Poland: Workshop Summary

Introduction

The REC hosted the third workshop in the series entitled "Competing in the New Environmental Market Place" in Poznan on November 20-21, 1995 as part of the POLEKO'95 International Fair training session. Over 50 invited guests, speakers as well as business representatives took part in the seminar. The main topic on the first day of the seminar was Polish environmental law (including water, air and wastes) and its approximation to European Union (EU) regulations. The main topic on the second day was business initiatives in environmental management, methods of its implementation as well as an evaluation of the Polish environmental professionals certification system. The following sections provide a summary of the workshop presentations and discussions.

Government Initiatives

Environmental Laws and Regulations

An analysis of Polish environmental law should start with the Statute on the Shaping and Protection of the Environment of 31.01.1980 [uniform text republished in 1994], which is a framework law, but which also refers to other environmental regulations. In recent years many new legislative proposals have been prepared as a result of the change in the political and economic reality in Poland.

One new proposal is the 'Water Law', which was submitted to Parliamentary Commission on 20 September, 1995. The main change relative to current regulations is that the new law defines guidelines for water property and resource management. It also aims to increase public participation and awards local authorites, as property holders, greater rights in governing their own activities. Furthermore, it will modify the system of collecting fees for water usage and waste water discharges. [L.Baginski]

Proposals for changes to existing air regulations are before Parliament. These modify existing regulations established by the Statute on Environmental Protection and establish several new regulations. The existing regulations slated for revision are:

ambient air quality standards (for example, standards for substances listed in the framework of the State Monitoring System and standards for substances used to estimate local pollution or to calculate permissible emission levels)
permissible emission levels and emission standards for technological processes
permissible emission levels for engines

In addition, the proposals also include the introduction of new air pollution concentration 'alarm' levels, changes in the method for establishing 'protection areas' and a revision to the methods used for calculating environmental charges. [W.Jaworski].

The Statute on the Shaping and Protection of the Environment presents a general outline in the field of wastes specifying only general obligations in the area of waste management. The Ministry of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry (MEPNRF) has therefore prepared and recently submitted to the government a new 'Waste Law', which establishes a waste management hierarchy. This includes: waste prevention, waste minimization, recycling, waste disposal, neutralization and storage.

The proposal will also modify the system of fees collection for waste disposal and encourage stricter enforcement. This should strengthen the ability of local authorities to control illegal waste disposal sites and waste combustion. In addition, the law establishes more rigorous enforcement options related to hazardous wastes. This includes requiring new hazardous waste handling licenses for business activities generating hazardous wastes [J.Korytkowski].

Environmental liability during the privatization process is still an unresolved issue in Poland. Privatization can terminate the liability of the previous land owner, irrespective of the type of privatization. It may assign the new land owner all environmental liabilities, both known and unknown. Poland is also still developing guidelines and standards for the remediation of contaminated sites. A proposed Commercialization and Privatization Law has introduced some important sections addressing these questions. However, it was rejected by the President and has since been returned to the government [P.Syryczynski].

The EU Approximation Process

Poland's bid to join the EU is one of the main drivers behind improvements to its environmental legislation. The Europe Agreement which established the association between Poland and the European Union was signed on December 16, 1991. This agreement obligates Poland over a period of ten years to harmonize its legislation with that of the EU. The approximation process was accelerated and further refined when Parliament passed Resolution No.16 on March 29, 1994. An additional proposal is being prepared to establish an 'Approximation Program', a regular and well-planned schedule for adjusting Polish environmental law to European regulations.

In June 1995, the MEPNRF launched a project sponsored by the PHARE Programme to prepare a draft 'Framework Act on the Environment'. This will be developed in tandem with the media-specific regulations outlined above and should result in a more integrated approach to environmental protection. However, it will delay the harmonization of legislation in other areas such as integrated pollution control. The first working version has already been written and the final draft of the Act should be completed by the MEPNRF before the end of 1996. The success of this project is expected to create a firm foundation for modern Polish environmental law.

The workshop addressed many of the challenges associated with the process of approximating Polish regulations to European standards. Besides a dearth of lawyers with a knowledge of EU legislation, there is also a severe shortage of analytical documents interpreting the newest European regulations. Poland could ideally benefit from participating in the legislative processes of the EU and until joining as a full member, perhaps could be offered observer status or be admitted as a 'consulted country'. Such a solution has already been adopted in the case of the EFTA countries under the 1992 Agreement of European Economic Areas. [S.Wajda]

The first day of the seminar ended with a panel discussion. The main subjects raised during this session included:

the necessity to establish a new 'Waste Law' since current regulations do not present clear guidelines and provide little incentive to implement sound waste management practice;
the necessity to evaluate more closely the economic consequences of proposed regulations, and the need for case by case consultations between Voivodeship Environmental Departments and enterprises on their capacity to comply with proposed environmental requirements;
the lack of accredited environmental laboratories and a suggestion that the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management should provide financing to laboratories to upgrade and complete the accreditation program.

The discussion confirmed there are no formal mechanisms for learning about proposed changes in environmental legislation or for discussing them. The general conclusion was that there is a need for an established, formal, transparent, comment period for legal alterations proposed by the MEPNRF. It is hoped that such dialogue would lead to better understanding of MEPNRF intentions and indicate possible obstacles in their implementation.

