Minister Drobil makes his first trip in office to the Moravian-Silesian Region in a quest to improve the local air

Press release: 29.07.2010

Four billion crowns to improve the environmental aspects of the operation of major businesses and cities, towns and municipalities; low-emission zones and green public transit systems; greater pressure on polluters and more intensive supervision over decontamination of Ostrava lagoons: these are the four priority areas presented by Minister Drobil in Ostrava.

Greater pressure on polluters, along with financial incentives to improve the environmental aspects of operations

An extraordinary call for projects and applications for subsidies from the Operational Programme “Environment” will be open to interested parties in the Moravian-Silesian Region from 1 September, with the aim to improve air quality in the region. “The call is extraordinary not only because it is limited to a single region, but also in terms of its contents. For the first time, businesses and also municipalities, towns and cities will be able to obtain subsidies for the purchase of specific equipment to reduce dust levels on roads located on the premises of their plants or directly at the source,” says the Minister of the Environment, Pavel Drobil.

The applicants will be able to reduce the amount of dust in the vicinity of its sources and on roads with the help of subsidies for the acquisition of water curtains, sprinkler trucks and dust-removal and misting equipment. It will also be possible to obtain subsidies for the purchase of low-emission sources of heat, together with thermal insulation, construction of central heating sources or planting insulation vegetation, which helps to reduce dust levels around major enterprises. Applications for support may be lodged by major companies, as well as by cities, towns and municipalities.

On the other hand, the possibility of utilising European subsidies also entails greater pressure on polluters, taking the form of introduction of new local emission ceilings that will apply to polluters in the most affected agglomerations. Stricter emission ceilings will be introduced by an amendment to the Air Protection Act, which the Minister intends to submit to the Government in the autumn of this year. If the operators are unable to meet the set emission ceilings after expiry of the transitional periods, they will be penalized. “Even the biggest polluters are now able to utilise European funds to improve the environmental standards of their production and to achieve a radical reduction in the discharged emissions. We want them to make use of these subsidies. Stricter emission ceilings for the individual sources will motivate polluters to make the necessary investments,” notes Minister Drobil.

We have a solution to reduce dust from transport

At the same time, the Minister introduced a new instrument that will enable municipalities to reduce the dust levels originating from transport; indeed, this sector makes a 30% contribution to air pollution in the Moravian-Silesian Region.

Towns, cities and municipalities will be able to delimit low-emission zones that may be entered only by vehicles complying with certain emission parameters. A low-emission zone may be promulgated by municipalities only in those cases where pollution level limits are being exceeded and where a suitable alternative route is available using highways of the same or higher type without charge. For example, in Gothenburg, Sweden, the introduction of a low-emission zone resulted in a decrease in the concentrations of particulate matter by as much as 40 %.

The Czech system should be fully compatible with the system employed in Germany, from which the Ministry of the Environment drew inspiration. Czech drivers will thus be able to use their emission stickers for trips both to Czech and to German cities that have delimited low-emission zones.

“I will submit an amendment to the Air Protection Act to the Government by the autumn,” says Minister Drobil.

Another measure aimed to reduce dust levels from transport lies in a shift to alternative transport, such as the CNG system or electromobiles. “We will initiate negotiations with the European Commission to be able to support these forms of transport from the Operational Programme “Environment”. I anticipate that the call could be opened at the beginning of next year,” says Minister Drobil.

All these measures, namely subsidies from the European funds, the introduction of local emission ceilings and transport solutions, are measures for the long term. The sooner they are implemented the sooner can an improvement in the air quality in the Ostrava region be expected, which fact will also be reflected in better air quality during inversion conditions. “However, we must envisage the danger of critical inversions at least during this year’s heating season, especially if the weather conditions deteriorate during the winter. It is therefore necessary to introduce further regulatory instruments to improve air quality at least in the short term. Regulatory plans to limit production will also be introduced before the autumn by individual cities in the Moravian-Silesian Region. During inversions, the region and also cities, towns and even the smallest villages will thus have a tool that will bring immediate relief,” adds the Minister of the Environment, Pavel Drobil.

Decontamination of Ostramo lagoons – better environment for the Ostrava region

The environmental burden in the Diamo State enterprise, the “Ostrava lagoons”, is yet another problem encumbering the environment of Ostrava. The problem of the Ostrava lagoons consists particularly in their location in a built-up area of the city, only several hundred meters from the Fifejdy residential area in Moravská Ostrava, as well as in unnecessary delays in the clean-up work.

“I believe that decontamination of the Ostrava lagoons is taking too long and substantially harms the environment of Moravská Ostrava. I will insist on thorough control of the individual steps of all those who are involved in implementation of the contract. I will initiate inter-ministerial negotiations concerning the competences of the individual Ministries and their potential changes,” concludes Minister of the Environment, describing the last of his priorities

Photographs from the official trip of the Minister of the Environment, Pavel Drobil, to the Moravian-Silesian Region are available here.

Eva Veverkova, Press Office of the MoE