D ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS C CZECH REPUBLIC E lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llll llllllllllllllllllllllll 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ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS CZECH REPUBLIC ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: – to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; – to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and – to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22nd November 1996) and Korea (12th December 1996). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention). Publie´ en franc¸ais sous le titre : EXAMENS DES PERFORMANCES ENVIRONNEMENTALES RE´PUBLIQUE TCHE`QUE (cid:211) OECD 1999 Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through the Centre franc¸ais d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, Tel. (33-1) 44 07 47 70, Fax (33-1) 46 34 67 19, for every country except the United States. In the United States permission should be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, (508)750-8400, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA, or CCC Online: http://www.copyright.com/. All other applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue Andre´-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. OECD ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 3 FOREWORD The principal aim of the OECD’s environmental performance reviews is to help Member countries improve their individual and collective performances in environmental management. The primary goals for this programme are: – to help individual governments assess progress by establishing baseline conditions, trends, policy commitments, institutional arrangements and routine capabilities for carrying out national evaluations; – to promote environmental improvements and a continuous policy dialogue among Member countries, through a peer review process and by the transfer of information on policies, approaches and experiences of reviewed countries; and – to stimulate greater accountability from Member countries’ governments towards public opinion within developed countries and beyond. Programme efforts are directed at promoting sustainable development, with emphasis on developments in domestic and international environmental policy, as well as on the integration of economic and environmental decision making. Environmental performance is assessed with regard to the degree of achievement of domestic objectives and international commitments. Such objec- tives and commitments may be broad aims, specific qualitative goals, precise quantitative targets or a commitment to a set of measures to be taken. Assess- ment of environmental performance is also placed within the context of historical environmental records, the present state of the environment, the physical endow- ment of the country in natural resources, its economic conditions and demo- graphic trends. 4 OECD ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS These systematic, independent and periodic reviews are organised and con- ducted in a way similar to the OECD’s economic reviews. The report is peer- reviewed by the Working Party on Environmental Performance, composed of officials from Member countries who have responsibility for national environmen- tal policy development and implementation and a broad competence recognised at national and international levels. The conclusions and recommendations of the report are approved by the Working Party. Joke Waller-Hunter Director Environment Directorate OECD ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 5 GENERAL INTRODUCTION This review of the Czech Republic’s environmental performance examines results to date in the light of domestic objectives and international commitments. Three countries assisted with this review (Hungary, Sweden and Turkey), as well as the European Commission. The report is organised in three parts according to the strategic goals identi- fied by OECD Environment Ministers in January 1991: – Part I is entitled ‘‘Pollution Control and Nature Conservation’’ and focuses on air, water and waste management and nature conservation, forests and biodiversity; – Part II is entitled ‘‘Integration of Policies’’ and focuses on institutional aspects and on how policies concerning economics and industry are inte- grated with environmental policies; – Part III is entitled ‘‘Co-operation with the International Community’’ and focuses on international environmental topics concerning the Czech Republic. The OECD extends its most sincere thanks to all those who helped in the course of this review, and especially to the examining partners (Hungary, Sweden and Turkey, and the European Commission) and their experts. The OECD is particularly indebted to the Government of the Czech Republic for its co-operation in expediting the provision of information and the organisation of the experts’ mission to the Czech Republic, and in facilitating contacts with many individuals both inside and outside administrative and governmental structures of the country. The OECD Working Party on Environmental Performance conducted the review at its meeting in November 1998 and approved its conclusions and recom- mendations. This report is published under the authority of the Secretary-General of the OECD. OECD ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 7 OUTLINE OF THE REPORT CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................ 19 REPORT: 1. THE CONTEXT.............................................. 35 Part I POLLUTION CONTROL AND NATURE CONSERVATION 2. AIR MANAGEMENT .......................................... 49 3. WATER MANAGEMENT ....................................... 65 4. WASTE MANAGEMENT ....................................... 81 5. NATURE CONSERVATION, FORESTS AND BIODIVERSITY ............ 93 Part II INTEGRATION OF POLICIES 6. ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICIES ....................... 113 7. SECTORAL INTEGRATION: INDUSTRY ........................... 145 Part III CO-OPERATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY 8. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION ............................... 161 ANNEXES ...................................................... 183 8 OECD ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS DETAILED TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword....................................................... 3 General Introduction............................................... 