Source: https://iclg.com/practice-areas/environment-and-climate-change-law/environment-and-climate-change-law-2016/poland
Timestamp: 2017-03-25 04:01:11
Document Index: 412385472

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 189', 'Art. 189', 'Art. 72', 'art. 25', 'art. 435', 'art. 370', 'Art. 362', 'Art. 554', 'art. 10']

Poland - Environment & Climate Change Law 2016 · ICLG - International Comparative Legal Guides
Home Practice area Environment & Climate Change Law Environment & Climate Change Law 2016 Poland
The Polish Constitution of 1997 dedicates a relatively broad space to environmental issues. The Constitution defines protection of the environment guided by the principle of sustainable development as a task of the Polish state, acknowledges environmental protection as a valid reason for warranted limitation of constitutional rights and freedoms, and obligates the public authorities to prevent negative effects of environmental degradation on human life and health. The Constitution also calls upon public authorities to support citizens’ activities dedicated to the protection and improvement of the environment, and obligates everyone to safeguard the environment.
The structure of Polish environmental law is traditionally based on a “moderate holistic” approach. In 1949 the Act on the protection of nature, which determined the basic principles of the environmental policy, identified the authorities responsible for its implementation and established corresponding mechanisms. In 1980 the Act on the protection and development of the environment followed, which was finally replaced by the Act of 27th April 2001 on Environmental Protection Law (“EPL-Act”). In principle, the EPL-Act determines the general rules and establishes certain general institutions of environmental protection and, in addition, it contains the entire regulation of air pollution control, including the protection against noise and electromagnetic fields. At the same time, specific matters like waste management, water protection and water management, protection and management of natural resources, protection of nature and animals, ecological product safety, nuclear power, ecological farming, trade in emission rights and greenhouse gas emissions management are regulated in separate acts. In recent years, a tendency, probably determined by certain pragmatic considerations, to deviate from this traditional structure can be observed. Matters of general character, e.g. access to environment-related information, public participation in environment matters, environmental impact assessment, eco-management and audit, are regulated in separate acts.
Polish environmental law assigns the task of administration and enforcement of environmental law to general profile agencies and bodies at the local and regional levels, such as mayors of towns and cities, heads of districts (starosta), the national government’s representatives to regions (wojewoda), to heads of regional self-governments (marszałek województwa), and to regional assemblies (sejmik województwa). Beneath these general agencies and bodies, environmental law establishes - as bodies with a specific profile - the Minister of Environment, the General Director for Environmental Protection, and the regional directors for environmental protection. The Act of 1980 on protection and development of the environment had already created the Environmental Protection Inspectorate, charged with the specific task of monitoring compliance with environmental protection laws. Institutions with a more advisory or supporting character include the National Environmental Protection Council, the commissions for environmental impact assessments, and the environmental protection and water management funds.
Environmental permits are issued to specific entities and, as a rule, extend only to the addressee party named in the permit itself. According to art. 189 of the EPL-Act, however, an entity which becomes the legal operator of an installation or its determined part, takes over the rights and obligations following from the permits concerning such installation or its determined part. Thus, the transfer of the legal title to an installation being subject of a permit results automatically in the transfer of the permit. Art. 189 EPL-Act also establishes an obligation of the new operator to apply immediately for a change of the specification of the operator in the permit, but it does not have any specific legal consequences, if the new operator fails to submit such application.
The Polish legal system regulates the legal duty of carrying out the environmental impact assessment procedure first and foremost in the Environmental Information Act. The Environmental Information Act provides for two different types of environmental impact assessment procedures – a strategic environmental impact assessment required in the process of developing e.g. zoning and regional development plans, politics, strategies, plans or programmes in the fields of industries, energy, transport, telecommunication, water management, waste management, forestry, fishery, tourism, etc. and on the other hand an environmental impact assessment related to specific projects which always have or may have a significant impact on the environment. An Ordinance adopted by the Council of Ministers determines numerous categories of industrial and other installations and projects which are considered as potentially having a significant impact on the environment. Art. 72 of the Environmental Information Act enumerates permits, licensing and similar decisions (e.g. construction permits, mining concessions, water use permits, decisions permitting execution of road works), which the interest party may obtain only after a decision on environmental conditions has been issued.
A number of items and substances are specifically excluded from the Waste Act’s scope (e.g. explosives, sewage, animal carcasses etc.), as the further processing of such items and substances is governed by more specific regulations. In addition, the Waste Act itself and the Waste Catalogue Regulation issued thereunder establishes a system of waste classification involving a number of items and sub-items, some of which qualify as hazardous waste. Hazardous waste in general and waste belonging to a number of specific categories (e.g. tars, quicksilver-contaminated waste, non-vitrified solid phases etc.) are subject to additional duties and controls.
