| Draft
Programme of Work of the NISECEN
for the period 2003-2006 |
| This document
presents the main elements of the proposed work programme of the NISECEN for the period
2003-2006. The activities will be implemented within the framework of the EAP Task Force
and will contribute to the Implementation of the EECCA Environment Strategy adopted at the
Ministerial Meeting in Kiev (May 2003).
ACTION REQUIRED: Participants are invited to discuss and approve the
proposed activities, subject to comments provided during the meeting. |
Draft Work Programme 2003-2006 of the
NISECEN
1. Introduction
This document presents background information and
the main elements of the proposed work programme of the NISECEN for the period 2003-2006.
It has been developed on the basis of the proposals presented and discussed among the
NISECEN Members at the fourth NISECEN meeting in October 2002 in Almaty and subsequently
at the EAP Task Force meeting in February 2003 in Tbilisi.
The proposed activities will be implemented
within the framework of the EAP Task Force and will contribute to the Implementation of
the EECCA Environment Strategy adopted at the Ministerial Meeting in Kiev (May 2003). The
NISECEN Members will be invited to discuss and approve the draft Work Programme at their
fifth annual meeting on 16-18th October in Kiev. The final Work Programme will
be submitted to the EAP Task Force for final endorsement.
2. Activities in 2001-2003
Exchange of experience, know-how transfer and
capacity building for strengthening enforcement and compliance efforts in Eastern Europe,
Caucasus and Central Asia have been the key features of the work programme of the NIS
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (NISECEN) in the period 2001-2003. The
NISECEN has been operating within the EAP Task Force Programme on Environmental Policies.
The discussions within the NISECEN covered a wide
array of issues, such as horizontal and vertical institutional frameworks and
responsibilities for enforcement, enforcement and compliance promotion instruments, the
role of the public and the regulated community, and international co-operation. The
dialogue, which has been conducted in plenary and expert meetings, has been supported by
the development of best practices, guidance and reference documents. In particular, the
Guiding Principles for Reform of Environmental Authorities in Transition Economies of
EEECA have been developed to provide a framework and direction for reform and to raise
political and public support for strengthened enforcement and compliance. A number of
country specific activities, including support for reform of specific elements of
enforcement systems and capacity building, have also been carried out in co-operation with
EECCA enforcement agencies and donors.
In the same period, a number of activities on
reforming policy instruments has been carried out under the Environmental Policies
Programme of the EAP Task Force. These included reviews and analyses of environmental
standards, environmental permitting systems and economic instruments for environmental
policies. As a result an innovative approach has been developed to support policy makers
in EECCA to increase the effectiveness of environmental policies by applying mixes
(packages) of policy instruments. Subsequently, demonstration projects in EECCA countries
have been implemented using this approach to reform instruments in a coherent way. In
addition, responding to requests from EECCA countries, analysis was carried out of how
environmental policy approaches could be reformed using selected EU environmental
directives as a reference.
The main outputs of the 2001-2003 EAP Task Force
work programme on environmental policies are presented in Box 1.
Box 1: Key
Products of the EAP Task Force Environmental Policy Programme
1. Reports on Environmental Policy Instruments
Developing Effective Packages of Environmental Policy
Instruments – the report analyses the shortcomings of existing policy instruments and
suggests how they can be reformed using policy package (mixes) that would allow
environmental authorities to co-ordinate reform of existing instruments and add new ones
in order to develop environmentally effective, administratively efficient and targeted
programmes to pursue clearly established policy goals and address priority problems.
Review
of Economic Instruments in EECCA – this document reviews a wide range of economic
instruments applied in EECCA countries for pollution control and natural resources
management. Using an analytical framework developed within OECD, it proposes
recommendations for strengthening of their use.
Streamlining the Use of Economic Instruments of
Environmental Policy in the Rostov Oblast, Russia – This report presents analysis of
priority measures to improve economic instruments of environmental policy in the Rostov
Oblast that are identified in the 2001 Regional Environmental Action Plan (REAP).
Linkages between Environmental Assessment and
Environmental Permitting in the Context of the Regulatory Reform in EECCA Countries - this
paper has been developed with a view to assist reforms of environmental assessment and
environmental permitting in EECCA countries. It defines these two policy instruments and
discusses the features of best international practice and the current trends of
development of EA and EP.
Strategic Guidance for Convergence of NIS Environmental
Legislation with EU Directives – provides a road-map for convergence of environmental
legislation across the EECCA towards EU directives. The report identifies the EU
Directives that could feasibly be targeted for convergence in the forthcoming years, given
the environmental priorities and existing implementation capacity in the EECCA countries.
The report identifies preliminary priorities that could help to target further technical
assistance at the regional or national level.
2. Reports
on Environmental Enforcement and Compliance
Guiding Principles for Reform of Environmental
Enforcement Agencies in EECCA: a concise policy document that identifies guiding
principles and key structural elements of effective environmental enforcement systems,
tailor-made to the EECCA context. This document aims to assists EECCA to identify targets
for institutional development in individual countries as regards environmental enforcement
and compliance promotion. The Principles are addressed to environmental ministries,
central and regional enforcement agencies.
An Update of the Survey on Enforcement and Compliance
in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: The update of the Survey on Current Practices in
Environmental Enforcement and Compliance Promotion in EECCA is a complimentary document to
the Principles. While the Principles will state the desired situation, the Survey
scrutinises it in comparison with the actual situation in the EECCA region and assesses
recent changes in environmental enforcement systems.
