Slovak Republic: Workshop Papers

Current Legislative Amendments in the Sphere of Air Protection

Acts and Associated Executive Regulations

Act No. 134/1992 of the Slovak National Council (hereinafter 'the Council') on the State Administration of Air Protection (or 'Air Protection Act') amended by Council Act No. 148/1994 and (entire wording) No. 32/1995.

Act No. 311/1992 on Charges for Air Pollution.

Executive Regulations (Decrees, Provisions, and Measures)

'Proclamation of the Slovak Commission for the Environment' No. 407/1992 (hereinafter 'the Commission'), stipulating the classes of pollution sources and a list of polluting agents and their limits, and which specifies details on the assessment of emission limits in existing pollution sources.

Decree No. 111/1993 of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) on Evaluation Performed by Experts in the Fields of Air and Waste Protection, on the Nomination of Persons Authorized to Conduct Such Evaluations and Criteria for their Professional Competency (amended by MoE Decree No. 53/1995).

MoE Decree No. 112/1993 on defining areas which request special air protection and the operation of smog warning and regulating systems (as amended by MoE Decree No. 103/1995).

I wish to focus initially on Act No. 309/1991, the Committee Provision of 1 October 1991. Through this Act the Committee proclaimed emission limits for polluting substances and other matter. The emission limits are in accordance with paragraph 5, section 2 of the Air Protection Act (No. 134/1992), which gives the highest admissible concentrations for air pollutants.

The following European Union (EU) Directives also deal with emission limits:

• Council Directive 80/779/EEC as amended by 89/427/EEC (SO2)
• Council Directive 85/203/EEC (NOx)
• Council Directive 80/779/EEC (particular matter)
• Council Directive 92/72/EEC (ozone)
• Council Directive 82/884/EEC (lead)

For comparison, Table 1 shows the emission limit values as they appear in the regulations, along with the WHO values.

Table 1: Emission Limit Values

Pollutant	Regulation	Limit Values µg/m3	Reference period and other conditions	Protection of	Obligation
Sulphur Dioxide	Provision of the Federal Committee (FVZP)	60	annual average concentration	human health	limit
		150	daily average concentration 95th percentile	human health	limit
		540	average half-hour concentration 95th percentile	human health	limit
		250	arithmetic sum of daily concentration of SO2 and particulate matter	human health	limit
	EU Directive 80/779/EEC (as amended by 89/427/EEC) Annex IV	80	median of daily mean values taken throughout the year where the median of daily mean values of matter taken throughout the year is > 150 µg/m3	human health	limit
		120	median of daily mean values taken throughout the year where the median of daily mean values of matter taken throughout the year is <= 150 µg/m3	human health	limit
		130	median of daily mean values taken throughout the winter (1.10-31.3) where the median of daily mean values of matter taken throughout the year is > 200 µg/m3	human health	limit
		250*	98th percentile of all daily mean values taken throughout the year where the 98th percentile of all daily values of matter taken throughout the year is > 350 µg/m3	human health	limit
		350*	98th percentile of all daily mean values taken throughout the year where the 98th percentile of all daily mean values of matter taken throughout the year is <= 350 µg/m3	human health	limit
	Annex II	40-60	arithmetic mean of daily mean values taken throughout the year	human health & the environment	recommended value
		100-150	daily mean value	human health & the environment	recommended value
	WHO	50	annual concentration	human health	recommended value
		125	daily concentration	human health	recommended value
Nitrogen Oxide	Provision of the Federal Committee (FVZP)	80	annual average concentration	human health	limit
		100	95th percentile of daily mean concentration	human health	limit
		200	95th percentile of average half-hour concentration	human health	limit
		200	98th percentile calculated from the mean values per hour or period of less than an hour recorded throughout the year	human health	limit
		50	50th percentile calculated from the mean values per hour or period of less than an hour recorded throughout the year	human health & the environment	limit
		135	98th percentile calculated from the mean values per hour or period of less than an hour recorded throughout the year	human health & the environment	limit
	WHO	150	daily median	human health	recommended value
		400	one-hour median	human health	recommended value
Particulate matter	Provision of the Federal Committee (FVZP)	60	annual average concentration	human health	limit
		150	95th percentile of daily mean concentration	human health	limit
		500	95th percentile of average half-hour concentration	human health	limit
	EU Directive 80/779/EEC	150	annual arithmetic of daily means	human health	limit
		300	98th percentile of daily mean concentrations	human health	limit
	WHO	120	daily median	human health	limit
Carbon Monoxide	Provision of the Federal Committee (FVZP)	5000	95th percentile of daily mean concentration	human health	limit
		10000	95th percentile of average half-hour concentration	human health	limit
	WHO	10000	8-hour median	human health	recommended value
		30000	one-hour median	human health	recommended value
		60000	half-hour median	human health	recommended value
Lead in PM	Provision of the Federal Committee (FVZP)	0.5	annual average concentration	human health	limit
	EU Directive 82/884/EEC	2.0	annual mean concentration	human health	limit
	WHO	0.5-1.0	annual concentration	human health	recommended value
Cadmium in PM	Provision of the Federal Committee (FVZP)	0.01	annual average concentration	human health	limit
	WHO	0.01-0.02	annual concentration	human health	tolerable levels in town zones
		0.001-0.005	annual concentration	human health	limits for rural regions
Ozone	Provision of the Federal Committee (FVZP)	160	annual 8-hour concentration	human health	limit
	EU Directive 92/72/EEC	110**	mean value over 8-hours	human health	limit
		65	mean value over 1-hour	vegetation	limit
		200	mean value over 24-hours	vegetation	limit
	WHO	150-200	average one-hour concentration	human health	recommended value