On-site storing of waste is only allowed if its holder holds a legal title to the property in question. Moreover, the duration of permissible storage of waste under the Waste Act is strictly limited and tied to a justified purpose: there is a time cap of one year in place on storing justified by having to build up the amount of waste suitable for final transfer and ultimate disposal, and of three years total on storing justified on technical or organisational grounds. The Waste Act provides for an optional, more specific regulation on duration and requirements for storage to be issued under art. 25 of the Act.
The most important provision of the Civil Code from the perspective of environmental protection is art. 435, paragraph 1, which institutes liability of entities operating in their own name a business enterprise or facility powered by natural forces (including steam, gas, electricity, liquid fuels). It merits pointing out that this provision institutes strict liability, with no need to prove culpability of the entity operating the business.
Administrative liability for breach of environmental protection laws is regulated by the EPL-Act, the Waste Act, the Water Law Act, and by a number of other statutes. In general, administrative liability does not depend upon deliberate fault of the party concerned – the fact that a situation described in the statute arose constitutes sufficient grounds for liability. Administrative proceedings may result in financial sanctions (e.g. fines, increased charges) for the party in breach of environmental protection laws, in an injunction ordering cessation of activities, or in revocation of the permit for the activity in question (or in delimiting its scope). The regional environmental protection inspector may also proscribe production, importation, or introduction to trade of products which do not comply with environmental protection rules (art. 370 of the EPL-Act). As the criteria for such intervention is not described very precisely the application of this provision is difficult.
Art. 362 of the EPL-Act provides for enjoining an entity using the natural environment to reduce its impact on the environment or to restore the environment to its appropriate condition. An injunction to this effect may be issued for an entity which exerts a negative impact on the environment – there is no need to prove that such negative impact is culpable or illegal. The Act of 13th April 2007 on prevention of environmental damage and its remediation provides for additional measures which may be imposed on entities actually or potentially damaging the environment.
For members of a company’s management board working on the basis of employment contracts, personal liability is essentially ruled out in that, in accordance with the Polish Labour Code, liability for damages will attach to the employing enterprise, and any claim for indemnification extending to the enterprise (employer) vis-à-vis the employee will be limited, unless caused by deliberate action or omission. The Commercial Companies Code, meanwhile, provides for liability of management board members for damage caused to the company. A business enterprise may take out third party liability insurance including directors and officers insurance, which also covers violation of environmental protection laws; insurance against criminal liability for environmental law offences, meanwhile, is impossible.
Neither Polish legal doctrine nor judicial practice provides for holding a shareholder in a company personally responsible for that company’s liabilities. Polish judicial practice does not provide for “piercing the corporate veil”, as practiced in certain other European jurisdictions. Therefore, in case of a share deal, the purchaser does not enter into the liabilities of the company being sold. This rule applies also to eventual environmental liabilities of the company. In case of an asset deal, however, the purchaser of the enterprise also enters into eventual environmental liabilities connected with historic activities of the enterprise. Art. 554 of the Polish Civil Code provides that in case of a sale of a business enterprise the purchaser of the business is jointly and severally liable with the seller for liabilities associated with management of the enterprise unless, at the time of purchase, the purchaser was not aware of such liabilities even though it exercised due care and skill. The liability of the purchaser is limited to the value of the enterprise as at the day of its purchase. The regime of eventual claims of the purchaser against the seller is also different in case of defects of the enterprise related to environmental issues including environmental liabilities of the enterprise. In a share deal, the seller’s statutory liability is limited to legal defects of the shares. The seller is not liable for physical defects of the respective enterprise, unless such liabilities have been explicitly established in the share purchase agreement. In case of an asset deal, the seller is liable for physical defects of the sold enterprise including defects related to environmental matters.
The EPL-Act entitles the state treasury, entities of local self-administration and environmental organisations to claim compensation for damages to the environment as a public asset. In this context the law does not differentiate between aesthetic harm and other damages. Thus, these provisions theoretically apply also in situations where the harm is of purely aesthetic character. In principle, the polluter is obliged to return the damaged item to its previous condition. If a third party, e.g. a governmental agency, has remedied the damage to the environment, it can demand the return of the justified cost. Thus, the law does not entitle the government to obtain monetary damages, unless in the form of reimbursement of the appropriate cost of eventual restoration measures.