Synthesis Report on Environmental Permitting Systems in
the NIS: This document describes major features of the environmental permitting systems in
EECCA, identifies deficiencies and screens the needs and potential to reform these
systems.
Inspection Toolkit: The toolkit provides general
elements of and contribute as much as possible to the needs of individual EECCA countries
in improving their inspection organisation. The toolkit facilitates the adjustment of
inspection criteria and procedures to current requirements and is, mainly, addressed to
managers and practitioners.
Glossary of Enforcement Terms: The purpose of the
glossary is be to provide a common understanding of the terminology and enable users
across EECCA to easier communicate among themselves and with partners in OECD and CEE
countries.
Compliance Promotion Tools – the document reviews the
current experience with applying compliance promotion tools in the EECCA region and the
OECD countries and assesses the feasibility of application of broader range of instruments
in the region.
|
3. Priorities for 2003-2006
At the “Environment for Europe” Conference in
Kiev in May 2003, Environment Ministers asked the EAP Task Force to continue its work to
promote environmental policy reform within the framework of the EECCA Environment
Strategy. Work in this Programme area will support the implementation of Strategy’s
Objective No 1 “Improving Environmental Legislation, Policies, and Institutional
Framework”.
As the background documentation for the EECCA
Strategy showed, EECCA countries have taken some important steps to reform their
environmental policies, laws and regulations and strengthen compliance. However, much
still remains to be done to maximize the environmental benefits of environmental policies,
tools and institutions. The post-Kiev work programme of the EAP Task Force aims to support
EECCA government in achieving these goals.
The main objective of the work programme will be
to assist EECCA countries to promote and implement environmentally effective, economically
efficient environmental policies and regulations. The new Programme of Work builds on the
activities carried out previously and it will focus on assisting individual countries in
reforming environmental policy instruments in a coherent way, strengthen environmental
enforcement policies and institutions. Activities will focus mainly on environmental
issues related to enterprises and thereby will complement other areas of the EAP Task
Force work programme which target publicly-supported infrastructure.
Most EECCA countries have indicated that they
will use EU environmental Directives as a reference for reform of their environmental
policies, and future work within the EAP Task Force will need to reflect this development.
The immediate goal is not full approximation with the acquis communautaire, but
rather a process of convergence; that is, a process that uses the principles, procedures
and other key features of EU environmental Directives as references for reviewing and
reforming environmental policies and practices in EECCA countries.
4. Structure of the Programme
The new work programme on promoting and
implementing effective and efficient environmental policies will be implemented through
the three areas:
1. Strengthening Environmental Policy
Instruments;
2. Strengthening Environmental Enforcement
Strategies and Instruments;
3. Improving the Performance of Environmental
Enforcement Agencies.
Short descriptions of these areas are presented
below. Annex 1 contains proposed individual activities under each area which will be
implemented over the period 2003-2006.
i) Strengthening Environmental Policy
Instruments.
The objectives of this work will be to assist
environmental regulatory agencies in EECCA to strengthen two key elements of environmental
policy framework: environmental permitting and standards. The work on permitting will help
to streamline and integrate environmental permitting procedures for large and small and
medium size enterprises. Work on environmental standards will examine the linkage of
quality standards (for air and water) with emission standards (BAT), and the establishment
of appropriate, technology-based performance standards for waste management. This work
will build on earlier co-operation between the European Commission, the EAP Task Force and
EECCA countries which resulted in a broad roadmap for reform.
In parallel, support for redesigning the
pollution charge/tax system will be provided to environmental agencies. This activity
would build on reviews of economic instruments conducted within the previous work
programme of the EAP Task Force and concentrate on the implementation of demonstration
projects. Work would focus on reforming emission and product taxes/charges and aim to
strengthen their environmental incentive and/or revenue raising functions.
Donor support for in-country demonstration
projects on environmental permitting, standards reform and economic instruments will be
required to test and disseminate tools and recommendations in the region.
ii). Strengthening Environmental Enforcement
Instruments
This work programme item responds to requests
from EECCA countries for support to redesign enforcement tools and the way they are
applied in order to increase their effectiveness and efficiency. The activities will:
· Analyse the incentive structures related to
compliance with environmental requirements that enterprises and government agencies are
operating within. This will help to determine how environmental policy instruments could
be applied most effectively and efficiently. Ways in which environmental enforcement can
be made more financially viable, while safeguarding independence, will also be examined.
This work will be followed by projects in individual EECCA countries on the design of more
effective and financially viable enforcement programmes.
· Assist environmental enforcement agencies to
promote better compliance through use of information-based instruments. The activities
will examine information disclosure and performance rating schemes from a compliance
promotion perspective. Co-operation with NRECs will help to identify means to improve
dialogue between regulators and other stakeholders, and between the regulated community
and the general public. These activities will be supported by in-country demonstration
activities for which donor assistance will be sought.
· Assist EECCA countries in redesigning
requirements and regulations for setting up effective and efficient self-monitoring
systems for enterprises. Work will be based on international experience (especially from
the INECE and EU Impel networks) and concrete experience gained through demonstration
projects in selected EECCA countries. The results of this work will be co-ordinated with
the work on environmental monitoring carried out under the UNECE.
iii) Strengthening Enforcement Agencies
Work under this theme would support the
implementation of the "Guiding Principles for Environmental Enforcement Authorities
in Transition Economies of EECCA". At the Kiev Conference, Ministers welcomed the
Guiding Principles and invited “the environmental enforcement authorities in [EECCA
countries] to implement the Guiding Principles and donor countries to help them to do
so.”