* This value must not be exceeded for more than three consecutive days
** The mean over eight hours is a non-overlapping moving average; it is calculated four times a day from the eight hourly values between 0000-0900, 0800-1700, 1600-0100, 1200-2100

Waste Incinerators

The following EU Directives also provide emission limits for municipal and hazardous waste incinerators:

• Council Directive 89/369/EEC of 8 June 1989 (new municipal waste incinerators)
• Council Directive 89/429/EEC of 21 June 1989 (existing municipal waste incinerators)
• Council Directive 94/67/EEC of 16 December 1994 (hazardous waste incinerators)

Council Directive 89/429/EEC deals with the process whereby existing municipal waste incinerators must comply with the standards met by new incinerators, both in terms of emission limits and operating conditions. In principle, the Directive states that incinerators with a nominal capacity of more than six tonnes of waste/hour must fulfill the conditions set in the earlier Directive 89/369 of 8 June 1989 . This is required for such incinerators as of 1 December 1996, whereas the transition deadline assigned to other incinerators is 1 December 2000.

As regards existing municipal waste incinerators in the Slovak Republic, the respective authorities shall fix individual emission limits and a respective time frame for compliance with those limits applied to new waste incinerators. Current legislation sets 31 December 1998 as the final deadline for compliance.

General Conditions Proposed for the Construction and Operation of New Municipal Waste Incinerators

These conditions refer to incinerators with a capacity of more than 1 tonne of incinerated waste per hour. The emission limits for municipal waste incineration with a capacity of 1 tonne/hr. or less are valid in the presence of 17 percent oxygen content in the incineration residues.

The general conditions recommended for the construction and operation of municipal waste incinerators in the Slovak Republic are basically the same as those conditions set by the EU Council Directive.

General Conditions Proposed for the Construction and Operation of New Hazardous Waste Incinerators

The general conditions proposed for the construction and operation of hazardous waste incinerators include the following:

• All hazardous waste incinerators shall be equipped with additional burners. After the last injection of combustion air, the temperature in the combustion chamber must be such that it provides thermic and oxidic destruction of all emitted dangerous substances, and must be at least 900°C for one second in the presence of a minimum of 6 percent oxygen.
• As for the incineration of waste containing highly stable organic compounds (e.g., PCBs) a temperature of at least 1,200°C must be maintained after the last injection of combustion air for the period of time the incineration residues stay within the combustion chamber.

The emission limits for incinerators are fixed by the Provision of the Federal Committee on the Environment as well as Decree No. 407/1992 of the Slovak Commission on the Environment.

The following EU Directive covers emission limits for large combustion processes:

• Council Directive 889/609/EEC from 24 November 1988

The emission limits for NO, CO, and solid polluting substances are basically in accord with the relevant EU directives.

There is insufficient time in this presentation to discuss Directives and legislative instruments which deal with mobile air-polluting sources and with the protection of the ozone layer, although they certainly represent a key aspect of air protection. The legal regulations on air protection in the Slovak Republic mentioned herein are, however, basically in accord with the relevant EU Directives.