Selected environmental policy briefs for
other central and east European nations

Reprinted from Environment & Health Online

Baltic States	Bulgaria	Czech Rep.	Hungary	Poland	Romania
Slovakia	Fmr. Yugoslavia	Central/East European Region		Former Soviet region
Belarus	Caucasus	Central Asia	Moldova	Russia	Ukraine

The policy briefs reprinted in these pages are drawn from past issues of Okno Group's E&H Online Environment Report. The briefs have been selected for broader interest and appear here with a delay after original publication.

Baltic States
August 1998	Estonia gets EU enviro aid, cuts spending Estonian officials announced 30 July that the European Union would grant the country 90 million kroons ($6.3 million) to help Estonia meet EU environmental criteria. Twelve million kroons is to be spent on the training of environmental officials and on foreign consultants to assist with revising Estonian laws to meet EU standards. The remainder of the grant will be spent on upgrading three waste-water treatment plants. Estonian officials expect to spend 200 million kroons on air and water pollution abatement, of which slightly more than half is being provided by the neighboring Nordic countries. Only a week later, officials at the Estonian Environment Fund announced cutbacks in project financing for 1998 because of revenue shortfalls. The fund's income is expected to fall 20 million kroons short this year, primarily because of privatization delays. The fund receives 5% of privatization income. Water quality projects form the largest share of the fund's expenditures; the fund is preparing to implement across-the-board cuts. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. The Lithuanian government tightened supervision over construction of the Butinge oil terminal on the Lithuanian coast on 17 August after reports surfaced that the American designers (Fluor Daniel) found quality control problems in the work performed by the German construction firm PER. Opposition to construction of the terminal has mushroomed in Latvia, which would be threatened by any accidents at the sea terminal. Latvian environmentalists, fishermen, and many political and community leaders have called for construction to stop, while some have threatened to actually blockade the site. Observers note that in addition to environmental concerns, Latvia may also see traffic at its own tanker terminal at Ventspils fall if the Butinge terminal is connected to a Russian pipeline as planned. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. Lithuanian Environment Minister Algis Zvaliauskas ordered an end to free hunting privileges for top officials on 17 August. The government took the action after press reports described the free hunting privileges on special government reserves granted to top officials, parliamentarians and foreign guests. President Valdas Adamkus announced that no one should be exempt from paying for the upkeep of the natural areas used for hunting; expenditures on the "exclusive forests" may amount to 500,000 litas ($125,000) in 1998. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
July 1998	The director of Estonia's Maritime Inspectorate is hoping to increase fines for ocean dumping and spillage by ten times or more. Currently, fines for oil spills are 100,000 kroons ($7,000) for each ton of oil spilled plus cleanup costs. While officials want the fines much higher, they also worry that fines set too high will encourage violators to evade responsibility. After a serious spill at the end of May, one shipping firm was fined 670,000 kroons but refuses to pay the fine. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
June 1998	The Lithuanian parliament passed a waste management law on 16 June; the bill, six years in the making, specifies standards for waste collection, storage and removal to protect the environment and public health. The law also attributes responsibility for waste regulation across several ministries, and creates a state waste management fund to finance projects. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
February 1998	Estonia approves new air pollution law In early January, the Estonian government approved a new law regulating air pollution which sets standards for polluters and commits the government to a comprehensive monitoring program. The legislation, which when passed by parliament would replace a 1981 law on air pollution, requires polluters to meet new, tighter, standards and makes pollution licenses public documents. The law also sets new restrictions on hazardous chemicals, restricts production and trade of substances that harm the ozone layer, and imposes new requirements on fuels. The national government will be required to construct a country-wide monitoring system and to equip it with modern technology; local governments would be responsible for ongoing monitoring expenses in their areas. Environment ministry officials said the regulations were based on Finnish and German laws; the government hopes that the bill will bring them closer to harmonization with EU environmental regulations. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.