Using the Guiding Principles as a framework, a
peer review process will established involving enforcement agencies in EECCA countries to
support improvements in their working methods and organisational structures, and to
strengthen their dialogue with other stakeholders. Activities to develop indicators for
assessing the performance of environmental enforcement and for providing information for
policy purposes will be carried out. This will be implemented in co-operation with other
enforcement networks to draw from, and contribute to, international efforts to harmonise
enforcement/compliance and response indicators.
In addition, on the basis of training and
methodological material developed previously by the EAP Task Force, training sessions for
management and staff of environmental inspectorates will be carried out in co-operation
with the World Bank Institute and the NRECs. Further efforts will focus on working with
the institutions and training centres in EECCA to create self-sustaining mechanisms for
capacity building of EECCA agencies and enforcers.
5. Methods of Work
The working methods developed in the previous
phase of work will continue to be applied. These will include:
· Analysing current practices and exchanging
experience on priority issues;
· Elaborating guidelines, good practices and
practical tools adapted to EECCA circumstances, but drawing on experience from OECD and
transition economies;
· Extending policy dialogue and cooperation to
industry and the non-governmental sector;
· Supporting in-country (non-investment)
demonstration projects, in cooperation with EECCA partners and donors;
· Promoting capacity building and training
activities for policy makers and enforcement officers;
· Helping to “broker” relations between
donor and beneficiary countries, so as to help target scarce resources in projects that
will achieve lasting outcomes.
· Disseminate information and link activities
carried out in the EECCA region with the developments in other world regions.
While each country will have its own needs and
priorities, the EECCA will benefit from exchanging experiences and developing good
practices in a collective "learning by doing" process. The NIS Network on
Environmental Enforcement and Compliance (NISCEN) provides an established network for
these activities. Taking account a broadened scope to cover a wide range of environmental
policy issues high level environmental policy-makers from EECCA environmental ministries
will be invited to the Network meetings along with the managers and practitioners from
environmental enforcement agencies.
The Network will hold annual meetings to discuss
and agree on the work programme and monitor its implementation. Since the Network will be
open to the participation of officials and experts from OECD and CEE countries it will
facilitate better targeted and coordinated donor assistance to EECCA countries.
Representatives of the public and industry will be invited to the Network meetings as
observers and will be engaged in relevant activities.
The work programme implementation will involve as
much as possible institutions from the EECCA region, in particular NRECs, to carry out
specific analytical, training and dissemination activities. This work will also draw from,
and where appropriate contribute to, activities of other international programmes,
including UN/ECE work on Environmental Performance Reviews and Environmental Monitoring.
ANNEX:
DETAILED LIST OF PROPOSED ACTIVITIES
PROJECT 1: STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL
POLICY INSTRUMENTS
TASK 1.1: STREAMLINING AND INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITTING
Objective
Assist environmental regulatory agencies in EECCA
to streamline and integrate environmental permitting procedures and requirements.
Background
Several EECCA countries have expressed their
intention to move progressively toward a single integrated permit system that would
replace the current cumbersome and ineffective system of multiple permits for different
environmental impacts. The benchmark identified by EECCA countries is the European
Union’s Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive that regulates
large polluters in a range of industrial sectors through procedural and substantive
(technique-based) integration of environmental permitting.
A number of activities on the permitting reform
in the EECCA region were undertaken by the EAP Task Force in 2001-2003. They included
several regional workshops specifically devoted to permitting; translation and
dissemination of the OECD reference publication “Environmental Requirements for
Industrial Permitting”; preparation of a “Review of Environmental Permitting Systems
in EECCA”; and supporting demonstration projects on environmental permitting in Armenia,
Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.
Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova are the first EECCA
countries to actively explore the possibility of convergence with the IPPC Directive
through projects assisted by different donors (EuropAID, Sweden and Finland in Russia,
EC’s DG Environment in Moldova, and the World Bank in Ukraine).
Activities
Work on environmental permitting will comprise
two sets of activities: (1) assistance in improvement of permitting procedures; and (2)
assistance in reforming the permitting systems on the basis of an assessment of the role
of technique-based and environmental quality-based approaches to industrial permitting in
the EECCA context.
1. Assistance in Improvement of Permitting
Procedures (July 2003-June 2005). Fully integrated permitting is a long-term goal for
EECCA, but the transition will take many years. In the short-term, the goal should be
to improve permitting procedures by consolidating the existing single-medium permits
into one environmental permit (while maintaining the medium-specific approach to setting
permit conditions). At the same time, there is a need to improve the transparency and
coordination between permit-issuing authorities at different steps of the permitting
process. Tasks will include:
· Development, in close cooperation with EECCA
experts, of user-friendly Permitting Guidelines for government agencies and
industry that will incorporate:
1. a model administrative procedure
(adapted to EECCA conditions) for issuing a consolidated environmental permit;
2. a permit application form that could be
completed and processed electronically.
3. a model permit form that specifies
emission limit values (ELVs), self-monitoring, record keeping, reporting, emergency
response, and permit renewal requirements, as well as compliance measures and schedules,
as appropriate.
