B O S N I A A N D H E R Z E G O V I N A
In 1997, the Ministry of Urban Planning and Environment of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation began drafting a Law on Environmental Protection. The law, developed with the assistance of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), an independent body established to ensure the implementation of the Peace Agreement, is based upon the principles of environmental protection established under European Union (EU) law and is part of the Federation's bid to get underway the process of EU harmonization. The law deems that actions liable to cause harm to the environment should be avoided and ongoing operations should be replaced if alternatives with less risk to the environment are available. The law provides for the right to a sound and clean environment and for citizen access to environmental information. A report is required to be submitted every two years to the Federation Parliament regarding the state of the environment and an Environmental Protection Strategy and Program are required at the Federation, Canton and Municipal level.
The draft law establishes the Ministry of Urban Planning and Environment as the primary administrative agency responsible for environmental programs. It is also responsible for determining projects requiring an environmental influence evaluation, or environmental impact assessment (EIA). Regulations specifying the requirements for EIA in more detail are to follow. The draft law also establishes a Council of Environmental Protection, a body which will be responsible for ensuring sustainable economic growth is achieved in concurrence with environmental protection.
The proposed law also provides for the development of Urban Development Plans and a system of environmental monitoring. Special registration controls and public notice requirements are to be established for hazardous activities. Separate sections of the law ensure liability for environmental damage, financing of environmental programs, inspection and monitoring requirements. Enforcement of legislation will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Urban Planning and Environment though canton ministries and municipal authorities will also have additional responsibility for areas under their control.
The draft law should be considered for passage in the very near future. In addition, the Federation has also begun preparing separate draft laws on Building, Nature and Special Planning. A new Law on Water Management has also been drafted and should be considered very shortly for passage. With respect to water management, the OHR, the EU, USAID and the International Management Group are currently assisting in a Task Force on institution building within the Federation's Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry.
Republika Srpska has begun to articulate new environmental legislation. The OHR is assisting in coordinating the environmental programs of the two Entities and in the near future hopes to establish an Environmental Steering Committee composed of international organizations including the EU, USAID, and the World Bank. These will assist or provide financial support in the coordination, development, and review of environmental laws, regulations, programs and activities in both Entities. Initiatives to draw the cooperation and support of the RS into this process are currently underway (See cover story: Politics of the environment).
- John Seeronen, Office of the High Representative
English language versions of the draft laws are available from the REC.
B U L G A R I A
Building on the existing Corporate Tax Law and the Law on Value Added Taxes, the new law offers tax incentives to companies reducing or recycling domestic, industrial and hazardous waste. Corporate tax for locally operating companies licensed to treat waste is reduced by the amount of investments made in waste processing installations. Companies using technologies that result in little or no waste and those producing energy from waste will also be exempted from corporate taxes while value-added tax (currently at 22 percent) will be waived for municipal solid waste and hazardous waste treatment services.
Under the new law, the conditions for the reuse of waste are also regulated in an effort to stimulate collection and separation, reuse and recycling. Revenues generated from fees, charges, taxes and penalties for waste production and treatment will be collected separately by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and shall be spent only on those projects and investments related to waste management. These include investments in the construction of municipal solid waste treatment plants, hazardous waste treatment facilities and reclamation of hazardous waste sites.
The new law is part of the government's overall efforts to minimize pollution in a country where 34.5 million tonnes of industrial waste are produced annually, including one million tonnes of hazardous waste and some five million tonnes of domestic/municipal solid waste. While Bulgaria has over 2,000 waste dumps and landfills, only a select few can be considered in line with Ministry of Environment requirements.
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