Estonia

III. Conclusions

Estonian environmental policy is generally in accordance with European Union policy. The Act related to Sustainable Development, adopted in February 1995, lays down the general principles of further development. Estonia's nature conservation and environmental protection goals should be reached, regardless of integration with the EU. The transposition of EU environmental legislation into Estonia's national environmental legislation can significantly accelerate this process. As Estonia has joined the most important international conventions in the field of nature conservation and environmental protection, which, in most cases, are of the same strictness as EU norms and standards, it has fair prospects for a relatively smooth approximation process.

A major problem of environmental legislation in Estonia is that it is split in numerous pieces, meaning a slew of conflicting regulations, overlaps and loopholes. There is a need for an integrated approach to environmental codification.

Also, basic environmental legal terms are not clearly defined in legislation. The incorporation of basic principles, such as the right to a sound environment, prevention and precaution, best available technology (BATNEEC), are still necessary to assure that Estonian environmental law will be in accordance with EU environmental policy and law.

Regarding the enforcement of environmental law, the major problems are:

far-reaching objectives are set without outlining how to achieve them,
overestimation of penal law and administrative law sanctions,
the tendency to decentralize environmental enforcement - local authorities are inclined to prioritize short-term economic objectives.

A long historical tradition of nature conservation should be included in the preconditions for successful approximation with the environmental legislation of the European Union. In this respect, considerable effort must still be made in Estonia.

Environmental law in Estonia covers different sectors, but modern concepts like integrated pollution prevention and control, and most economic instruments, have yet to be integrated into the national legal system.

Economic instruments should arise from revenue-raising incentives to cost efficient control and management of pollution. The "Polluter Pays Principle" requires detailed regulation in the acts on civil and administrative liability. The period of economic transition from a planned to a market system has been crucial for polluters, for they must now start to control the waste they produce in the most effective way. This requires paying closer attention to economic and legal issues involving environmental aspects in the drafting of environmental legislation. The complete transfer of environmental administrative offenses to the competence of administrative courts would obviously be an all-but optimal solution.

The improvement of legislation in areas such as Environmental Impact Assessment (in the authorization of construction permits), the issuing of licenses, and risk assessment, is presently underway. The present EIA procedure requires many key changes. (The EIA Act is in its final phase, being completed by a working group in the Ministry of Environment.)

Also, the development of an environmental audit system should be significantly accelerated. The respective legislation is still missing. Comprehensive assessment of the pollution situation and related environmental risks should be accorded a much higher priority. The environmental audit system is also very important in the process of privatization of former state enterprises. The compensation of past damage to the environment is an issue closely connected with the privatization of enterprises.

Estonian environmental legislation is presently undergoing big changes. The revision of formerly valid laws, regulations and administrative provisions takes time. Major obstacles in the approximation of EU environmental legislation into the national legal system include the following:

the absence of a national environmental policy plan. The plan is still being drafted at the Ministry of Environment;
lack of knowledge, experience, and sufficient capacity. The practical enforcement of many pieces of environmental legislation is therefore hindered at local level;
insufficient capacity at all levels. Significant enhancement of capacity building is needed;
limited time. This constraint is a key factor in the approximation process in general;
lack of financial means. In a number of areas, a lack of finance often hinders the implementation and control of environmental legislation. This also explains the slow process of revising and updating existing legislation in line with EU principles.

There are a number of areas in environmental legislation regulated in the EU that have not yet been touched upon in Estonian legislation, for example, the protection of habitats of wild birds and animals, incineration of hazardous wastes, municipal waste incinerators, landfilling of waste, genetically modified organisms, and a proper mechanism to guarantee public access to environmental information. Also, since public participation is one of the most important safeguards in maintaining a clean environment, it must be provided sufficient legal guarantees and well-functioning institutional mechanisms. This is yet to be done in Estonia.

At the same time, national legislation with respect to air, water, waste, noise, wildlife, chemicals, and so forth, is in line with EU legislation. No principal differences can be observed in most of these areas. As for concrete regulations and numerical values of the standards, there are of course certain differences, but even these are generally not contradictory with the requirements set forth by EU Directives. The development of national environmental legislation along the lines of EU environmental legislation is actively underway.

The approximation of Estonian environmental law and EU legislation presupposes that the legal force of several acts should be changed, i.e. regulations should be replaced by laws (e.g., EIA regulation). With the approval of a new environmental framework law, it is expected that the development of environmental legislation will be pursued on the basis of objectives in fixed conceptual frames.