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Poland
July 1998	Reports in the Polish press described rumored shakeups in that country's coalition cabinet, a sometimes uneasy alliance of Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) and the more fiscally-conservative Freedom Union (UW). According to one report, premier Jerzy Buzak of the AWS would give the environmental portfolio to the smaller UW in return for the culture and justice ministries, which are currently filled by UW members. The report also notes that AWS leaders are hesitant to give up the environment ministry because of its large share of the budget. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. The Polish environment ministry announced that over 900 Polish firms had taken part in the ministry's "Clean Production" program over the past seven years. Participating firms received assistance with measures that both cut pollution emissions and often made production processes more efficient. While about 25% of large enterprises participated, smaller firms took part at a much lower rate. Until last year, the program was financed by the Norwegian government. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
June 1998	Poland loses some Phare funding Environmental projects worth Ecu 11 million were canceled as the European Commission cut Poland's Phare aid program allotment by Ecu 34 million, or 16%, to Ecu 178 million ($199 million). The canceled projects included the construction of a liquid waste treatment plant in Lodz, refurbishment of a municipal heating system in Parseta in northwest Poland, and a plastic waste recycling project. Some Polish politicians claimed the cut was made for political reasons; EU officials said that the Polish government had failed to do key preparatory work on the projects. European officials also reportedly feel that the Polish government has become complacent about the work it needs to do in preparation for EU membership. This was the first time Phare aid for any country has been cut. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
May 1998	The Bulgarian and Polish governments agreed in late April to a multi-year program to share environmental information, particularly on efforts to harmonize domestic law to EU standards. Bulgarian Environment Minister Evdokia Maneva said Poland's experience as an applicant for EU membership would be particularly helpful. In early May, the Bulgarian and Russian governments also signed an agreement on environmental cooperation, including sharing strategies to meet EU environmental standards and other international agreements. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
April 1998	Poland signs debt-for-environment swap with Italy During Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek's visit to Italy in mid-April, the Polish and Italian governments signed an agreement converting $32.6 million of Poland's debt to Italy into funds to be used for environmental projects in Poland. The figure represents about two percent of the total amount owed to Italy. Officials at the Polish EcoFund, which administers the proceeds of such debt "eco-conversions," said that they hoped the agreement with Italy would encourage other creditor nations to conclude similar agreements. EcoFund chairman Maciej Nowicki said that Denmark, the Netherlands, and Canada might conclude such agreements; officials also hope that Germany, which has been reluctant to join in because of its other assistance to Poland, will move towards an agreement. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. A new USAID program, the Local Government Partnership Program, will be assisting Polish local governments in upgrading their environmental facilities and programs and in obtaining financing for local projects. The $25 million program is an outgrowth of the USAID-funded Environmental Action Program Support, which, through the contractor Chemonics International (U.S.), has spent over $65 million since 1995 assisting local governments with environmental projects. Polish officials credit the program with important environmental improvements in several cities, including air quality in Krakow. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. Polish-German cooperative efforts at environmental protection will be funded by a grant program set up by foundations from the two countries. The program, with a budget of DM 2 million ($1.1 million), is funded jointly by the Polish Maciej Nowicki Foundation and the German Federal Environment Foundation. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
March 1998	The Polish government's Economic Committee discussed draft trade rules in late February that would continue import preferences for certain kinds of equipment used in environmental projects. Items covered by the preferences include sewage treatment equipment, cranes and crushers for handling timber, automatic weather stations, spectrophotometers and gas analyzers. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
January 1998	Poland, Bulgaria sign environment cooperation agreement Poland and Bulgaria signed an agreement on environmental cooperation at the end of November. Bulgaria is primarily interested in learning more about Poland's methods of financing environmental ventures through the National Ecofund and EU-related environmental practices. The agreement provides for joint efforts in environmental education, environmentally friendly technologies, waste utilization, biological preservation, and financing. Implementation of the agreement will be supervised by the Joint Polish-Bulgarian Environmental Committee comprising four representatives from each country. The agreement is a follow-up to one signed in September by ten central and east European states pledging to establish closer cooperation on environmental protection (see print E&H, Sept/Oct 1997, p.1). Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.

