The municipalities need to find new ways to finance necessary investment activities, including those which directly influence the quality of the environment in the municipalities and region. However, the non-systematic approach towards municipal problems has led, in many cases, to investments which did not bring expected changes. A significant portion of government municipal subsidies has been kept and frozen at the regional level due to continual arguments about the priorities of the municipalities. Other funds became virtually ineffective due to poor investment strategies: they are often not in accordance with original plans and/or legal regulations. Most municipalities do not have clearly defined and comprehensible environmental policies, which would include ranking of priorities in environmental problem-solving, timetables related to policy implementation, tools for public participation in its implementation and strategies to obtain financial means, especially at the local level.
Following the 1994 Fall municipal elections, political will has been created at the Kolin City Hall. Interest has arisen to cope decisively with the environmental challenges of the municipality, including the involvement of citizens at all levels.
Kolin was chosen as a model town from a selection of five municipalities; (Kolin, Decin, Liberec, Vsetaty, Vratislavice n.N.). Justification for its selection was that it is a medium-sized municipality of district size, with an average pollution level. Detailed selection criteria were:
The Act on Municipalities (No. 367/1990) gave municipalities the legislative tools necessary to deal with environmental problems. Each area of state administration has to provide all information on the state of the environment to the public; this liability is settled in the Constitution of the Czech Republic. No special promulgation or decree defining scope and depth of environmental information has been passed for this purpose; it remains the individual decision of municipalities and their respective offices as to how they interpret the law.
Municipalities are not obliged legally to develop any long-term comprehensive plan or program for environmental protection within their authorities, except a program related to municipal waste management. (municipalities are considered producers of waste, similar to enterprises; they have to work out a program of municipal waste management according to Act 238/1991).
Although the law does not require plans for municipal environmental management, many have been developed recently as a requirement for financial support. A municipality applying for a loan or grant from the State Environmental Fund, Program for Revitalization of Countryside, etc. for example, to improve the quality of drinking water, is supposed to submit a comprehensive concept paper related to the water situation in the municipality.
The area includes electronic, chemical, polygrafic, and processing industries. In 1995, there were a total of 76 production companies registered in the municipality. Many industrial plants were established as early as the last century. This was the reason for merging the industrial and residential zones of the town. This integral body of the town is the cause of many problems in environmental quality, as perceived by the citizens.
The most significant polluter in Kolin is the chemical industry. Kolin chemical plants occupy more than 30 percent of industrial land, but employ less than 10 percent of the production sphere employees; it represents seven percent of all employment opportunities in the production and processing industries. Moreover, as the plants are dependent on sufficient supplies of water, they are situated on the bank of the Elbe river and occupy the best quality land. They have caused irreversible pollution of ground water sources. All the three chemical plants (Lubne zavody, Darslovka, Koramo) occupy an area of 95 hectares, i.e. more than all the Kolin concentrated apartment building area, including basic maintenance and service areas, of the town.
The river Elbe flows northwest through the town center. The Kolin municipality includes 228 hectares of forest land and 136 hectares of fishing ponds. In Kolin, there is no significant natural formation especially protected by law: there are several parks which are being revitalized within the LEAP project. Expert projects were calculated and funds for its implementation were secured for 1996.
The municipal authorities consist of a Municipal Assembly, Municipal Council and its bodies, and a Mayor. These authorities are elected for a four-year term. The municipal assembly approves programs related to development, budget, and regulations; the Council is the executive organ of the municipality responsible to the Assembly. The municipal office has 85 personnel: six officers work in environmental management. They participate in various specialized training courses on environmental protection.
The main source of municipal income comes from the state budget in the form of subsidies. The municipal budget for 1995 was US$13.3 million, of which US$2.1 million (15.8 percent) was assigned for environmental protection. The environmental budget was allocated for these particular areas: landfill reclamation 60 percent, waste water treatment plant nine percent, ozonization of water (drinking water treatment) 19 percent, vegetation maintenance six percent, and gasofication five percent. The municipality does not have a comprehensive environmental protection program at the moment. There have been three major environmental projects carried out recently: Complex waste management systems in the districts of Kolin and Kutna Hora (neighboring city), a system of animal protection, and conversion of small sources of air pollution at local and regional scale (gasofication).
The CSOP Kolin (the Czech Union of Nature Conservation) - a branch of the biggest Czech environmental NGO - is the only environmental NGO in Kolin focusing its activities essentially on nature and landscape protection. It does not enter significantly into other environmental sectors, nor does it communicate with the municipality in Kolin. As in many other municipalities, a totalitarian approach still exists between the authorities and citizens. NGOs often clash with municipal officials when attempting to solve urgent problems of the municipality; moreover citizens often feel their complaints, comments or proposals are ignored. The CSOP is the only partner as an interest group in the project representing public opinion.
The Committee for Environment consists of 15 members representing the general public and NGOs, all of whom deal, in one way or another, with environmental protection in their professions. In the starting phase of the project, it was important to obtain the cooperation of various departmental staff at the Town Hall. In forthcoming project phases, the agreement and interest of the municipal representatives, the Mayor and also the Committee for the Environment, will be crucial.
