The Haifa Municipality petitioned the High Court on Tuesday to stop state planners from approving a draft Interior Ministry order to exempt the Bazan oil refineries in the northern city of Haifa from the need for a building permit to repair damage caused by an Iranian ballistic missile strike last month.

The ministry posted a draft order on its website on Monday evening for public comment. The National Planning and Building Council is scheduled to conduct a hearing on its approval on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Avihu Han, the deputy Haifa mayor, said the move lacked transparency and was being implemented “over the heads of local authorities, the Environmental Protection Ministry, the Haifa Bay Cities Association for Environmental Protection and residents of the Haifa metropolitan area.”

“No building permit means no need for planning or supervision,” Han told the Times of Israel. “We don’t understand what [Bazan] wants to do there.”

Three years ago, the cabinet decided to shut down the refineries and related oil storage complex within a decade and instead to import the materials they produce, known as distillates. A Directorate for the Development of Haifa Bay was established within the........

© The Times of Israel