· Conducting one regional expert meeting
(April-May 2004) and one regional environmental policy implementation network meeting
(September-October 2004) on procedural improvements in environmental permitting.
· Implementation, in co-operation with donors demonstration
projects to apply new permitting procedures in EECCA countries.
· Conducting training (contingent on
funding available, May-June 2005) on the use of the Permitting Guidelines.
2. Assistance in reforming the current
approaches to Industrial Permitting in the EECCA Context based on the assessment
of the Role of Technique-Based and Environmental Quality-Based Approaches (July
2004-June 2006). In addition to the procedural reform of the permitting system, EECCA
countries are likely to take initial steps toward introducing technique-based permitting
for key industrial sectors in the spirit of the IPPC concept of Best Available Techniques
(BAT) (currently, all permitting systems in the region exclusively follow the
environmental quality-based approach.) This set of activities will seek to help EECCA
countries understand the complementarity of BAT and environmental quality objective (EQO)
approaches in setting emission limit values (ELVs) in environmental permits, and prepare
and apply the methodological basis for their use in regulating both large and small and
medium-sized industry in EECCA:
· Preparation of an analytical report and
guidance on the environmental requirements for permitting of large industry,
consistent with the principles of the IPPC Directive – a combination of BAT and EQO
approaches. The report will describe the best international practices and include one or
more case studies of individual EECCA countries on establishing a list of industrial
sectors and the minimum size (production capacity or output) of installations to be
covered by integrated permitting.
· Preparation of an analytical report and
guidance on the methodology for permitting of small and medium-sized industry,
promoting the use of a simplified approach taking into account both environmental and
technological considerations.
· Conducting two regional expert meetings
to assess different approaches for regulating large and small/medium-sized industries and
facilitate dialogue between the regulators and the regulated industrial community:
March-April 2005 and September-October 2005 (in connection with the annual Network
meeting)
· Initiation and participation in donor-funded demonstration
projects on environmental permitting reform in EECCA countries.
Outputs
Assistance in Improvement of Permitting Procedures:
· Tools and Guidelines for Reform
(model administrative procedure, permit application form and model permit form): first
draft in April 2004, final draft in December 2004, final in March 2005.
· Proceedings of the regional environmental
policy implementation network meeting presenting different approaches for regulating
large and small/medium-sized industries and facilitate dialogue between the regulators and
the regulated industrial community: December 2004.
· Reports from country demonstration projects
(2005-2006).
Approaches to Industrial Permitting:
· Guidance on permitting for large
industry: draft in December 2004, final in June 2005.
· Guidance on permitting for
small/medium-sized industry: draft in August 2005, final in December 2005.
· Reports from country demonstration projects
(2005-2006).
Benefits/Outcomes
· Environmental regulatory agencies in EECCA at
the national and sub-national levels will adopt tools and guidance documents reforming the
system of environmental permitting, enabling them to improve the effectiveness of their
environmental management programmes.
· Enterprises will benefit from more feasible,
realistic and transparent permit requirements and procedures that would result in reduced
compliance costs, foster technological innovation, and facilitate business planning.
· Other stakeholders, including the general
public, will benefit from the increased transparency of the permitting system and enhanced
opportunities for public participation.
TASK 1.2. MAKING ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS MORE
REALISTIC
Objective
Assist EECCA countries in setting realistic,
achievable environmental standards (air and water quality standards and waste management
performance standards), consistent with EU requirements.
Background
The reform of the permitting system in the EECCA
region should be closely linked to the revision of environmental quality standards (for
air and water) and establishment of appropriate technology-based performance standards for
waste management. Previous co-operation between the European Commission, the EAP Task
Force and EECCA countries resulted in developing a roadmap for reform which reviewed the
EU framework Directives in the areas of air protection, water protection and waste
management (and their “daughter” Directives) and presented the concepts and benchmarks
for these reforms. The Partnership Co-operation Agreements which have been concluded
between individual EECCA countries and the European Union provide an important framework
for convergence of EECCA and EU environmental standards. The revision of environmental
standards will require not only a change in numerical values but a broad-based reform
encompassing the principles and the legal basis of standard setting. Depending on donor
support, country-specific demontration projects will be implemented to support such
reform.
Activities
The activities will be implemented in close
collaboration with work of the European Commission (DG Environment and EuropAid, bilateral
donors (including a Danish project supporting reform of standards in Russia) and
international organisations active in the field, and will include:
· Review of relevant pre-project and project
documentation prepared by donors and consultants (2003-2006).
· Initiating of and participation in demonstration
project activities (2003-2006, specific projects to be determined).
· Organization of a regional expert meeting
to exchange experiences of reforms of environmental standards in individual EECCA
countries (first half of 2006).
These activities are contingent on the
availability of donor funding for such demonstration projects.
Outputs
· Report on lessons learned from reforming
environmental standards in EEECA region: May 2006;
Benefits/Outcomes
· National environmental regulatory agencies in
the EECCA countries targeted by the demonstration projects and beyond will be assisted in
setting realistic, achievable environmental standards in line with EU requirements. These
reforms will be closely linked to the improvement of the environmental permitting systems,
contributing to increased effectiveness of their environmental management programmes and
environmental quality improvements.