Environmental Regulation of Constitutional Character in Estonia

criteria	assessment
1. Has the Constitution any direct reference to environmental protection
as a priority state objective?	no
a human right?	no
2. Environmental regulation is based upon a framework environmental act?	in principle
3. Environmental regulation is based upon
a general environmental policy adopted by the parliament or government?	no
a relatively detailed environmental program adopted by the parliament or government?	no
a general environmental concept that has not really been adopted by a regulatory body?	no
4. Are there any specific provisions in the association agreement concerning the environment?	yes
5. Is there a central government organ specializing in environmental protection
a ministry?	yes
a central authority (inspectorate)?	yes
6. Is there a specific administrative authority system for environmental protection in the country?	yes
7. Is there an advisory body to the government on environmental matters?	no
8. Are there any specific provisions concerning environmental liability
in the Civil Code?	no
in the Criminal Code?	yes
in the general administrative law?	yes
in privatization laws?	no direct information

Assessment of the Compliance Level of EU Environmental Legislation in Estonia

GENERAL POLICY
criteria	score	weight	level of compliance
1. Do the following principle appear in environmental legislation? prevention/precaution rectifying the pollution at source polluter pays Integrating environmental policy into other policies the high level of protection	0.33	0.15	0.0500
2. Is the polluter pays principle embodied or reflected in the framework environmental act? other basic law on the environment? in civil law? in other laws?	0.33	0.05	0.0167
3. Does the polluter pays principle cover the damages? a specific environment damage? the costs of reinstatement? the costs of prevention? the costs of monitoring and control?	0.33	0.10	0.0333
4. Is there an EIA regulation existing in the country in a draft format? in a detailed regulation? in general?	0.33	0.15	0.0500
5. Does the EIA provisions contain the list of activities subject to mandatory EIA? a direct link to permitting? the details of the procedure? public participation?	0.33	0.15	0.0500
6. The free access to information provided for in a legal regulation? covers most of the environmental information in general? provides for an obligation of the public authorities? provides for some obligation of the polluters? is protected by a judicial review process?	0.33	0.15	0.0500
7. Is there an eco-label award scheme embodied in law reflecting the eco-label regulations?	0.33	0.05	0.0167
8. Are there any provisions concerning the development of environmental management schemes? EMAS (voluntary) environmental auditing reflected in law provisions connected with permitting	0.00	0.05	0.0000
9. Is there an environmental fund existing as a separate state fund? as part of other funds?	0.67	0.10	0.0667
10. Is the concept of IPPC reflected in environmental policy/legislation?	0.00	0.05	0.0000
Total			0.33

AIR

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Are there any plans for improvement of air quality? 0.33 0.20 0.0667

2. Are there specific regulations for point sources? 1.00 0.10 0.1000

3. Are there specific regulations for mobile sources? 0.33 0.10 0.0333

4. Does the BATNEC as a general requirement appear in air pollution regulation? 0.33 0.10 0.0333

5. Concerning BATNEC, are there any special policy or strategy implemented for industrial plants? 0.33 0.10 0.0333

6. Are there any specific regulations for greenhouse gas emissions? 0.00 0.10 0.0000

7. Are there any specific regulations for waste incineration plants? 0.00 0.10 0.0000

8. Is there any administrative authorization procedure for industrial plant operations regarding air pollution? 0.67 0.20 0.1333

Total 0.40

CHEMICALS, INDUSTRIAL RISK AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Do the dangerous substances (chemicals) require a specific permit and record-keeping? 0.67 0.15 0.1026

2. Do the dangerous substances (chemicals) require special classification, packaging and labeling? 0.67 0.15 0.1026

3. Are the dangerous industrial activities reported and controlled? 0.33 0.15 0.0513

4. Are internal/external plans for emergency responses for dangerous industrial activities required? 0.33 0.15 0.0513

5. Is the public informed on dangerous activities and emergency response plans? 0.00 0.12 0.0000

6. Are there some similar regulations like Good Laboratory Practice or other qualifications? 0.33 0.12 0.0385

7. Are there any regulations like those in connection with GMOs or GMMOs? 0.00 0.08 0.0000

8. Does the risk assessment appear
in case of chemical substances?
in case of dangerous activities? 0.00 0.08 0.0000

Total 0.35

NATURE CONSERVATION

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Is nature conservation based mostly upon the regulation of protected species and protected areas? 0.33 0.50 0.1667

2. Do the new elements of nature conservation such as natural habitats appear in law? 0.33 0.50 0.1667

Total 0.33

NOISE

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Are there any specific noise pollution regulations in terms of motor vehicles? 0.33 0.50 0.1667

2. Are there any specific product standards for noise emission of household appliances? 0.00 0.50 0.0000

Total 0.17

WASTE

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Is waste management regulated by law? 0.67 0.15 0.1026

2. Do waste management regulations cover waste management plans? 0.33 0.15 0.0513

3. Are waste management regulations developed for
hazardous wastes?
other wastes? 0.67 0.15 0.1026

4. Do waste management activities require a specific permit? 0.67 0.15 0.1026

5. Do hazardous waste incineration plants have specific regulation? 0.00 0.12 0.0000

6. Are there specific requirements for the landfill of wastes? 0.33 0.12 0.0385

7. Does BANTEC form a part of the general waste management regulations? 0.33 0.08 0.0256

8. Are there any special regulations relating waste originated from packaging materials, such as beverage containers? 0.33 0.08 0.0256

Total 0.45

WATER

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Does water protection cover the water discharges? 1.00 0.17 0.1667

2. Are there specific water quality requirements for different water uses, like drinking or bathing water? 0.67 0.17 0.1111

3. Are there regulations for protection of groundwater against pollution? 0.67 0.17 0.1111

4. Are water quality requirements for the general ecological quality of water reflected in national legislation? 0.33 0.17 0.0556

5. Are water quality standards laid down? 0.67 0.17 0.1111

6. Is a monitoring system set up for water quality control? 1.00 0.17 0.1667

Total 0.72

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