Issues relating to control and enforcement are regulated by the Act on the Environmental Protection Inspectorate and by the EPL-Act. The Environmental Protection Inspectorate, acting through the Chief Environmental Protection Inspector and the Voivodship Environmental Protection Inspectors, are charged with controlling compliance with the environmental protection laws. In addition, the wójt (local self-government officials), the mayor or the city president, the starosta, the head of the regional assembly, the voivode, the minister in charge of environmental matters, the General Director for Environment Protection and regional environment protection directors are listed as bodies of administration in the field of environment protection. Control and verification powers include the right of round-the-clock access to properties where business activity is conducted and access between 6:00 and 22:00 hours to other properties, requesting oral or written information, summoning and questioning individuals insofar as necessary to establish the factual circumstances, requesting documents and any data relevant to the issues controlled, conducting studies/research, and other necessary control and verification work. The Chief Environmental Protection Inspector, the regional environmental protection inspectors and their authorised employees may access vehicles on a round-the-clock basis, collect samples, assess the technologies and installation and equipment utilisation methods employed by the audited entities, and request production of documents necessary for the levying of a fine.
In the event of an industrial accident, entities operating installations classified as “increased risk” or “high risk” must furthermore promptly notify the appropriate unit of the national fire brigade and the regional environmental protection inspector as well as providing information about the event and the rescue/clean-up measures taken.
Polish law does not establish any general rule imposing upon owners/users of real property an obligation to analyse the quality of topsoil or ground. That said, the law does lay down certain rules for specific parties. Under the EPL-Act, assessment of topsoil and land quality and observation of changes is conducted as part of the environmental monitoring activities pursued by the state, and the starosta (local self government official) is charged with periodic topsoil and land analysis.
State environmental monitoring includes gathering of data from environmental measurements which certain entities must carry out pursuant to applicable laws or to decisions issued with respect to them. A party maintaining an installation as well as using the installation must conduct periodic checks of emission levels; where these installations release large quantities of substances or energy into the environment, releases must be monitored on an ongoing basis. The entity managing a road, railway line, light railway line, airport, or port must conduct periodic measurements of the substance and/or energy levels released into the environment in association with use of such facilities; again, in the case of large releases, measurement must proceed on a constant basis.
Environmental liabilities, with the exception of “historic” contaminations, normally are based on activities which are connected with risks for the environment or cause damages to the environment. It is possible to shelter environmental liabilities off balance sheet only by transferring these activities to separate companies and only in so far as the transferor is not obliged to prepare a consolidated group balance sheet reflecting also the situation at the company to which the activities are transferred.
As a rule, a company can be dissolved only after the completion of a liquidation procedure. During the liquidation procedure the liquidator has to call the eventual creditors to notify their claims against the company within a certain period after this call. The company can be dissolved only after all creditors who have notified claims have been satisfied. Thus, the possibilities to escape environmental liabilities by dissolving the company are rather limited.
According to Polish civil procedure law Polish courts, as a rule, have international jurisdiction in matters in which a company who has its registered seat in Poland is the defendant. According to this rule, a Polish parent company could be sued in Polish courts for pollution caused by a foreign subsidiary or affiliate. Whether the foreign parent company of a Polish entity can be sued in its national court is determined by the law of that court.
The Act of 17th December 2009 on the assertion of claims in group proceedings introduces the instrument of “class” actions into Polish law. The Act allows groups of at least ten persons to bundle their claims against one defendant into one claim. The Act does not explicitly mention environmental claims, but it applies, inter alia, to tort liability claims.
In principle, damages are limited to actual loss and lost profit. However, as mentioned above, in case of violations of provisions of nature protection the court can oblige the polluter, as additional sanction, to make payments to a nature protection organisation or to the regional environment protection and water management fund.
In civil litigation matters, the court may grant an exemption from court fees to non-profit organisations pursuing goals in the field of environment protection. In criminal matters, such organisations are exempted from court fees, if they participate as additional private prosecutor. Non-governmental organisations having the legal status of a public benefit organisation (organizacja pożytku publicznego) are exempted from court fees in proceedings before the administrative courts when acting in the scope of their tasks and not pursuing commercial interests.
As an EU Member State, Poland participates in the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS), which was launched in 2005. The EU ETS provides for two different ways of allocation of emission allowances –allocation for free and allocation through auctioning. During the current third trading period, which began in January 2013 and will span until December 2020, auctioning is the default method of allocating allowances. For the electricity generation sector, the EU ETS Directive (Directive 2003/87/EC) establishes the rule, that operators no longer receive any allowances free of charge. Poland, however, has made use of the derogation option under art. 10c of the EU ETS Directive (Directive 2003/87/EC), which allows it to give a decreasing number of free allowances to existing power plants for a transitional period until 2019. While the EU ETS provides for a common auction platform, Poland, like Germany and the United Kingdom, has made use of the possibility to opt out of the common platform and appoint their 'own' auction platform. Poland has contracted the European Energy Exchange (EEX) in Leipzig to auction on its behalf.