· The regulated community will benefit from more
realistic environmental quality and performance standards leading to transparent
compliance and monitoring requirements and enforcement rules.
· The general public will benefit from improved
environmental quality resulting from setting achievable environmental goals.
TASK 1.3. STRENGTHENING ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
Objective
To assist EECCA countries to reform existing, and
to introduce new, economic instruments for environmental protection.
Background
Several reviews of the system of economic
instruments for environmental protection in the EECCA region have been completed by the
EAP Task Force and others. The main conclusion from these reviews is that a number of
concerted actions need to be undertaken by EECCA countries to eliminate the most obvious
flaws in the present pollution charge system and increase its incentive impacts,
including:
· Targeted use of pollution charges (for key
priority pollutants discharged by big stationary sources);
· Increase of charge rates to a level that would
provide significant incentives to reduce pollution.
· Exclusion of hazardous air and water
pollutants from the charge system;
· Elimination of charges for air pollution from
mobile sources;
· Elimination of pollution charges on waste;
In addition, it was recommended that product
taxes should be introduced as a more effective way to raise revenues. The implementation
of these reforms requires a strong commitment on the part of national governments,
substantial administrative resources, and economic and legal expertise. In so far as the
revenues from economic instruments are earmarked for environmental purposes, this activity
is closely related to work on environmental expenditures under the Environmental Finance
Programme.
Activities
Activities will focus on working with existing
and new technical assistance projects in EECCA countries on identifying the key elements
of reform, and on disseminating lessons learned. This will include:
· Assisting the implementation of the OECD
(CCNM) project on pollution charge reform in Russia, including the preparation of a
report (2003) and participation in a stakeholder workshop in Moscow (late 2003-early
2004).
· Designing and implementing (2004-2005, subject
to funding availability) a project to analyze and disseminate the experience with
reforming economic instruments in Armenia, the first EECCA country to undertake a
major reform of its pollution charge system and introducing a range of product taxes.
· Working with bilateral and multilateral donors
on the design and implementation of relevant national-level technical assistance
projects in the region. This activity is contingent on the availability of donor
funding for such projects.
· Conducting an EECCA regional expert meeting
on experience gained from applying economic instruments in EECCA (second half of 2005).
Outputs
· Report and recommendations on the reform of
pollution charges in Russia: draft in September 2003, final in December 2003.
· Assessment of the reform of economic
instruments in Armenia: first half of 2005.
· Proceedings of the regional expert meeting
which will review progress with applying economic instruments and present recommendations
for the future work: end of 2005.
Benefits/Outcomes
· Environmental regulatory agencies in the EECCA
countries targeted by the demonstration projects and beyond will receive support in
streamlining their systems of economic instruments for environmental protection (pollution
charges and product taxes) in order to provide effective incentives for pollution
reduction and increase revenues for their environmental programmes.
· Industry would be subject to a simpler, more
transparent system of economic incentives that would be more conclusive for technological
innovation and ultimately resulting in reduced compliance costs.
PROJECT 2. STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT STRATEGIES AND
INSTRUMENTS
TASK 2.1. IMPLEMENTING EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE AND FINANCIALLY
VIABLE ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE PROGRAMMES
Objectives
· To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
compliance assurance programmes through analysis of the incentive structure that
enterprises are operating in and through review of motivations and behaviour of government
agencies.
· To develop economically and financially viable
compliance assurance programmes, including analysis of the financial resources for
operations of environmental enforcement agencies.
Background
Empirical data and analysis in EECCA and other
regions have shown that inadequate enforcement and compliance can result is significant
costs. Most importantly they can impose the costs of addressing negative impacts of
pollution on human health. Disregard of environmental matters can also impose additional
costs on enterprises. Finally, inadequate design of compliance assurance strategies can
increase public spending without bringing expected results.
Economic and financial aspects of compliance
assurance policies and institutions have rarely been weighted in the EECCA region.
Although information exists on the incentive structure for environmentally responsible
business conduct in OECD countries, direct comparison between OECD and EECCA countries is
not possible due to the significant differences between economic incentives for firms’
performance and overall business environment.
At the 2002 meeting of the Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement Network in Almaty, enforcement officials and experts from the
region underlined the need to receive assistance in developing an approach which will
allow to analyse the economic context in which enforcement policies are applied in the
transition period and to help to identify optimal enforcement strategies. This work should
consider the role of market forces, interactions of various institutions, and citizens’
involvement as well as inside-the-firm issues. The assessment should help to optimise
government enforcement expenses and ensure appropriate deterrence and compliance.
Enforcement officials also requested help in
receiving support to develop financial strategies and management regimes for enforcement
agencies that follow national rules and the principles of effectiveness and efficiency.
The development of such strategies will enable the agency’s investment, operation and
maintenance costs to be covered, enable adequate salaries and social protection to be
provided while avoiding conflicts of interest in enforcement agencies with their statutory
responsibilities and preventing corruption.
Activities
· Identification, on the basis of literature
review and work with OECD and EECCA experts, of the “real” positive and negative
incentives for compliance with environmental requirements in EECCA countries today and
better enforcement strategies. This analysis will lead to the development of a methodology
to country specific studies (throughout 2004);
· Empirical studies in selected countries will
be carried out of costs and benefits of compliance efforts compared with competing demands
on enterprises as well as enforcement instruments applied by government agencies (2005);
· Organizing workshop on the results of analysis
and studies (second half of 2005);
· Carrying out analysis of the current and
potential sources of funding of enforcement efforts in selected countries to determine the
ways for sustainable financing of Enforcement Agencies (2004-2005)
Outputs
· A report presenting the framework
for economic analysis of enforcement and compliance (end 2005);
· Country specific and regional reports
analyzing the positive and negative incentives in the regulated community with case
studies from selected EECCA (early 2006).