Business Initiatives

The Environmental Market

The environmental business market is developing rapidly in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Slovak Republic. The total environmental spending from both government and private sector sources for these countries is expected to be greater than USD 2.4 billion in 1996 (according to REC estimates), with about 80 percent of this figure being spent in the Polish and Czech markets alone. The size of the environmental marketplace and the status of companies vary for each country. The market is relatively young in all four countries, with more than 70 percent of companies established in 1990 or later. Of those companies operating in the Polish environmental market, only 8 percent have more than 50 permanently employed staff, and as many as 34 percent have fewer than 6. The ownership profile indicates that about 85 percent of them are private companies. One conclusion to be drawn from the survey presented is the correlation between the pace of privatization and the total environmental spending per country [E.Dzuray].

The opportunities present for environmental businesses in the Polish market were perhaps best summarized by Dr. Vincent Rocco, CEO of TRC Inc. He stated "...Those firms with the technology, financing, management, organization, patience and perseverance to deliver complete environmental solutions which facilitate and enhance sustainable growth for emerging countries around the world will become successful global providers of environmental services".

With regard to current and future environmental spending in Poland, Prof. M. Nowicki presented ECOFUND estimates that investments of about USD 35 to 42 billion would be needed to bring the performance of Polish industry and municipal services up to EU standards. ECOFUND forecasts that between the years 2000 to 2010 the Polish government will allocate more than USD 2 billion annually to the environmental sector.

There are several main sources of government funding for environmental investments: the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFEP), local and provincial environmental protection funds, and foreign aid sources and credits. The NFEP and local and provincial environmental protection funds collect environmental taxes, fees and fines levied against polluters. From its inception in 1990 till 1994, the NFEP generated over USD 500 million in total revenues. It is estimated the revenues of these funds combined will amount to USD 500 million annually until 2010. During the period 1990 to 1994, Poland also received approximately USD 240 million in foreign aid. However, given the expiration of bilateral aid and sources such as the PHARE Programme by approximately 2015, the only other source of foreign aid would be the credit Poland receives from the eco-conversion of its foreign debt. This fund is managed by ECOFUND and is expected to raise approximately USD 500 million between now and the year 2010. Through the repayment of credits and debts a further USD 8-10 billion is likely to become available for environmental spending. These combined sources amount to approximately USD 20 billion. The difference required to bring the Polish environmental market up to EU standards is expected to be made by investments from the business sector and by 'green' taxes such as a fuel tax.

Quality Standards for Corporations

The management standards which have been implemented and developed in Europe over the past few years will play an important role in the development of the environmental services market. European environmental management standards were first outlined in 1990. In 1994, the first British environmental management standard (BS 7750) was established. An initiative of the European Commission followed to promote the use of environmental management practices in companies in the form of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). In addition to this EU initiative, the International Standards Organisation (ISO) is currently developing a standard to certify environmental management programs in companies (ISO 14000 and ISO 14001). [P.Wenman].

Professional Certification

Because of Poland's transition to a market economy, both government agencies and private industries are demanding well-trained environmental professionals who can offer a knowledge of both technical and financial issues. The Polish environmental expert's certification system appears to be inadequate to meet this demand. In the past, obtaining expert registration involved completing the required documents and signing a declaration of one's professional experience. Without any form of examination, the applicant was registered an environmental expert by the MEPNRF. No further verification beyond certification took place. An expert could be deleted from the register in theory, however, the procedure was not well defined.

Similar to the first day, the second day ended with a panel discussion. The panel consisted of M. Nowicki (ECO-FUND), R. Kollajtis (ERM), R. Pazdan (ATMOTERM), B. Kaminski (PROEKO), E. Dzuray (REC), and W. Bowman (REC). The discussion focused first on the sources of environmental finance, and second on improving the environmental professionals certification system. Several participants expressed the opinion that the current certification system does not meet today's requirements. Therefore the MEPNRF's registry is not highly regarded and as a result, some organizations, such as the main financial institutions (for example, ECOFUND) maintain their own expert registers.

Two proposals for improving the current system were discussed. The first would be to create a new expert's register, based on well documented evidence of an expert's ability and an examination system. The second would be for the MEPNRF to transfer the responsibility and management of the certification system to an independent organization such as the Environmental Chamber of Commerce.

The following two options were discussed as a means for raising the credibility of the certification system:

a strict set of examinations and assessments, possibly two-tier or multi-level (for different grades of specialists) with periodic verification of their activities and expertise;
a procedure for assessing experience and qualification combined with an examination, mutually recognized by 'communities' of environment professionals.

The importance of regular meetings of environmental professionals was also stressed.

The workshop discussion highlighted the participants' desire to establish an independent association of environmental professionals. At the end of the day the REC stated it would be willing to facilitate further discussion on this issue and possibly host a 'working group' to develop a white paper that would describe a concept plan for a Polish certification program. However, the REC would have to respond to a request from representatives of the Polish environmental business community rather than initiate the discussion.

REC * PUBLICATIONS * COMPETING IN THE NEW ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETPLACE * POLAND *
WORKSHOP SUMMARY