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Romania
August 1998	Romania to shift away from leaded gasoline In an extension of Romanian efforts to cut pollution from autos, the government approved on 23 July an 'action plan' to cut the amount of lead in gasoline sold in the country. According to the plan, the concentrations of lead in domestic fuel should fall from 0.5g/l to 0.15g/l by 2005. These proposed regulations complement earlier moves to cut vehicle pollution; all imported cars are now required to be equipped with catalytic converters, and domestic cars must also have emissions controls beginning in January 2000 [see E&H Online, June 98]. The moves are being made in order to bring Romania into closer compliance with EU norms, in hopes of increasing the country's chances at being invited for membership. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
July 1998	A bill in the Romanian parliament, sponsored by the National Liberal Party (junior member of the governing coalition), would make energy efficiency a high priority for the country by setting up a national Agency for Energy Efficiency funded by fuel taxes. The agency would have branches throughout the country and would provide consultative services, review construction permits and promulgate new standards. Romania uses roughly three and a half times as much energy per dollar of GDP as does the United States, but even efficiency advocates have criticized the bill as sponsoring an even larger bureaucracy and requiring taxes which would further burden an already troubled economy. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
June 1998	Romania moves to cut auto emissions Transport Minister Traian Basescu announced on 3 June that the Romanian government would deny registration to imported autos which do not meet European Union tailpipe emissions standards, effective 1 July. Domestic autos must meet tighter standards beginning in January, and must also meet the "Euro 2" emissions rules by the beginning of 2000. The number of cars in Romania, including private vehicles, has doubled in the last eight years; air pollution from autos without emissions controls and using leaded gasoline has increased sharply and dangerously. The Euro 2 norms limit emissions of carbon monoxide to 2.2% and hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides to 0.5 percent for gasoline engines (1% and 0.7%, respectively, for Diesel engines). The restrictions implement a government decree issued in December 1997; the new rules do not apply to autos already in use. Romanian auto makers claim that they are prepared to meet the new restrictions, though adding catalytic converters to the average domestic auto will increase its cost by as much as $800. The transport ministry also announced measures that would push cargo trucking companies to upgrade their vehicles. Beginning next year, international transport licenses will be granted only to trucks that meet the Euro 2 restrictions. The decision would also allow Romania to get more CEMT transport authorizations for shipping goods into the EU. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
April 1998	Romania has become the first east European associate member of the EU to join the EU's financial instrument for the environment (LIFE), an internal environmental program. The European Commission had urged candidate members to start early on environmental harmonization as part of the application process. For its part, Romania will contribute Ecu 2.2 million ($2.4 million) annually to the program for this year and next. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
February 1998	The Netherlands Electricity Company agreed in early February to donate a mobile laboratory to monitor pollution at six power stations in Romania. The $800,000 project is aimed at assessing and improving emissions and energy efficiency at the plants. The laboratory donation is part of a $125 million project funded by the Dutch government to retrofit a number of Romanian power plants with new equipment, including gas turbines, to allow the plants to run on Dutch gas. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.
January 1998	EU countries to recognize Romanian car inspection certificates Romanian vehicle Color inspection certificates will be recognized throughout the European Union, facilitating transit of Romanian vehicles through European countries. Only vehicles that meet standards will be issued certificates. The international recognition will governed by the Vienna Declaration; the Romanians were able to add a provision exempting developing countries from the Declaration's call for a halt to road building, a factor in pollution. Romania, and other developing east European countries, will be given the chance to develop their transport infrastructure, while being encouraged to make choices that minimize pollution. As to the inspection certifications, the Romanian transport minister issued a decree in late November outlining standards a vehicle must meet, beginning in 1998. The measure is intended to ban the registration of vehicles that do not meet European environmental norms and comes at a time when the many cars in Romania are in poor condition and produce excessive pollution. The decree will apply to cars and light utility vehicles with a total weight of up to 3.5 tons, with spark ignition or diesel engines, starting 1 January 1998 (type authorization) and 1 July 1998 (first registration and sale of new or used vehicles). The type authorization is intended for companies and applies to imports of more than 10 vehicles of the same type, and essentially requires a vehicle to have a catalytic converter. For trucks over 3.5 tons, equipped with a diesel engine, the decree applies starting 1 January 1998 (type authorization) and 1 September 1998 (first registration and sale of new or used vehicles). Vehicle manufacturers in Romania will have to introduce low pollution technologies to comply with the new standards. The Romanian Auto Register will have the authority to certify that vehicles meet the standards. Vehicles that are already registered are not affected by the decree. They will have periodic technical inspections according to existing regulations. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.

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Slovakia
February 1998	The Slovak State Fund for the Environment financed Sk1.2 billion ($33.3 million) worth of environmental projects last year, fund officials announced in January. The fund finances around 20% of the 15,000 applications they receive each year. For 1998, the fund will receive Sk850 million in collected pollution fines, and only Sk150 million in budget support -- down from Sk250 million in 1997. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group.

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Created 21 July 2000; last modified Mon, 24 Jul 2000