REC: The Bulletin 7/1: NGOs push for PRTR

C Z E C H  C A S E  S T U D Y

NGOs push for PRTR

The implementation of a Pollution Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) had been under discussion for more than four years as one of the best means to reduce discharges of toxic chemicals in the Czech Republic, but little had been done to actually put it into practice.

Serious work on implementing a PRTR in the Czech Republic began in 1994 with a joint study by the Society for Sustainable Living (SSL) and the Hampshire Research Institute (HRI) in the US with funding from the Czech Ministry of the Environment and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The United Nations Institute for Training and Research also became involved in the study as part of its research into the feasibility of establishing PRTRs in developing countries.

In March 1994, a national training workshop was organized to introduce the PRTR project and link experts from NGOs, government and industry together, leading to a blueprint for establishing a PRTR in the Czech Republic. Agreements were also made with three major chemical companies to participate in PRTR trial runs, but unfortunately at this point the Ministry of the Environment cut off funding for the project.

Children of the Earth, a Czech NGO, tried to keep the momentum going through a project supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the results of which were presented at the Sofia conference of environmental ministers in 1995. The Sofia conference spotlighted the need for a more comprehensive approach to initiating and implementing the PRTR process in Central Europe while Children of the Earth began a two-year public education campaign on the PRTR funded by the Regional Environmental Center.

In 1996, when according to the original plan of the SSL/HRI study a PRTR was to have already been in place and a public education drive in full swing, the Czech Ministry of the Environment commissioned yet another study, this time conducted by the Chemical Technical University without NGO involvement.

The push begins

NGOs began pushing for action, including holding a conference on PRTRs organized by Children of the Earth in January of this year - timed to precede a conference on the same issue organized by the OECD and the Czech Ministry of the Environment. The main outcome was a petition signed by more than fifty Czech NGOs calling on the Ministry to set up a steering commission of stakeholders from NGOs, business, and government on the issue as well as to establish a precise schedule for implementing the PRTR. Following the conference, NGOs continued to be active with organizing seminars and workshops, exhibitions, publishing information brochures and creating home pages on the World Wide Web.

The Environmental Partnership for Central Europe (EPCE), a consortium of international funders, is also helping CEE NGOs play a more critical role in implementing and using PRTRs. Recently launched projects include a three-year toxic chemicals campaign with support from WWF International and WWF Norway, and an 18-month Community Right-to-Know project partially funded by PHARE in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. It is hoped that such external assistance in improving capacity building, technical and management expertise, and new fundraising skills will help NGOs play a role similar to citizen's interest groups in the US, which have served as vital intermediaries between the public and data generated by the American Toxic Release Inventory.

Increased pressure has also been applied by the international community. In a recent visit to Prague, EC commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard chastised the Klaus government for its environmental record and warned that it could delay the country's membership in the EU. The Environment for Europe Conference taking place in Denmark next year could also prove embarrassing for the Czech government if it fails to show more progress in reaching EU standards for environmental legislation, including the PRTR.

Recent success

After months of silence from the Ministry of Environment following an NGO petition in January, the Czech NGOs brought their demands to the public via the press. Finally, on June 4, the ministry announced its decision to set up a steering committee of stakeholders on PRTR that will include two representatives from civil groups. The establishment of this committee together with the ongoing activities of NGOs and the prospect of a PRTR law passed by year's end should finally put a PRTR to work in the Czech Republic.

- by Andreas Beckmann,
EPCE public relations coordinator,
and Ondrej Velek,
coordinator of the EPCE's PRTR and Community Right-to-Know projects.

For further information contact: Environmental Partnership for Central Europe, Kratka 26, 110 00 Praha 10, Czech Republic, Tel/Fax: (420-2) 781-6727; E-mail: ondrej.velek@ecn.cz, http://www.ecn.cz/private/epce

REC * PUBLICATIONS * THE BULLETIN * SPRING 1997