BRATISLAVA, August 18, (WEBNOVINY) – The draft law on identification of environmental burdens, which the Cabinet approved on Wednesday, is the environmental bill of the decade, according to Environment Minister Jozsef Nagy. The minister believes that by approving the draft legislation, Slovakia will have come a long way toward eliminating pollution that originated in the past. As the minister pointed out, the problems with new burdens caused by the industry have been resolved, but old “heritage” remains.
If deputies approve the bill, Slovakia will be able to use EU funds to eliminate its environmental burdens, which was not possible before. According to Nagy, this is a major move, as Slovakia will be able to acquire funding to eliminate pollution in the next programming period, too.
In line with the new legislation, as of January 2013, originators of environmental burdens will be obliged to deal with the environmental pollution they are responsible for. The government is trying to reduce the environmental burden. The objective of the law is to define the originator of an environmental burden in line with the “polluter pays” principle. If the originator is unknown or has ceased to exist, the law sets a mechanism that will define a responsible person who will have to handle the environmental burden.
SITA