The Act on Reducing Certain Administrative
Burdens in the Economy of 16 November 2012
seeking to eliminate or limit some of the onerous and
redundant administrative burdens came into force on
1 January 2013. The enacted amendments relate
among others to the provisions of the Environment
Protection Law of 27 April 2001 and obligations
imposed on entities affecting the natural
environment.
Under the previously effective regulations, an entity
whose operations affected the natural environment
was required to assess its own environmental charge
and effect its payment to the account of the relevant
Marshal’s Office by the end of the month
immediately following each half-year period. The
above obligation was closely linked with the
requirement to submit to the Regional Marshal,
Regional Environmental Inspector and, in the case of
the waste storage charge, to the relevant head of
municipality or town/city mayor information based
on which the entity’s assessment of the charge
payable could be verified.
The above amendment extended the environmental
charge reconciliation period. Under the new wording
of the Environment Protection Law, an entity whose
operations affect the environment is required to
effect payment of environmental charges for the
relevant calendar year by 31 March 2013. Further,
the amendment limits the reporting obligation
imposed upon entities whose operations affect the
environment solely to the submission of information
to the Regional Marshal. Under the new regime, the
Regional Marshal is required to pass on the
information received to the Regional Environmental
Inspector and, in the case of the waste storage
charge, to the relevant head of municipality or
town/city mayor. In other words, the obligation to
distribute the information about the entity’s effect on the environment has been partly taken over by the
public administration authorities.
Other regulations, linked closely to the above
provisions, were also amended. Under the new law,
the entity whose operations affect the natural
environment is required to update annually the
records containing information on the effect on the
environment to the extent of the data impacting the
assessment of the environmental charge payable by
the relevant entity. Under the previous regulations,
the above records were updated semi-annually, by
the respective deadline for payment of environmental
charges. Similarly, the provision on exemptions from
environmental charges were also revised. Under the
law as it previously stood, the obligation to effect
environmental charges did not apply if their semi-
annual value was under PLN 400. Under the new
statute, since the reconciliation of environmental
charges is annual, the environmental charges do not
apply if their annual value is under PLN 800.
While the amendment to the Environment Protection
Law is hardly revolutionary, it is a step in the
direction of limiting the administrative obligations
imposed on entities whose operations impact the
natural environment. One can only hope that
legislators will take further efforts to simplify the
current procedures. It seems that more amendments
to the law are likely since—as indicated in the
rationale for the above statute—the legislators are
well aware that administrative barriers hindering the
development of enterprise are still part of the
regulatory environment.
MILLER, CANFIELD,
W. BABICKI, A. CHEŁCHOWSKI I WSPÓLNICY SP.K.
ul. Batorego 28-32
81-366 Gdynia
Tel. +48 58 782-0050
Fax +48 58 782-0060
gdynia@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Nowogrodzka 11
00-513 Warszawa
Tel. +48 22 447-4300
Fax +48 22 447-4301
warszawa@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Św. Mikołaja 7
50-125 Wrocław
Tel. +48 71 337-6700
Fax +48 71 337-6701
wroclaw@pl.millercanfield.com
Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for clients and professional associates of Miller Canfield. It is intended to provide only a summary of certain recent legal
developments of selected areas of law. For this reason the information contained in this publication should not form the basis of any decision as to a particular course of
action; nor should it be relied on as legal advice or regarded as a substitute for detailed advice in individual cases. The services of a competent professional adviser
should be obtained in each instance so that the applicability of the relevant legislation or other legal development to the particular facts can be verified.