The IEP has prepared a methodology for the local environmental action plan, based on experience in state administration, the role of NGOs in the formation of a civic society, and attitudes of citizens towards public affairs, and tailored to the needs of the Czech Republic. IEP became acquainted with environmental action programs for municipalities which were based on, and reflected, different economic and social conditions and the political culture of respective countries. Therefore, the original framework methodology for the Kolin LEAP was used: it comprised particular standard analytical methods (health risk assessment, economic analyzes, etc.). The project comprises these elements:
First, human activities affecting particular environmental sectors in the municipality were identified by means of a sociological-environmental survey. IEP prepared questions on municipal problems related to various spheres of life, although they were not limited to the environment. A professional poll company designed the questionnaire to avoid any ambiguity. Recipients of the survey represented all ages and social classes, municipality employees, members of the Municipal Assembly, NGOs, and selected independent experts. The goal of the survey was to establish citizens' opinion on the state of the environment in the town of Kolin; people also expressed their views on social, economic, and legislative issues.
Objective information on the condition of the environment was obtained from industrial enterprises, the main polluters within the municipal territory. Each provided all available information concerning both their past environmental damage and present polluting. Risk studies and environmental audits (most enterprises conduct these studies on a voluntary basis or as required supporting documents for loans and grant applications) were sources of precise data on the present environmental pollution. An environmental-economic survey was conducted in 32 main Kolin's enterprises to obtain information on the relationship between pollution and the economic situation.
The municipality does not have data on changes of environmental quality within its territory caused by the ongoing economic transformation since 1989. Since 1970, a system of environmental data collection in the municipality has instituted. The informative value of these data is very controversial due to conflicting measuring methods and the need to conform to the governmental needs of the time (positive environmental data were often used as part of the propaganda process).
Stage 2 (6 months): Specification of the impact of environmental problems on human health, and their quantification.
Preliminary results of a sociological-economic survey were analyzed in cooperation with the District Hygiene Inspectorate (DHI), and the public view subsequently compared with available data.
Results showed that approximately five percent of Kolin's population directly linked their health with the condition of the environment (both working and non-working). This opinion closely correlates with data collected by the DHI (allergic and asthmatic diseases, and respiratory syndrome). Fourteen percent of the respondents associated a poor working environment with health problems; the same number, however, is not sure of any link between these two factors. Sixteen percent of respondents considered the non-working environment a direct cause of health problems such as asthma, allergies and respiratory diseases. Only a very small number of respondents believed the environment could cause malign tumors in children; statistics related to these diseases are within country averages when compared with similar cities.
Identified problems were prioritized under two criteria:
Ranking of environmental problems was established according to the relationship between probable and proved occurrence of diseases, and particular factors related to environmental pollution.
The Quality Health Risk Assessment (QHRA) method was used to assess the environmental risks posed to human health. QHRA is an evaluating method used to establish whether health damage or death has been caused by environmental impact. This approach was chosen as a standard methodology for analyzing industrial risks to public health (industrial production - chemical and machinery - is a crucial factor affecting the state of environment in Kolin). This methodology has been known since 1989 in the Czech Republic; both government agencies and private firms analyzing the environment have adopted it. The QHRA's results were compared with the priorities listed by citizens, and the final ranking of environmental problems is as follows:
Creation of the action plan
Selected strategies for addressing the waste problem were outlined in a comprehensive action plan which focused on management of household and industrial (including hazardous) waste. This action plan is considered a pilot study since it has become obvious that neither municipalities, nor their specialized organizations, have reliable information on energy-material flows in their territories, financial flows have been distorted and have not indicated real costs.
This action plan will be presented and discussed by local government bodies, and the Environmental Committee, to be approved by the Municipal Council and the Assembly. This two-round approval procedure is necessary for the adoption of the plan by local government. The action plan for household waste management consists of these components:
This action plan is to be completed by the year 2000; it is broken down in partial, yearly steps. Four-year planning is comprehensible and realistic for people living in smaller communities: they are accustomed to organizing their work in four-year agriculture cycles. Objectives of these partial steps are tangible and the implementation process can be effectively controlled.
Next step is working out an action plan for the next priority problem: a system for animal protection. The development of action plans for other priorities is dependent on further negotiations with local government.
The action plan will be financed locally and regionally (municipal obligation emission, leasing, bank credits). The integral system of waste management comprises two other nearby towns within a range of 16 km - Kutna Hora and Caslav - Such a system becomes economically effective only in an area with a population of more than sixty thousand.
Another mechanism created within the LEAP framework will strengthen its sustainability: the establishment of six new environmental sub-committees - advisory bodies to the Council - was proposed to the Council. These sub-committees are designed for those areas identified as problems for the municipality which can be influenced by citizens and thus committees as well. The main goal of their establishment is to involve the public and promote regular cooperation with the local government on environmental issues. Their main task will be:
Implementation of selected strategies is scheduled for the period of 1996-98.
Most citizens accept the LEAP project in a very positive way as an opportunity for participating directly in municipal decisionmaking. The environmental-sociological survey raised citizens' interest in the project and the environment in general.
Members of the Municipal Council generally supported the project and assisted in its analysis.