Slovak Republic: Workshop Papers

Slovak Environmental Law and its Integration into European Union (EU) Law

  During the last five years, Slovak environmental law has undergone a number of important qualitative changes resulting from the process of social transformation. The main changes were:

• the creation of a new organizational structure within the state administration for environmental protection (i.e., the Slovak Ministry of Environment, the Environmental Offices, the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate, and the State Fund for the Environment)
• the gradual completion of environmental legislation through the adoption of new legislation (including a new waste management act, a framework environmental protection law, the Act on Environmental Impact Assessment)
• the replacement of existing legislation with new regulations (for example,on the pollution of air and water, and the protection of natural ecosystems)

Review of Legislation on Waste Management

  The acts cover the following:

• setting forth basic principles for minimizing waste production and for reducing the negative impacts on the environment and the public, resulting from waste disposal
• defining basic expressions such as 'waste', 'hazardous' waste, 'handling' of waste, and 'liquidation' of waste
• banning the import of waste for the purpose of liquidation, with exceptions only to be permitted by law
• defining those activities to be performed by state authorities responsible for waste management
• obliging waste management authorities to become acquainted with the methods and equipment used in waste liquidation
• obliging waste producers to establish waste management strategies and to separate, recycle, and liquidate waste
• authorizing state authorities to prohibit a waste producer, or an entrepreneur operating a waste treatment facility, from continuing their activities if they are causing damage to the environment
• enforcing fines from 10 thousand Sk to 10 million Sk
• establishing charges for disposal at landfill sites

  These acts have already undergone some amendments, including amendment No. 605/1992 on the Registration of Waste, and No. 606/1992 on the Handling, Categorization and Cataloguing of Waste.

Review of Legislation on Air Protection

  The acts accomplish the following:

• define basic expressions, such as 'pollutants', 'pollution sources' (stable, mobile, large-scale, medium-sized, small-scale), 'pollution limits' (concerning emissions, imissions and deposition)
• set forth the key obligations in protecting air against pollution from sources such as industrial production and 'imported' pollution (i.e., from mobile sources) which fulfill the limits; in importing and selling fuels of high quality; and in using the best available technologies in view of costs
• establish specific obligations for entrepreneurs running large-scale and medium-sized pollution sources to stay within emission limits and act in compliance with the conditions approved by the state authorities
• set forth specific obligations for entrepreneurs running small-scale pollution sources, particularly to stay within given levels of pollution
• set forth specific obligations for entrepreneurs operating mobile pollution sources
• define those activities subject to approval by the competent state authorities
• define the circumstances requiring special air protection and a process to improve the smog situation
• establish penalties for exceeding emission limits, from 5,000 to 10 million Sk
• establish a system of fees to be paid according to the quantity and kind of pollution

  The amendments to the above-mentioned acts include the amendment of the Federal Committee for the Environment No. 84/1991 to the Clean Air Act (passed in the former Czechoslovak Republic) and amendment No. 407/1992 to the Air Protection Act. Both provide a list of pollutants, categorize pollution sources, and set forth emission and imission limits. Related amendments include No. 111/1993, on evaluations performed by experts; and No. 112/1993, on systems of smog regulation and the issuance of warnings in a smog situation.

Review of Legislation on Water Protection

  The basis for the legislation is to be found in the Water Act No. 138/1973 and Act No. 135/1974 on the State Administration of Water Management. Both laws were amended in 1993.

  The legislation concerns issues such as:

• the reason for legislation on water protection: water's role as an unrenewable resource of great importance for society
• the use of water not requiring specific permission or agreement (i.e., so-called 'general use' of water) and the use of water only by permit or with the consent of the competent state authority
• investment activity in the field of water management, allowed by permit from the competent state authority
• establishment of water sources' protected areas and protection zones and the definition of water flows as water sources
• the definition of waste water, and the setting forth of procedures for handling substances that can deteriorate water quality
• obligations of water management authorities, definition of water works, and the competence of the management authorities
• penalties for exceeding emission limits

  The discharge limits established by the above-mentioned acts were amended by Government Regulation No. 242/1993, which set forth a new method for the assessment of water pollution, based on a combination of emissions and imissions.

  Other laws concerning water protection include, amendment No. 32/1975 on Protection Against Floods, amendment No. 169/1975 on the supervision of certain water works by specialists, and amendment No. 34/1977 on the use of surface water for the operation of motorboats.

Integrating Slovak Environmental Legislation with European Union Law

  As a first step towards this goal, the Slovak government endorsed a list of 22 priorities which concern mostly economic issues. Two of these, however, waste management and air protection concern the environment directly. The list represents the Slovak government's first key step in this area.

  The priorities were set according to the results of discussions between the EU and Slovak specialists during preparation of the White Paper which presents a guideline accession strategy for the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It was submitted at the EU summit in Cannes in June 1995. The Paper establishes key measures in every sector of the internal market and suggests how to proceed in the approximation of legislative structures. It also deals with the following environmental issues:

1. Contamination of food by radioactive materials
2. Protection against radiation
3. Chemical substances
4. Regulation of risk caused by the use of chemical substances
5. Import and export of some dangerous chemical substances
6. Consequences of intended release of genetically modified organisms to natural ecosystems
7. Principles of waste management
8. Noise pollution caused by construction engineering machines and equipment
9. Air pollution caused by burning leaded engine oil and sulphuric liquid fuels
10. Air pollution caused by vaporous organic substances
11. Regulation of substances which damage the ozone layer

  The Slovak Ministry of Environment's Legislation Department also includes a Foreign Relations Section, which deals with the approximation of the legal structures.

  Environmental laws passed most recently in the Slovak Republic have been drafted in accordance with EU law. Apart from the approximation of environmental legislation concerning specific fields such as water, air, and waste, to be elaborated on by my colleagues from other Ministry departments, further examples of approximation include:

• the European Council Directive 85/337/EEC passed 27 June 1985, on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), followed in the Slovak Republic by Act No. 127/1994, on EIA
• the European Council Directive 90/313/EEC, passed 7 June 1990, on free access to environment-related information, which represents the basis of the Slovak bill on free access to information on the state of the environment
• the European Council Regulation EEC/1836/93, passed 29 June 1993, on companies' voluntary participation in the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme within the EU. This regulation represents the basis of a similar system being prepared in the Slovak Republic.