| The following sections of this Report provide a brief overview of the existing environmental, legislative and regulatory framework, the process of approximation within the associated EU Member States, and the related policies and measures to reduce pollutant emissions.
|
|
| Key Issues | There are two key issues related to the problem of revising and improving the legislative and regulatory framework to effectively reduce air pollution. The first is the necessary improvement required in the institutional framework, and second the actual adoption of new and more stringent environmental legislation and standards. In principle, the regulations focus on ambient air quality, emission levels from specific sources and the quality of fuels used.
|
4.1 Institutional Framework |
|
| Concerning the institutional framework, it is worth mentioning that even under centrally planned economies, most of the SILAQ countries had rather well-established institutional frameworks for environmental protection and particularly air pollution control. The most important components of this framework included the ministry, which assumed responsibility for environmental protection at the governmental level; and the state environmental inspectorates, which acted at the regional level. The delegation of responsibilities today from central to local level bodies vary from country to country and currently those responsibilities are being reassessed given the recent changes in each of the countriesŐ economies and legislation, and the changing role of governments throughout the transition period, especially during the process of decentralization.
|
|
| Division of Tasks | Broadly speaking, the central body (usually the ministry of environment) formulates, coordinates and implements environmental protection activities at the state level. It also controls the activities of the regional bodies and coordinates research and development in the field of environmental protection. Regional bodies are responsible for guiding and enforcing environmental control at the local level, and for monitoring the quality of air, water and soil, while the responsibility and decisions for actions at the local level lie with different business entities and local authorities.
|
| Capacity Problems | The need to strengthen institutional framework is recognized in all of the SILAQ countries. At the national level, the most often reported problems are the lack of personnel and funds available to ministries. At the regional level, in addition to these problems, there is a lack of administrative capacity and experience to deal with environmental problems. Local authorities are now overwhelmed with responsibility and remain passive or unaware of environmental issues, particularly those problems inherited from the past.
|