Romania

Simion Habcu, Ion Hortopan, Mihai Lesnic

I. Introduction

Since the changes of 1989, the main body of existing environmental regulation in Romania has continued to remain in Act Nr. 9, the Environment Act (hereinafter EA), which entered into force in 1973. A new law, however, the Environment Protection Act (hereinafter EPA), is to take its place: it has been passed by parliament, and it is waiting for its promulgation by the president. The Environmental Strategy and the National Environmental Action Program were adopted by the government in December 1995.

There are numerous other laws and regulatory acts still in force, but which require updating. A list of the main existing laws and regulations concerning the environment is presented in Annex 1. The actual regulatory framework is characterized by certain inconsistency: environmental issues have been regulated by secondary legislation: Government Decisions (hereinafter GD), Government Orders (hereinafter GO), Ministerial Decisions (hereinafter MD), and Ministerial Orders (hereinafter MO), without passing the new framework law and other specific laws. With the adoption of the new EPA, the situation be can significantly improved.

The main problems with environmental legislation in Romania concern the implementation of and compliance with laws and other regulations, the main reasons being:

Enforcement alleviation
Lack of incentives
Insufficient technology
Financial implications
Obstacles to public participation (e.g., occasionally overlooking the adverse effects of some activities while exaggerating the impact of other, relative low-pollution activities).

For the first time, in 1990, the Ministry of Environment was set up (GD 983/1990), and in 1992 it was renamed Ministry of Water Resources, Forests and Environmental Protection - MWFEP (GD 792/1992).

There are 41 Environmental Protection Agencies subordinated directly to the MWFEP, one in each county (including the Administration of the Danube River Delta, or ADRD).

There are 10 branches of the autonomous Romanian Water Authority, or Apele Romane (AR), organized by the tributary areas of inland rivers, subordinated to the MWFEP via the AR; and 41 branches of the autonomous Forest Authority (ROMSILVA), organized by county and subordinated via ROMSILVA to the MWFEP.

There are also agencies, offices and inspectorates organized by county and subordinated to the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and to the local authorities (municipalities).

The Research Institutes for Environmental Engineering, for the Danube River Delta, for Maritime Waters, and the Office for Environmental Information are all directly subordinated to the MWFEP. To the same ministry are subordinated the National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (via the AR) and the Research Institute for Silviculture (via ROMSILVA).

All the institutions mentioned above, inter alia, are involved in the procedure for licensing discharges to the environment.

The research institutes mentioned above are involved in the licensing procedure mainly by EIA or EI analysis, which must be submitted to obtain approval for existing and future activities.

The institutions typically responsible for enforcement of environmental legislation are:

Environmental Protection Agencies
Municipalities
Local Health Authorities (Health and Veterinary Police)
District Water Authorities (branches of AR)
District Forest Authorities (branches of ROMSILVA)
Police

The organizational structure dealing with EU integration, including law harmonization, was established in 1995:

Parliamentary Committee for European Integration
Interministerial Committee for European Integration
Governmental Department of European Integration

The 'harmonization plan' is, in fact, included in the NEAP.

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