the term of his office is not indicated, thus foreshadowing the overcoming of the current rule of annual mandates.

Ordinances agreed with the Government

The Commissioner, who will be able to benefit from the support of Casa Italia, and of one of its Structures (made up of personnel who are already experts in the reconstructions), will have a special accounting, taken from a newly established Fund at the Ministry of the Economy, and will act through Ordinances , issued in agreement with the Presidents of the Regions concerned, in concert with the MEF itself and having consulted the Ministers of the Environment and Cultural Heritage for the provisions that concern them. The Commissioner will be “assisted” by a Coordination Cabinet, which unlike the 2016 model will not be the place for decisions, made up of the Presidents of the Regions, Provinces and a representative of the Municipalities concerned, in addition to the Head of the Casa Italia Department, destined to assume a more important role, and to the Head of Civil Protection.

Silence-assent

To speed up the reconstruction, the Government’s choice is to define standard procedures with certain times, set by law. Within five months of the proclamation of the state of reconstruction, each Municipality “approves the related urban planning, preparing the implementing urban planning tools”, which are excluded from the Strategic Environmental Assessment, to plan both public and private reconstruction. The plans will be submitted for approval to the Commissioner and to the Permanent Conference, a body where all the subjects appointed to provide the authorizations are represented, and for which “silent assent” is available. The Municipalities then identify the building aggregates for reconstruction and will be able to replace the inert owners.

Substitute powers for the mayor

The Municipalities then identify the building aggregates for reconstruction and will be able to replace the inert owners. Having acquired the municipal plans, the Commissioner was called, within six months, to adopt a multi-year plan of interventions, also determining the framework of the damages and the relative financial needs for reconstruction. Also within the term of six months, the Regions will be able to adopt one or more Extraordinary Reconstruction Programs in the most affected municipalities, even as an exception to the territorial and urban planning instruments in force.

The investigation to the Municipality

The procedure for obtaining public funding for the reconstruction of damaged buildings also changes radically compared to the by now consolidated practices, the parameters of which will be established by the Commissioner with an Ordinance. The requests of private individuals, according to the text of the bill, will have to be presented to the Municipalities (and not, as happens today, to the Special Offices for the Reconstruction of the Regions). The urban planning compliance of the interventions, which as for 2016 are carried out through a simple Building Trail, would continue to be certified by the professional in charge of the project, but alternatively also by the Municipality offices themselves, which also ascertain the due amount of the contribution and the relative amount , entrusting the conclusion of the procedure, with the issue of the contribution decree, and the subsequent random checks on the construction sites, to the Commissioner.

The role of the Premier

For public reconstruction, with the aim of speeding up, more stringent rules are envisaged. If the Commissioner is faced with any dissent or denial by the territorial entities concerned, he can ask the Prime Minister to discuss the issue in the Unified Conference of the State, Cities and Local Autonomies. And in the absence of shared solutions, the prime minister will ask the Council of Ministers to exercise substitutive powers. For public interventions, a single purchasing center is envisaged, from the Region if not Consip for those under the jurisdiction of the Ministries of Culture, Infrastructure and State Property. The two ministries, the State Property, the Region, the Dioceses, the Universities, the Ansa, but not the Municipalities (as happens today) could be the implementing subjects.