· Case studies analysing funding of
Enforcement Agencies, identifying options for more efficient use of financial resources
and for ways in which they might be increased in a sustainable way (2004-2006)
Benefits/Outcomes
· Environmental Enforcement Agencies will
acquire additional knowledge which will enable them to understand better enterprises
behaviour in responding to governmental enforcement and will assist then to design more
effective compliance promotion strategies;
· Environmental Enforcement Agencies will posses
an extended empirical base which will help to communicate the costs and benefits of
enforcement efforts to the decision-makers and the public;
· Environmental Enforcement Agencies will be
able to design more financially viable enforcement strategies, possibly based on some new,
sustainable sources of finance.
TASK 2.2: PROMOTING INFORMATION-BASED INSTRUMENTS AND PUBLIC
INVOLVEMENT IN COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE
Objectives
To promote better compliance with environmental
requirements through assisting governments in developing and applying instruments which
allow information disclosure, industry performance rating and better access to information
by the public and co-operation between enforcement agencies, NGOs and the public.
Background
The traditional command-and-control approach in
environmental protection has had only limited results in the EECCA region. Therefore,
EECCA governments have expressed an interest to apply new approaches that would encourage
voluntary compliance rather than simply detecting and prosecuting non-compliance. One such
approach involves information disclosure about firms’ environmental behaviour and rating
their performance. Several examples in transition or developing economies, including from
Pollutants Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs), and information disclosure and
performance rating schemes, show that the impacts of such schemes are positive and the
costs involved in designing and applying these schemes are not excessively high. Provision
of information about enterprises’ environmental impacts can be a factor in investment
decisions and can lead the public to exert stronger pressures on enterprises for pollution
reduction efforts.
Work will assists Environmental enforcement
agencies in building regulatory frameworks that use the potential for increasing
compliance via better access to environmental information, including enforcement
information. The activities under this task will review progress, highlight the
achievements and develop recommendations for further steps in compliance assistance to the
regulated community. These activities will involve various stakeholders, including
business and the NGO community. Public involvement is necessary to ensure sufficient
credibility and integrity of the scheme and effective dissemination of its results.
Activities
· Organising, in co-operation with the NRECs, a
regional meeting on public involvement in compliance assurance promotion (late
2005);
· Launching two technical assistance projects
in selected EECCA countries introducing information disclosure and performance rating and
compliance schedules (2005);
· Gathering information and data to prepare a
report on designing and applying information based compliance promotion tools in EECCA,
including the results of in-country programmes and lessons learned from EECCA, and
applying compliance promotion tools in other regions (OECD, CEE, Asia) (late 2005);
· Conducting a regional meeting on
information based compliance promotion tools to review experience from in-country
projects and review the report (first half of 2006);
Outputs
· Proceeding of the regional meeting on
public involvement in compliance assurance and promotion (early 2006)
· Reports from in-country technical
assistance projects (early 2006);
· Report on key issues and application of
information based compliance promotion tools – draft late 2005, final
mid 2006
· Regional meeting on introduction of
information disclosure and performance rating schemes – early 2006
Benefits/Outcomes
· Environmental Enforcement Agencies will be
provided with methodological and technical assistance for introducing information based
compliance promotion activities. This will provide an additional impulse to enterprises
for identifying least-cost measures to reduce their environmental impact. Industry will
become more accountable for regulatory and voluntary commitments by disseminating
performance data to the public;
· General public and NGOs will have an
opportunity to exchange experience and information and develop activities on strengthening
the role of the citizens in compliance assurance;
· Systematic account of compliance
promotion activities and their analysis will be prepared to provide reference and guidance
for designing and launching compliance promotion activities in EECCA and other regions.
TASK 2.3. IMPROVEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL SELF-MONITORING
Objective
To optimise the design of compliance
monitoring systems in EECCA, particularly by developing environmental self-monitoring by
enterprises.
Background
Without regular, methodical, accurate monitoring,
and timely and accurate reporting of results neither the government nor the regulatees
will be able to make informed decisions about compliance with environmental requirements.
Government enforcement policies require a significant amount of expenditures for
environmental monitoring. However, monitoring systems have collapsed in many EECCA due to
budget constraints. Several innovations have been suggested to address this situation.
Self-monitoring and self-reporting induced by the government can be one of the avenues to
complement government monitoring efforts and reduce enforcement costs without compromising
deterrence. Prompt and accurate self-reporting may also be beneficial to firms to limit
their liabilities in case of emergencies and can be taken into account by prosecutors.
Well-developed self-monitoring system can also
contribute to a better management of a facility: mitigate risks of accidents and inherent
costs, monitor technological processes, reveal wastage of resources, project production
development, etc. Self-monitoring data are a valuable source of information for project
design and decision-making on investment.