The basic legal instrument on the national level regulating emissions trading is the Act of 12th June 2015 on the system of trade in greenhouse gas emission allowances. The Act applies to emissions of carbon dioxides (CO2), nitrous oxides (N2O) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) from stationary installations and to CO2 emissions from aviation operations. The emissions trade system is administered by the National Centre for Emissions Balancing and Management (KOBiZE), which is also the national administrator within the meaning of the Registry Regulation of the European Commission (Regulation no. 389/2013). The emission allowances may be traded and transactions may be conducted between parties having an account in the Union Registry. Emission allowances are valid for the entire trading period. Emission allowances registered on an account in the Union Registry and which have not been used up at the end of the trading period are replaced by emission allowances for the following trading period. Emission allowances for stationary installations are allocated free of charge on the basis of a corresponding application made by the operator. The number of emission allowances allocated for free and the respective installation are finally determined in an ordinance issued by the Polish Council of Ministers after having received the opinion of the European Commission. Emission allowances for aviation operations are allocated by the Minister for the Environment after having obtained the opinion of the European Commission. Under the Act, a permit is required for the operation of an installation in the meaning of the Act. Together with the permit the authority issuing the permit approves a plan for monitoring emission amounts and – as far as required by the respective provisions of EU law – a sampling plan. The Act excludes the free allocation of allowances for “new installations” in the energy sector, i.e. installations for which a greenhouse gas emission permit has been issued after 30th June 2011 or where after that date the production capacities have been extended. Thus, the operators of such installations have to acquire the required emission allowances through auctions or on the secondary market.
As mentioned above, the operators of installations covered by the emissions trading system when applying for the permit are required to submit monitoring plans and – as far as required by EU law – sampling plans. In addition, the Act on the system of trade in greenhouse gas emission allowances establishes further monitoring and reporting requirements.
Furthermore, the Act of 17th July 2009 on the management of system of emissions of greenhouse gases and other substances establish a comprehensive system of monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. This system is not limited to the emission of substances covered by the emissions trading scheme, but much broader. The Act established a National Emissions Balancing and Forecasting System covering emissions of greenhouse gases and other substances. This system includes the National Database, where data on emissions of greenhouse gases and other substances is collected and which is operated by the National Centre for Emissions Balancing and Management (KOBiZE), an organisational unit established within the Institute for Environment Protection. The Act obliges entities using the environment by conducting an activity which causes emissions to submit an annual report to the National Database informing, inter alia, about the place of activities causing emissions, equipment causing emissions, installations, sources of emissions, the quantities of emissions, quantities of production, features of the used materials and fuels, relevant permits, cases of exceeding emission limits, investment projects having an impact on the emissions. Physical persons who are not entrepreneurs are obliged to deliver such reports if they use the environment and produce emissions in a manner requiring a respective permit.
Poland is party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 9th May 1992 and to the Kyoto Protocol of 11th December 1997, which may be considered as the international basis of the Polish climate change policy. Poland has accepted additional commitments on an international or supranational level as a Member State of the European Union. Poland, however, so far has not ratified the Doha Amendment of 8th December 2012 establishing the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol covering the period from 2012 to 2020. The Polish President vetoed the ratification of the Doha Agreement on 26th October 2015, arguing that when the parliament voted in favour of the ratification on 11th September 2015, the legal and economic effects of this document had not been sufficiently analysed. Also the practical effect of the President’s decision on Poland’s emission reduction obligations may be limited as Poland is bound by the corresponding commitments within the European Union, it can be seen as a sign of a general change of attitude to climate change regulation in Polish policy after the elections of President and Parliament in 2015. The Polish energy production is to a large extent based on the use of coal, originating from coal mines inside the country. Already in the past, the Polish government had been rather reluctant to accept commitments to reduce the share of coal-based energy. The protection of the Polish coal mining industry is a declared goal of the now ruling party. Its programme demands that European law should be made realistic and that the climate policy agreements in the European Union should be renegotiated. It emphasises that the possibilities of Polish forests to absorb carbon emissions should be used as Poland’s contribution to global climate change regulation and proposes broader afforestation. At the same time, restrictions in the use of coal as source of energy production are rejected. While in the field of renewable energies the previous government favoured wind energy, now more emphasis shall be given to biomass, municipal waste, solar power and water power as renewable sources of energy. The time will show how far these intentions will be implemented.
