Environmental rules - Slovakia

Updated 04. 2010

Legal requirements

The National Environmental Action Plan II and the National Strategy for Sustainable Development are the key documents for environment protection policy.

National Environmental Action Plan II
National Strategy for Sustainable Development [1 MB]

The Ministry of the Environment, Regional Environmental Authorities and District Environmental Authorities are responsible for environmental law.

Slovak Ministry of the Environment

The Slovak Environmental Inspectorate is the Ministry's specialist organisation for looking after the environment and the countryside in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. The Agency also provides expert advice.

Slovak Environmental Inspectorate

Environmental control

You can find a list of strategic documents and the business activities that are subject to environmental impact assessments in Annex 1 and 8 of the following Act:

Act on Environmental Impact Assessment [511 KB]
Environmental law

Environmental impact is also assessed in accordance with other laws, including the Planning Act, which applies to buildings.

Planning Act [281 KB]

Land development

The Ministry of Construction and Regional Development handles the area of land development in Slovakia.

Slovak Ministry of Construction and Regional Development
The Slovak approach to land development [203 KB]
List of land development laws

Waste management

The main subject areas of the Act on Waste Materials include preventing the creation of waste, handling waste and responsibility for breaches of obligations in the area of waste management.

Act on Waste Materials [1 MB]

Waste handling includes waste collection, waste transport, waste recovery and waste disposal, including looking after disposal sites.

Obligations of businesses and individuals

Municipalities are responsible for handling communal waste originating within the territory of the municipality and for small-scale construction waste originating within the territory of the municipality.

Communal waste

Local fees are paid for communal waste and small-scale construction waste originating within the territory of the municipality.

Local fees for communal waste
List of laws on waste management

Chemicals

The Slovak Environmental Inspectorate is the contact point concerning the safety of chemicals from an environmental perspective.

Management of chemicals

In the area of chemicals, the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate deals with:

assessing the environmental risks of chemicals,
environmental testing of waste materials and chemicals.
Act on Chemical Substances and Chemical Preparations

Water

The principle of the water management policy of the Slovak Republic is to look after the maintenance and use of national water resources in a comprehensive manner. In order to ensure the protection of water and its sustainable use there are so-called environmental targets for:

bodies of surface water,
bodies of groundwater,
protected territories.
Environmental objectives
Water protection
Act on Water (the Water Act)

The state bodies for water administration are:

Slovak Ministry of the Environment
Regional environmental offices
Slovak Environmental Inspectorate
Municipalities of the Slovak Republic

Climate and air

Measures for protecting the Earth's ozone layer include the national plan for allocating greenhouse gas quotas (the National Allocation Plan).

Protection of the air
Laws on protecting the air
Act on Protecting the Air

Protection against noise

An extensive conceptual transformation of hygiene legislation, arising in part from the adaptation of our legislation to European law, has also had an impact on laws governing protection against noise.

Act on the Assessment and Monitoring of Environmental Noise

Nuclear protection

Nuclear strategy is handled by the Ministry of the Economy, which has drafted a Report on the Environmental Impact of Nuclear Energy.

Slovak Ministry of the Economy
Act on Environmental Impact Assessment
Act on the State Fund for Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities and Handling Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste

State supervision of nuclear safety is governed by the provisions of the Decree on the Safeguarding of Nuclear Facilities and Nuclear Materials.

Decree on the Safeguarding of Nuclear Facilities

Inspections

The Slovak Environmental Inspectorate (SIŽP) is the main environmental inspection body and is responsible for ensuring pollution prevention and control. It performs state supervision of the integrated prevention and monitoring of environmental pollution and imposes fines in matters of environmental care.

Slovak Environmental Inspectorate

In the area of biological safety, the SIŽP operates as the authority for state supervision over the use of genetic technology and genetically-modified organisms.

It is the certifying body for organisations that are subject to obligations arising from the Act on the Integrated Prevention and Monitoring of Pollution (IPKZ).

Act on the Integrated Prevention and Monitoring of Pollution (IPKZ)

Businesses are free to go beyond the minimum environmental legal requirements at their own initiative.

Sustainability — Slovakia

Administrative procedures

Declaratory procedures

The administrative body in the process of Integrated Prevention and Monitoring of Pollution (IPKZ) is the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate.

Slovak Environmental Inspectorate

Integrated permits specify the terms for performing operational activities and permit new operations aimed at achieving integrated environmental protection.

You must send the agreed number of hard copies, of the project proposal to the relevant body, as well as one copy in electronic format. You must send the agreed number of

The proposal must contain at least two other proposals for the business activity (variant proposals) and an evaluation of the situation if the proposal is not implemented (the zero option).

Outline of the permit process:

Outline of the permit process:
IPKZ-Applications for integrated permits - Sample application

Waste management

The purpose of the Recycling Fund is to concentrate funding and to provide it for the collection, recovery and processing of used batteries and car batteries, used oils, used tyres, multilayer combined materials, electric and electronic devices, combined plastics, paper, glass, vehicles and metal packaging materials.

Recycling fund

Resources are provided from the fund as ineligible to businesses and individuals. Resources are provided from the fund on the basis of applications in the form of special-purpose grants or credits in accordance with the Funding Application.

Applications for grants and credit from the RF
Application forms

In the area of economic development - closing down and recultivating waste dumps, separating and recovering biologically decomposable waste and introducing separated collections in municipalities - businesses may apply for grants or credit from the Envirofond.

Procedure when applying for grants
Application forms for grants
Support in the form of credit
Application forms for credit

Water, climate and air

Businesses may apply for financial subsidies from the Envirofond to implement projects aimed at protecting the air and the ozone layer.

Procedure when applying for grants
Application forms for grants
Support in the form of credit
Application forms for credit

In case of a sudden deterioration in the quality of water or a threat to water quality, a report must be made to the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate.

Slovak Environmental Inspectorate

Permits and licences

Assessing the impacts of buildings, facilities and other activities on the environment is governed by the Act on Environmental Impact Assessments.

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) [511 KB]
Act on Environmental Impact Assessments [511 KB]

State administration in the area of environmental impact assessments is performed by:

Slovak Ministry of the Environment
Regional environmental offices

Resources

The Enviroportál website provides information on the environment.

Enviroportál

Programmes

If you want information on European funds in Slovakia's regions, contact the Regional Environmental Advisory and Information Centres, which are the first points of contact.

Regional Environmental Advisory and Information Centres

Euroenviro helps users understand EU environmental funds and the opportunities available for using these funds to finance environmental projects in Slovakia.

Euroenviro

Operational Programme 'Environment'

Operational Programme 'Environment'

This is made up of six priority axes:

Integrated protection and rational use of water resources;
Flood protection;
Protecting the atmosphere and minimising the adverse effects of climate change;
Waste management;
Protecting and regenerating the natural environment and the countryside;
Technical assistance.
OPE - Document [906 KB]

State support for looking after the environment is implemented by the Slovak environmental fund Envirofond.

Envirofond

Check also the legislation on this topic in:

Environmental rules - Slovakia