The path of the “Terminillo Mountain Station” (TSM2) project, first announced in October 2018 as a major intervention for the revitalization of the Mount Terminillo area, today returns to a phase of administrative uncertainty. Almost two decades after the first enunciations, the proceedings on the request for an extension of the Environmental Impact Assessment have in fact come to a standstill, awaiting a new decisive technical step regarding environmental impact.
The project, relating to the renovation and expansion of ski facilities in the municipalities of Micigliano, Leonessa, Rieti and Cantalice, had been submitted to an EIA by a regional determination dated January 19, 2021. In 2025, the Province of Rieti requested an extension of the effective date of the pronouncement, initiating a new preliminary process at the Lazio Region.
In the course of the proceedings, after the submission of additional documentation in January 2026, the regional offices requested an updated opinion from the biodiversity structure. The latter, in a note dated May 11, 2026, informed that it was not possible to confirm the previous impact assessment opinion of 2020, pointing out that the cognitive framework on the Mount Terminillo area had changed profoundly.
According to reports from regional offices, the new data available make it necessary to conduct a new Environmental Impact Assessment, to be carried out according to updated regional guidelines in 2022. This is a step that is considered preliminary and essential in order to continue the investigation of the EIA extension.
For this reason, the region has ordered the suspension of the proceedings related to the request for extension of the 2021 EIA pronouncement, pending the acquisition of the new environmental opinion. It also remains confirmed that the effectiveness of the previous permit is still subject to the outcome of the verification of compliance with the requirements already issued.
All project documentation remains searchable on the regional portal dedicated to Environmental Impact Assessment procedures.
The TSM2 project between expectations and setbacks
The procedural deadlock brings back to center stage an affair that, since its presentation in 2018, had been indicated as strategic for the tourism and economic revitalization of the Rieti area. TSM2, supported by regional funding of about 20 million euros, had been conceived as a pivotal intervention to transform Terminillo into a ski hub of reference in central Italy.
Over the years, however, the project has gone through a long phase of administrative and legal complexities, including appeals to the Regional Administrative Court and the Council of State, before reaching a positive EIA pronouncement in 2020. Since then, however, there has been no actual operational implementation phase until the expiration of the terms of effectiveness of the measure.
The extension request made by the Province was supposed to ensure continuity in the permitting process. However, the change in the environmental and cognitive framework has resulted in a new preliminary phase that, in fact, completely reopens the assessment of impacts.
A debate that is being reignited
The new administrative stop also reopens the political and territorial debate around the project. Back in 2018, TSM2 was presented as a great development opportunity, accompanied by an illustrative model and a strong emphasis on the economic potential of the intervention. Over time, however, the lack of implementation and the critical issues that have emerged have fueled an increasingly polarized discussion.
On the one hand, supporters of the project claim its strategic function for the area’s mountain and tourism economy; on the other, criticism has focused on the environmental and economic sustainability of the intervention, even in light of climate change and the gradual reduction of natural snowfall in the Apennine areas.
This also includes the historical position of the environmental world, which from the earliest stages had challenged the layout of the project, citing landscape constraints, protected areas and civic uses, as well as data on climate trends in the area.
A future yet to be defined
As of today, the continuation of the process is subject to the outcome of the new Environmental Impact Assessment. Only after this step will it be possible to determine whether and under what conditions the EIA extension request can be reevaluated.
Pending these developments, the future of TSM2 remains suspended between administrative procedures, technical updates, and a public debate that, years later, continues to question the most suitable development model for Mount Terminillo and its territory.
> Read the communication from the Lazio Region
> Read, download and share the press release issued by WWF Lazio, Salviamo L’Orso and Mountain Wilderness.
Cover photo: Mountain Wilderness.