COMPLIANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM IN POLAND.

 

L.S. Jarzebski,

Director, State Environmental Protection Inspectorate, Katowice Branch.

UL. Wita Stwosza 31, PL-40-042, Poland

 

 

          Summary

 

          The range of activities undertaken at the central level by the Ministry of Environ­mental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry is presented with special reference to the work of the State Environmental Protection Inspectorate (SEPI) and also compliance efforts and enforcement made at the regional level by SEPI and the provincial offices.

 

 

          Legislation

 

          In Poland the basic legal prescriptions governing environ­mental protection are:

-nature protection act (1949)

-water law (1974)

-environmental protection and development of environment act (1989), together with amendments incorporated in 1989.

 

          There also exists a number of executive regulations issued by the council of ministers dealing with air, water, soil and noise protection laying down per­missible levels and other standards and limitations protecting the natural envi­ronment.

          The Ministry of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry was set up in 1983 and the State Environmental Protection Inspectorate in 1980.

 

 

          Administrative Structure

 

          The organization of environment protection in Poland has been continually developed and improved during recent years. At the central level the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry (MEPNRF) is responsible for managing and coordinating all matters concerning environment protection in Poland.

          At the regional level in each of the 49 provinces environ­mental problems are dealt with by the departments of environmental protection of the provincial office. The State Environmental Protection Inspectorate carrying directly under minister of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry is the authority responsible for environmental compliance and enforcement (inspection, monito­ring, emergency actions) and has 10 regional branches throughout the country.

          Each province has its own Centre for Environmental Research and Control (CERC) with specialized laboratories serving regional and central administration bodies.

          Permits for polluting activities are issued by the department of Environ­mental protection at the provincial office.

 

 

          Inspection and Enforcement

 

          The principal objectives of SEPI are:

a.control of economic activities involving an environmen­tal hazard in the areas of:

          -          compliance with environmental protection regulations

-environmental impact of production and investment work

-industrial investment implementation with particular reference to correct use of environmental protection equipment and checking its adequacy relative to needs in the context of the actual state of the environment

-checking correct operation of existing environmental protection equip­ment, making measurements etc.

b.auditing and control of:

          -      compliance with environmental protection requirements by specific industrial sectors.

c.dealing with complaints and postulations in the area of environment protec­tion.

d.monitoring.

 

          Environmental inspections are carried out by SEPI regional branches and also CERC at provincial level. SEPI regional branches are responsible for inspec­tion in 3 - 5 provin­ces. Inspection involves programmed (about 70 per cent) and non-programmed (about 30 per cent) control visits.

          This year SEPI's programme inspections are concentrated on industrial plants rated as the highest pollutants sources (the so-called "list of 200" - the major pollution offen­ders in Poland).

          In recent years inspections have dealt with plants of the coke, cement, iron and steel, non-ferrous metals industries etc. These inspections are focused on particular sectors if industry of agriculture and include monitoring of water-effluent management aiming to limit effluent discharge to particular rivers and evaluation of the influence of specific plants on quality of water in the rivers.

          Non-programmed inspections may be carried out on the orders of the minister or the general inspector of EP or in the emergency cases. The inspection inclu­des assessment of the following:

-legislative-administrative conditions

-applied technology

-technical condition of EP devices (dust collection systems, sewage treat­ment plants, etc.)

-quantity and quality of pollutants emitted to the environment

-plant's history of environment protection effectiveness on the basis of the inspection report instructions are issued to the plant director which must be complied with before the specified deadline date. In extreme cases of unacceptable emission levels, production can be stopped. Non compli­ance cases may be considered as extreme (where the person responsible is convicted for up to 3 years of imprisonment) and less severe (punisha­ble by fines). An example of the first kind is the case of the director of a chemical plant who ordered the sewage treatment plant to be stopped during the second and third shifts. The SEPI inspectors checking during the evening hours found the sewage treatment plant not working. On their application the plant director was prosecuted in the local court where he was senten­ced to 18 months imprisonment with suspension for 3 years and a heavy fine. It is noteworthy, that shortly afterwards the director was dismissed. Another example of non-compliance is that when the inspectors ascertain that conditions laid down in the permits have not been adhered to. This refers particularly to agreed conditi­ons for air and water pro­tect­ion, storage of wastes etc. such cases are punished by fines which must be paid by the responsible plant. It is important that such fines must be paid out of plant profits.

 

          All cases of non-compliance ascertained by SEPI are reported to the provin­cial office and in more serious cases, the minister under whose juris­dicti­on the plant comes is also notified. In criminal cases of non-compliance SEPI passes the relevant information to the prosecutor's office. SEPI operates in close co-opera­tion with the departments of the environmental protection. In this area substan­tial conflicts of interest can arise. What is desirable according to the regional authorities may be seen as unacceptable for the whole country and vice versa. An example of such a difference of opinion is SEPI's order to stop fur­ther constraction work on a large communal waste dump. The reason for this deci­sion was the inadequate insulation of the dump subsoil found by the inspec­tors. As a result of this inconvention the regional authori­ties were obliged to pro­vide suitably executed insulation for the dump grounds. These examples illustra­te just a small part of SEPI activities.

 

          Conclusions

 

1.Enforcement actions undertaken in Poland up to now may be recognized as valuable but not entirely satisfactory due to present loopholes in environ­ment protection legislations and also to lack of technical facilities affecting both SEPI and CERC.

 

2.New legislation enacted in the current year to a large extent fills the previous gaps in regulations governing air and water protection and also laying down penalties and changes for use or abuse of the environment.

 

 

3.SEPI's work could be more effective if it were equipped with suitable technical facilities and backed up by suitable legislation (a new act dealing with SEPI is currently under consideration).

 

4.With regard to the international implications of enforcement, efforts should be made to ensure effective international cooperation in this area.