ECENA Third Plenary Meeting September, 2008 Istanbul Turkey Major activities of the Montenegrin Environmental inspectorate for the period

Introduction The period 2007 – 2008 was marked with very intense activities, primarily in the areas of legislation harmonization, international cooperation, development of strategies, programmes and policies, and preparing projects/securing funds for increased environmental investments (mainly in the areas of water supply, waste management and wastewater collection/ treatment), institutional reforms and development of capacity of the environmental administration to enforce new laws.

Institutional development Regarding institutional development the major achievement during the observed period in Montenegro is establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA establishment was strongly supported by the European Commission. On the one hand by providing funds for consultancy services developing and implementing the EPA, as well as to construct the new EPA building in Podgorica (together already some 3 million €). On the other by giving the establishment of the EPA a key status in the discussions between European Commission representatives and the Montenegrin public administration.

Establishment of EPA The EPA is established by the new Environmental Law, adopted by the Parliament in August 2008 (OJ MN, No. 48/08). Between the three proposed models which basically differ in the level of the autonomy of the Agency, Government has chosen the model with the lowest degree of independence. Agency shall be established as the administrative body under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Tourism and Environment (MTE). The Government agreed that Minister is to establish an Advisory Committee composed of the representatives of Government, local governance, NGOs and business- this is to increase the influence of the stakeholders in some level.

The main purpose of the establishment of the EPA is to strictly separate environmental policy and legislation tasks from executive tasks. The legislation tasks will remain with the Ministry of Tourism and Environment. Legal implementation and enforcement of the environmental legislation will be the responsibility of the new Agency.

The EPA mandate Environmental permitting and EIA, SEA and IPPC procedures; Inspection and enforcement of activities under environmental legislation; Collecting and processing environmental monitoring data delivered by authorized institutions, establishing environmental databases, and organizing dissemination of information and public access to it; Reporting related to the EU environmental acquis, national requirements in environmental law, and environmental agreements; Publishing State of Environment reports after governmental approval and communicating all relevant environmental information to interested stakeholders, including relevant international organizations.

Organizational structure The EPA departments are: Department for Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Permitting Department Inspection Department Communication and Public Relations Department Corporate Affairs Department

Shifting of responsibilities Establishing the Agency has an impact on current responsibilities of governmental bodies and institutions. After intensive discussions between ministries that took place during the first quarter of 2008 considerable improvement in this area was achieved. Agreement about a shift of responsibilities to the MTE / EPA from the Ministries of Health (chemicals, radiation, noise), Interior (dangerous substances, accident prevention) and Transport and Marine Affairs (waste transport) was reached. A major bottle-neck hindering progress remains the ongoing issue of water (quality) tasks under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management.

Financing The EPA is to be financed exclusively from the National Budget. That means that all fines and fees charged by the EPA shall be directed to the national budget. Following European experience and practice we advise against an EPA that is allowed to keep the collected money. Organizations financed in this way run a risk to focus on collection of fines and fees instead of focusing on improvement of the environment. Also sources (like permitting fees) may dry up after some time, although the expertise/staff has to stay in place.

The number of staff A positive development during the observe period was an increase in the number of staff of the Environment Sector of the MTE that started in summer 2007, bringing the total number of employees in this sector to 31 in the spring 2008 (including Sector’s expert staff, legal staff and inspectors). Various capacity building initiatives continued, mainly in cooperation with international partners.

Environmental Inspectorate Activities Inspections are performed by the Environmental inspectorate in compliance with the Law on Inspection Control, the Law on Environment and other media-specific laws. The Law on Inspection Control includes information-sharing with other inspectorates on measures taken. There are environmental inspections of the ecological permits at the national and municipal levels. Inspections are carried out by the Agency. Municipalities carry out local inspections, such as inspections at municipal landfills. There are other inspectorates at the national level for mining, energy, forestry, veterinary services and water. Since 2003, there has been efficient cooperation among the different inspectorate bodies. This cooperation is achieved through joint inspections or by other inspectors reporting violations to the relevant inspectorate.

Environmental Inspectorate Activities In the Environmental Inspectorate: Carried out 610 inspections (delivering oral warnings for minor irregularities, and preventive instructions for proper waste disposal) Issued 388 decisions on measures to be taken in order to correct certain irregularities regarding emission monitoring, industrial waste disposal, deviation from authorized production processes, and lack of necessary environmental authorization for construction. Issued 52 information notices to other inspectorates about measures undertaken within their area of responsibility; Filed 37 law infraction cases (unfulfilled obligations, inappropriate waste disposal, lack of necessary authorizations, environmental pollution, activities initiated in the protected natural zones); Filed one claim for criminal offence due to a pollution discharge on a large scale; Issued 12 decisions on withholding of authorizations for activities until corrective measures are implemented;

In addition, in , the ecological inspectorate also carried out: 35,360 controls of radioactivity on imported goods; 245 controls of authorizations for import, export and transit of waste on border crossings; 58 controls of authorizations for import, export and transit of goods containing ozone depleting substances; and 44 controls of ionizing radiation sources at border crossings.

Inspections are ad hoc, and there is no inventory or list of polluting industries requiring environmental inspections. The inspectorate entrusts the appointed or accredited laboratories (CETI, Hydro- meteorological Institute, Institute of Heath, Institute of Metallurgy for steel and iron) with the analyzing of samples taken during the inspections. Out of three mandatory samples taken, one is kept for further analysis in case of non-compliance. Due to the polluters-pay principle, all expenses related to the monitoring are paid by polluters.

Expectations The Agency should strengthen significantly the capacity of the environmental inspectorate to ensure effective enforcement of legal requirements. In particular by: Promoting capacity building programmes for inspection bodies on environmental law enforcement, particularly for new legislation, including permitting procedures and public participation; Establishing a polluter register, as requested by the legislation, and using it to streamline the environmental inspection activities; Creating joint inspection programmes at hot spot areas to improve coordination and cooperation between environmental inspectors and other inspectors acting under the responsibility of other ministries; Promoting the cooperation of environmental law enforcement authorities with police; Initiating training programmes for judges, state prosecutors and police bodies to strengthen their capacities in the field of environmental law enforcement; and Collecting and publishing data on concluded administrative, civil and criminal lawsuits concerning the environment.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Biljana Djurovic Ministry of Tourism and Environment