The experience to date suggests the need to
revisit current approaches to monitoring and expand self- monitoring in EECCA. While
improvement of compliance monitoring by the government, more precisely of the ambient
monitoring, is an issue of high visibility and aid from international organisations and
donor countries, the need to strengthen self-monitoring and on-site inspections remains
largely unrealised. After comparing statistics on the percentage of industries carrying
out self-monitoring (on average 5-10%) and the fact of restricted access to facilities
(once per year) in the majority of EECCA countries, representatives of environmental
ministries and inspectorates have called for action in this domain.
Work will assist EECCA countries in developing
requirements and regulations for setting up effective and efficient self-monitoring
systems based on international experience (especially gathered within the INECE and EU
Impel networks) and concrete experience gained through demonstration projects in selected
EECCA countries (Kazakhstan). The results of this work will be co-ordinated with the work
on environmental monitoring carried out under the UNECE.
Activities
· Pilot project in Kazakhstan
will be launched in late 2003 which will analyse the current situation, and present
recommendations for developing tools to select priority elements of self-monitoring
systems and identifying the types of industries that should be subject to continuous
self-monitoring and regular inspection.
· A national workshop to discuss the
proposals to improve the existing self-monitoring system will be conducted in late 2003 or
early 2004.
· Regional consultations for countries in
Central Asia will be carried out in 2004 to discuss the outputs of the demonstration
project, priority setting tool for self-monitoring and approaches to replicate gained
experience.
· Development of technical guidance to
help industry and regulators to identify requirements for self-monitoring, select
indispensable elements of the system and help to develop necessary policy tools will be
carried out throughout 2004-2005.
Outputs
· Report reviewing requirements and
experience with self-monitoring in Kazakhstan (second half 2003)
· Proceedings of regional meeting on
self-monitoring in Central Asia (end 2004)
· Technical guidance on criteria and
requirements for self-monitoring (early 2005)
Benefits/Outcomes
· Improvement of self-monitoring will
provide mechanisms for polluters to collect routinely necessary information about the
industrial processes to ensure compliance and timely react to any pollution incidents as
well as reduce investment risks;
· Establishing credible systems of
self-monitoring will help to build more effective and compatible state monitoring systems;
· Requiring mandatory self-monitoring, but also
demonstrating its value for industry, will raise the percentage of enterprises that are
willing to create a reliable self-monitoring system;
· Adequate access to information will be ensured
through better input to PRTRs.
PROJECT 3. IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
TASK 3.1: PEER REVIEWS OF ENVIRONMENTAL
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
Objectives
To establish a “peer review” process
that would promote sharing of experience and identify practical ways to strengthen
Environmental Enforcement Agencies (ENFAs), as well as would create sufficient
international peer pressure to catalyse the reform of compliance assurance systems.
Background
EECCA countries recognised the need for reform of
the current compliance assurance and promotion systems to facilitate the effective and
efficient implementation of environmental policies, to better enforce domestic and
international law and ensure the credibility of regulation. The «Guiding Principles for
Reform of Environmental Enforcement Authorities in Transition Economies of EECCA», which
were developed by the EAP Task Force constituted an important step in building a consensus
on the targets for reform using good international practices. The Guiding Principles were
endorsed at the Ministerial Meeting in Kiev in May 2003 to facilitate reform process and
provide the basis for co-operation.
The Guiding Principles will provide a reference
for carrying out peer reviews of environmental compliance assurance programmes and
institutions in the EECCA region. The goal is to help countries to improve the performance
of ENFAs, help governments to assess progress in this process, stimulate greater
accountability towards public opinion and international partners, and establish a process
of mutual support for ENFAs engaged in the reform of their institutions. The Reviews will
provide descriptive and quantitative information on the institutional and management
framework for enforcement and compliance assurance, and assess enforcement strategies,
tools and their impacts. The review will also assess compliance promotion efforts,
including the role of the general public and regulated community.
Activities
The methodology and process for peer reviews
which will be elaborated and tested in two-three EECCA countries over the period of three
years. More specifically, the activities will focus on:
· developing necessary background
documentation, including a draft review methodology paper, a questionnaire and
procedures to be used during the reviews (second half of 2003);
· organising a kick off expert meeting to
discuss and agree on the review methodology, on the scheduling of reviews, composition of
the review teams, management of the process and reporting (second half of 2003);
· organising review missions involving a
group of selected experts, including from EECCA, Central Europe and OECD countries (first
mission in early 2004, second mission in early 2005);
· presenting and discussing the review
reports at the meetings of the regional network on environmental policy implementation
(annual meetings in early 2005 and early 2006);
· refining the methodology of reviews and
disseminating the results of the reviews to inform the governments and engage public
and international opinion in assisting the reform process (throughout the duration of the
review process).
Outputs
· Methodology paper on Environmental
Compliance Assurance Peer Reviews (end 2003).
· Reports of pilot country reviews with
recommendations (first review completed in late 2004, second in late 2005 and possibly
third in 2006).
Benefits/Outcomes
The activities will help the reform of EECCAs’
compliance assurance programmes and institutions in line with good international practice,
identify areas where further efforts are needed to strengthen enforcement and compliance
practices, and suggest how impediments to implementation could be overcome. It will also
encourage further collaboration between EECCA inspectorates, stimulate exchange of
experience, identify and disseminate innovative practices.
TASK 3.2: DEVELOPING ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE
INDICATORS
Objective
To assist enforcement agencies in evaluating and
better managing their performance as well as demonstrating the results of government
enforcement activities by developing indicators of compliance programmes and their
impacts.