The Act of 19th June 1997 on prohibition of application of asbestos-containing products prohibits any production of asbestos containing products and entitles the minister in charge of economic affairs to determine by ordinance the means and conditions of safe utilisation and removal of asbestos containing products. The EPL-Act classifies asbestos as a substance creating specific hazard for the environment (the other one being PCB), and prohibits the placing on the market and re-utilisation of such substances. In performance of these statutory provisions, the Council of Ministers adopted a programme for removal of asbestos and of asbestos-containing products on 14th May 2002. This programme is subject to implementation through the year 2032, upon which use of asbestos and asbestos-containing products will be proscribed. The programme obligates owners of property to remove any asbestos-containing products and to employ duly trained and certified entities for this purpose. In addition, on 14th July 2009, the Council of Ministers adopted a programme for the cleaning of the country of asbestos for the years 2009 to 2032, which was amended by a decision of the Council of Ministers adopted on 15th March 2010. The duties of entities offering asbestos removal services are laid down in the Regulation of 2nd April 2004 concerning means and conditions of safe use and removal of asbestos-containing products. The data base kept by the Ministry of Development indicates over 5.4 million tonnes of asbestos-containing products in Poland, of which almost 5 million tonnes still have to be neutralised.
Any entity (other than a natural person) using asbestos must document the type, quantity, and location of the asbestos-containing materials and the means of its elimination; this information must also be passed on to the head of the regional self-government. Natural persons submit similar information, but in simplified form to the executive body of their local community.
Under the Regulation of the Minister of the Economy, Labour, and Social Policy of 2nd April 2004 concerning means and conditions of safe utilisation and removal of asbestos-containing products, the owner, user, or administrator of a property upon which asbestos is located must inspect the condition of asbestos-containing products within a timeframe following from assessment of these products’ condition. Such periodic inspections constitute the basis for appraisals of safe use of the asbestos-containing products; one copy of this appraisal is submitted to the construction supervision authorities. Any asbestos-containing products earmarked for replacement due to excessive wear or damage should be duly disposed of by the party in question.
The Regulation of the Minister of the Economy and Labour of 14th October 2005 concerning occupational health and safety rules in securing and removing asbestos-containing products and the training programme for safe use of such products defines conditions which must be met by employers whose workers are assigned to securing and/or removal of asbestos-containing products.
The Waste Act lays down rules for handling waste so as to ensure protection of the environment. The definition of waste adopted by this statute also includes asbestos. Under the Waste Act, a party administering land is legally in possession of any waste situated on the property and, accordingly, is bound by certain duties under the Act as regards handling the waste in compliance with waste management and environmental protection rules. According to these general rules, waste should, first and foremost, be recycled (not applicable in case of asbestos) or, where this is impossible, should be neutralised. A party in possession of waste should maintain an inventory list of waste (this duty does not apply to natural persons or to organisational units other than businesses which use waste for their own purposes).
Poland has not yet established a system of mandatory third party liability insurance with respect to ecological damage. Also, voluntary insurance dealing with environmental protection is, at best, a niche product in the Polish insurance market. Any ecological insurance is offered as additional insurance. The general terms and conditions of a typical insurance product offered in Poland enumerate among the risks not covered by the insurance contract damage arising from, for instance, effects of asbestos, of nuclear energy, of magnetic and electromagnetic fields, of radioactive contamination, or of delayed operation of chemical, thermal, or biological agents.
Polish cities suffer from a high level of air pollution, to a large extent caused by heating of houses using fuels of low quality. On 10th September 2015 the Polish Parliament adopted an amendment to the EPL-Act which empowers regional assemblies to enact limitations or bans on the operation of fuel combustion installations.
As mentioned before, in the future major changes to the climate change regulation and energy policy of the Polish government may occur. Part of these potential changes is a different approach in the field of renewable energies. Currently, an ongoing state of uncertainty persists to affect this sector. After a prolonged and rather turbulent legislative process of almost five years a comprehensive Renewable Energy Sources Act was adopted on 20th February 2015. Pursuant to a recent amendment, however, full coming into effect of the Act – and specifically, of the revised renewable support scheme as incorporated therein – has been postponed until mid-2016 in order to provide the government with time to reconsider some of the Act’s assumptions. The explanatory memorandum to the amendment might imply that a shift in policy concerning that sector e.g. to maintain further support of biogas plants might occur.