5 List of Figures and Tables .......................................... 13 Abbreviations and Signs ............................................ 15 List of Team Members ............................................. 17 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................ 19 1. Implementing Environmental Policies .......................... 20 Environmental governance and democracy .................... 20 From environmental effectiveness to economic efficiency .......... 21 Air.................................................. 23 Water ............................................... 24 Waste ............................................... 25 Nature, forest resources and biodiversity ...................... 27 2. Integrating Environmental Concerns in Economic Decisions.......... 28 Decoupling and sustainable development ..................... 28 Industry and the environment .............................. 30 3. International Co-operation .................................. 31 REPORT 1. THE CONTEXT.............................................. 35 1. The Physical Context...................................... 35 2. The Human Context ...................................... 37 3. The Economic Context..................................... 37 4. The Institutional Context.................................... 40 Environmental administration............................... 41 5. Development of Environmental Policy and Legislation .............. 45 OECD ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 9 Part I POLLUTION CONTROL AND NATURE CONSERVATION 2. AIR MANAGEMENT .......................................... 49 1. The State of Atmospheric Emissions and Air Quality ............... 49 Emissions of atmospheric pollutants ......................... 49 Ambient air quality ...................................... 51 Effects on health and ecosystems ........................... 53 2. Responses ............................................. 53 Objectives ............................................ 53 Measures to prevent and control air pollution................... 54 Expenditure on air pollution prevention and control............... 56 Air management and energy policy .......................... 57 Air management and transport ............................. 60 3. Environmental Performance ................................. 62 Achieving large emission reductions ......................... 62 Ambient air quality ...................................... 63 Energy and transport .................................... 64 3. WATER MANAGEMENT ....................................... 65 1. The State of and Pressures on Water Resources ................. 65 Current situation and trends ............................... 65 Pressures on water resources.............................. 69 2. Responses ............................................. 71 Objectives ............................................ 71 Management of water resources ............................ 72 3. Environmental Performance ................................. 75 Reforming the water management framework .................. 76 Achieving water management objectives ...................... 76 Delivery of water services................................. 77 4. WASTE MANAGEMENT ....................................... 81 1. Current Situation and Trends ................................ 81 2. Responses ............................................. 83 Objectives ............................................ 83 Institutional and regulatory aspects .......................... 84 Waste minimisation and recycling ........................... 85 Treatment and disposal facilities ............................ 86 Use of economic and other instruments....................... 87 Imports and exports of hazardous waste ...................... 88 Measures to remediate soil contamination ..................... 89 3. Environmental Performance ................................. 89 10 OECD ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 5. NATURE CONSERVATION, FORESTS AND BIODIVERSITY............ 93 1. The State of and Pressures on Nature ......................... 93 Status and trends....................................... 93 Pressures on ecosystems ................................. 96 2. Responses ............................................. 97 Objectives ............................................ 99 Institutional framework ................................... 99 Measures for protecting habitats and species................... 101 Forest management ..................................... 103 Expenditure for nature conservation and forestry ................ 104 International agreements ................................. 104 3. Environmental Performance ................................. 105 Management framework .................................. 105 Protected areas and species............................... 105 Sustainable forestry ..................................... 107 Conserving nature outside protected areas .................... 108 Part II INTEGRATION OF POLICIES 6. ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICIES ....................... 113 1. Sustainable Development................................... 113 Environmentally sound economic development.................. 113 Economic impacts of environmental policies ................... 119 2. Instruments for Policy Implementation.......................... 126 Administrative and legislative instruments ..................... 126 European Union legislation ................................ 128 Economic instruments.................................... 129 Environmental impact assessments.......................... 134 Other instruments for policy integration ....................... 135 3. Environmental Performance ................................. 139 From central economic planning to a market economy ............ 139 Strengthening institutional integration......................... 140 Ensuring efficient and effective environmental expenditure ......... 141 Strengthening the environmental democracy ................... 142 7. SECTORAL INTEGRATION: INDUSTRY ........................... 145 1. Effects of Industrial Activities on the Environment ................. 145 Development of the industrial sector ......................... 145 Environmental effects .................................... 147