Background
Over the years, compliance assurance programmes
evolved, as did demands for reliable, harmonised and easily understandable information not
only by environmental policy makers but also by other public authorities, businesses, the
general public, environmental NGOs and other stakeholders. Enforcement and compliance
indicators would be a practical way for providing information on enforcement and
compliance activities for policy purposes and help to improve the transparency and
accountability.
Measuring the performance of enforcement
programmes has been carried out in EECCA and various parameters have been used. Most
countries measure activity levels, such as numbers of inspections and enforcement actions.
Some countries present qualitative assessment of programme performance and directions. In
only very few cases the results of enforcement actions are measured, such as rates of
compliance and actual impact of compliance assurance on the improvement in environmental
quality.
The Guiding Principles for Reform of Enforcement
Agencies in EECCA call for the development of indicators against which Agencies’
performance can be measured and continuously improved. Responding to this call this task
will aim to assist EECCA enforcement agencies in designing indicators for both outputs and
outcomes. The work will also help to establish procedures to apply both quantitative and
qualitative indicators, with regular feedback to managers, political leaders and
legislature. It will also provide an input to the Peer Reviews of Enforcement and
Compliance Systems. Activities will be implemented in close co-operation with the OECD
programme on environmental indicators as well as other regional and global compliance and
enforcement networks (ie. INECE, IMPEL, BERCEN) and will both draw from and contribute to
international efforts to harmonise enforcement/compliance and response indicators.
Activities
· Analysis of current experience with
applying enforcement/compliance indicators from various countries and developing the
methodological framework and good practices for designing and applying output and outcome
indicators (August-October 2003);
· Conducting an international expert workshop
on enforcement and compliance indicators (November 2003);
· Dissemination of the results of the
analysis to relevant stakeholders;
· Implementation of two pilot projects in
selected EECCA to assist enforcement agencies to design and apply performance
indicators (2004-2005);
Outputs
· Scoping Paper on the current and
future application of enforcement/compliance indicators (first draft in October 2003)
· Proceeding of the Expert Workshop
presenting experience from applying enforcement and compliance indicators in EECCA and
other regions (March 2004)
· Reports on the results of technical
assistance projects to reform enforcement and compliance indicators in two EECCA,
including country workshops (2004-2005);
Benefits/Outcomes
· Improved effectiveness of Enforcement Agencies
through the use of performance indicators for decision-making
· Strengthening transparency, accountability and
political support for Enforcement Agencies
· Ensuring internal and external accountability,
help to create deterrence and strengthen compliance assurance systems and agencies as well
as ensure public and political support for the compliance assurance programmes.
· Contribution towards international
harmonisation of enforcement and compliance indicators.
TASK 3.3: BUILDING CAPACITIES OF ENFORCEMENT MANAGERS AND
OFFICERS
Objective
To build the capacity of managers and staff
of environmental inspectorates in developing and implementing effective enforcement
strategies, professional management systems and enforcement and compliance instruments.
Background
Past efforts to strengthen enforcement
institutions often involved continuous organisational reform without improving
decision-making processes, management approaches and skills of individuals. This has led
to institutional instabilities, distortion of priorities and loss of (or shortage of)
professional staff. Addressing the challenges of effective and efficient implementation of
environmental regulation requires enforcement officers to introduce well-defined
compliance assurance strategies and tools, and apply them consistently and continuously.
They also need to apply internal management systems which are systematic, well planned and
fit the existing enforcement and compliance capacities. Inspectors have to acquire solid
training on procedures which are supported by solid scientific, economic and legal
understanding.
Training and methodological material based on
best international practice in compliance assurance has been developed by the EAP Task
Force Secretariat during the 2001-2003 work programme. This included a comprehensive
Inspectors Toolkit which covers a number of management, procedural and substantive aspects
of enforcement and compliance. Members of the EECCA Environmental and Compliance
Enforcement Network at their meeting in Almaty in 2002 requested training sessions for
management and staff of environmental inspectorates. The “Guiding Principles” also
call for the improvement of competencies of enforcement officers and others through
training and other mechanisms for professional development. The toolkit was used for
training of environmental inspectors in the Caucasus region in June 2003. Further efforts
will focus on working with the institutions and training centres in EECCA to create
self-sustainable mechanisms for capacity building of EECCA agencies and enforcers.
Activities
· Developing of a set of training materials
adjusted to the country/region conditions (end 2003 – early 2004);
· carrying out two five-day training sessions
for enforcement managers and officers in the Russian Federation and Central Asia, in
co-operation with such potential partners as UNITAR, the World Bank Institute and/or the
NRECs (2004-2005);
· identifying mechanisms, relevant institutions
and priority actions at the international and national level which will lead to the establishment
of continuous training programmes for enforcement officers in EECCA region.
Outputs
· up to 60 professionals in Russia and
Central Asia trained on strategic enforcement and compliance;
· a core group of trainers trained to
carry in-country capacity building activities;
· Training curricula and materials:
trainer notes, exercises and case studies for further use by local training institutions;
Benefits/Outcomes
· The managers of environmental
inspectorates and enforcement officers will better understand their leadership role,
responsibilities and powers (and their limits), and professional programme management and
will be better equipped to apply their professional skills in environmental enforcement
and compliance promotion.
· The establishment of self-sustaining capacity
building mechanisms in EECCA will be facilitated.
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