Updates on legislation from around the region by Jerome Simpson, jsimpson@rec.org Bulgaria: New law identifies non-profits Bulgaria's new Law on Juridical Persons with Non-profit Purposes came into force on Jan. 1 2001. Adopted in October 2000, the law governs the establishment, organisation, activities and dissolution of non-profit legal entities. The law is the result of an effort to reform these procedures that was headed by leading Bulgarian lawyers, civil society organisations and parliamentarians and has been going on for several years. Specifically, the law regulates foundations and associations, public benefit organisations (those organisations serving identified public needs) and foreign non-profit legal entities. Until the end of 2000, juridical persons with non-profit purposes had been governed by the 1949 Persons and Family Act. The Law is therefore a considerable step forward for Bulgarian NGOs, and it helps make civil society organisations clearly distinct from profit-making enterprises. Croatia addresses EIA, nature protection The recently passed Regulation on Environmental Impact Assessment (Official Gazette No. 59/00), or EIA, is the most recent act that regulates an already traditionally well-covered area in Croatia. The law essentially means that anyone undertaking construction work, or other activities that may impact the environment, will have to commission a study about exactly what those impacts will be, and will have to make this study public. The legislation contains a list of activities for which EIA studies and public participation mechanisms are mandatory. The new law is fully compliant with the Aarhus Convention's Article 6 on public participation in specific decisions that impact on the environment. The Croatian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning has also drafted a new Nature Protection Law. If passed, this law could represent an important step forward in nature protection and protected areas management, due to its comprehensiveness and numerous improvements with regard to outlining the levels of authority. However, enforcement will remain a challenge without proper financial, educational and expert support. Meanwhile, a draft Law on the Environmental Fund has also been prepared. This proposed legislation , which would help pay for infrastructure work to improve the environment, was called "a major turning point" in environmental protection by the Croatian magazine "Environment." The new law would provide non-budgetary sources (from polluter fees and fines) for financing various domestic environmental projects. The fund would mirror similar environmental funds in the region, such as in Poland, where many European Union accession-related environmental projects are paid for by the environmental fund. Both the Nature Protection Law and the Law on the Environmental Fund are expected to be passed before the autumn of 2001. Other laws in the pipeline in Croatia include a Law on the Ratification of the Biosafety Protocol and Convention on European Landscapes. The proposed Regulation on the National Network of Stations for Continuous Air Quality Monitoring and a Rule Book (or regulation) on Croatia's Air Quality Measurement Program would help create a system for collecting air quality data, which will be used for the development of air pollution reduction programs. Further support for the implementation of the Law on Air Quality Protection will come through a new Regulation on the Quality of Fuel Oils, which was due to be sent to the government for approval by year's end. The Law on Waste, meanwhile, will be implemented in part through a new Regulation on Packaging Waste, which is expected to be submitted to the minister for approval in the very near future. These legal developments are part of a much broader effort aimed at the adjustment of Croatian legislation to the acquis communautaire of the European Union. For instance, the Regulation on the Quality of Fuel Oils will mean all oils must be adjusted to the quality standards of the EU by 2005. Zelimir Grzancic, head of the Environmental Department of Primorsko Goranska County, Croatia, contributed to this report.

Nature Protection in Croatia: Members of the Croatian Ornithological Society work to preserve a mixed colony of herons and spoonbills on Jelas fishponds in Croatia, in a project funded by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe between 1994 and 1996. Efforts like this one could receive a boost from the new Croatian law on nature protection, which was recently drafted by the environment ministry.