The Chancellery of the Prime Minister (KPRM) informed that the government adopted a project assuming an increase in penalties for offences and crimes against the environment. For the state budget and local governments, the cost of disposal of abandoned waste is a serious problem. The perpetrator of such an act will pay even a fine of PLN 10 million.

The Council of Ministers adopted a draft act amending certain acts in order to counteract environmental crime. The changes are a reaction to the noticeable increase in the number of felonies against the environment in recent years, as well as an upward trend in the number of fires at waste collection sites.

“The practice of applying the existing regulations shows that the current penal sanctions are insufficient and do not stop perpetrators from committing crimes against the environment”, emphasized the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.

The costs of disposal of abandoned waste often amount to several dozen million PLN. Therefore, if the perpetrator is convicted of an intentional crime against the environment, the court will have to order actual damages from him in the amount of PLN 10,000. PLN up to PLN 10 million. If the crime is committed unintentionally, the actual damages will be charged on an optional basis.

The funds will be received by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. They will be used to remove the effects of criminal activity and will support environmental programs aimed at improving the quality of air or water in Poland.

For causing significant damage to the plant or animal world, persons will be liable to imprisonment from 6 months to 8 years. The project provides for higher penalties for illegal storage, disposal, processing, recovery, neutralization and transport of waste that may endanger human life or health or cause a reduction in the quality of water, air, land surface or damage to the plant or animal world.

The perpetrator will be punished with a prison sentence of 2 to 12 years for importing or transporting hazardous waste abroad, without the required notification or permit, or contrary to its conditions.

The minimum and maximum penalties for littering public places will be also increased. The maximum fine for burning agricultural land, railway areas, roadside lanes, reeds or rushes will be increased to 30,000 PLN.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński order