The Government has passed a bill on the revitalisation of the Oder River
17.05.2023
The Government wants to revitalise the River Oder. The idea is to better protect its aquatic environment, in the event of an ecological disaster. The new regulations provide for support for investments on the Odra River at the level of approx. PLN 1.2 billion.
The most important solutions
- The Government will support investments to improve water relations in the Oder River basin. These include retention tasks to revitalise the River and dependent ecosystems. The Government will allocate around PLN 1.2 billion for this purpose. In addition, administrative procedures for investments will be streamlined, which will, in effect, speed up their implementation.
- Priority will be given to obtaining funding to construct and modernise wastewater treatment plants and sewerage systems. This will provide additional support for water and wastewater management investments in the Oder River basin.
- A specialised service, the Water Inspectorate, will be set up to, among other things, detect, document and reduce crimes and offences relating to illegal discharges of sewage into waters or other activities that damage the water environment.
- Investment improvements will be made in the provision of:
- measuring devices for increased control of discharged wastewater which contains chlorides and sulphates;
- retention and dosing systems to stop or limit the discharge of wastewater containing chlorides and sulphates through the use of retention basins to control the release of saline water for the duration of a drought.
- The possibility of revoking or limiting, without compensation, a water permit will be introduced. It applies when further use of the water, under the conditions set out in the water permit, creates a situation that endangers human life and health. It also refers to a state that poses a threat of severe damage to the environment, mainly due to changes in the water environment.
- Wody Polskie (PGW WP), starosts and voivodeship marshals will have to carry out a collective review of water permits and integrated permits for discharging wastewater into waters, into the ground or sewerage systems, in the Oder catchment area.
- Financial penalties for water management offences will be tightened – from the current level of PLN 500 to the level from PLN 1000 to PLN 7500. Administrative fines of between PLN 5 000 and PLN 1 million will also be introduced for, among other things, water management negligence that endangers human life or health and environmental safety.
The new regulations are expected to come into force in principle 14 days after publication in the Journal of Laws.