Proces oceny oddziaływania na środowisko w państwach Grupy Wyszehradzkiej w zakresie drogownictwa

The goal of the paper is to discuss the process of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the Visegrad Group (V4) member countries in the field of road construction. Development of the road system in V4 countries was analysed in the first part of the paper and then criteria of the screening stage of the EIA resulting from the division of projects due to their environmental impact were estimated. The second part presents results of the survey carried out in V4 countries among people involved in EIA. Responses given by people who declared their activity in the field of transport were used in the paper. Differences in EIA procedures in road investments in particular V4 countries have been pointed out. Celem artykułu jest omówienie procesu oceny oddziaływania na środowisko (OOŚ) w państwach Grupy Wyszehradzkiej (V4) w zakresie drogownictwa. W pierwszej części pracy analizie poddany został rozwój sieci drogowej w państwach V4 a następnie oceniono kryteria etapu screeningu procedury OOŚ wynikające z podziału przedsięwzięć ze względu na wielkość oddziaływania na środowisko. W drugiej części pracy ocenie poddano wyniki ankiety przeprowadzonej w państwach V4 wśród wykonawców OOŚ. W niniejszej pracy analizowano i oceniono odpowiedzi respondentów, którzy deklarowali swój udział w zakresie związanym z transportem. Ukazano różnice w procedurze OOŚ inwestycji drogowych w poszczególnych krajach V4

Stosowanie list kontrolnych w opracowaniach środowiskowych w zakresie budownictwa drogowego

Checklists are one of the simplest but very effective methods used in the phase of planning, preparation and verification of activities, among others in the process of environmental impact assessment. These checklists can be used as a useful tool in every phase of the evaluation process to check the quality of the data used and the work performed and to verify the completeness of the assessments. The aim of the article is to show the applicability of checklists in environmental studies in the field of road construction on the domestic examples and from abroad.Listy kontrolne należą do jednych z najprostszych, ale bardzo skutecznych metod wykorzystywanych na etapie planowania, przygotowywania i weryfikowania działań, m. in. w procesie oceny oddziaływania na środowisko. Listy te można stosować, jako użyteczne narzędzie pracy, w każdej fazie procesu oceny, aby sprawdzić jakość stosowanych danych i wykonywanych prac oraz do sprawdzenia kompletności ocen. Celem artykułu jest wskazanie możliwości stosowania List kontrolnych w opracowaniach środowiskowych w zakresie budownictwa drogowego na przykładach krajowych oraz z zagranicy

Instruments of mineral deposit safeguarding in Poland, Slovakia and Czechia - Comparative analysis

Mineral deposits are essential for the economic, technological and social development. However, to enable them to play an appropriate role in the process of sustainable development, they need to be safeguarded in a comprehensive and systemic manner in the same measure as other elements of the environment. The practice of securing access to areas where the mineral deposits can be found is based on the statement that they can be extracted only in places where they occur. This fact defines the type and scope of instruments for safeguarding prospective deposit areas of minerals and their documented deposits. These issues gained in significance in the EU level in recent years however views on this subject across the Member States still vary. The paper subjects instruments of mineral deposit safeguarding used in Poland, Slovakia and Czechia to the analysis and multi-criteria comparative assessment. It recommends their division into the conceptual, legal, spatial planning and economic ones. As a result of studies, similarities and differences in the approach to mineral deposit safeguarding in individual countries are shown, indicating good practices and suggesting possible changes. The analysis revealed many analogies in actions aimed at mineral deposit safeguarding in individual countries, however the assessment of their effectiveness and implementation points at the necessity of taking further steps to increase deposit safeguarding.Web of Science102art. no. 1

Delimitation of Areas of Environmental Conflicts on the Background of Geological Conditions, Exemplified by Stary Sącz Commune

Delimitation and characterization of areas of conflict are essential to assess suitability of land for different activities carried out in the field of rational land use. In the paper, delimitation of the conflict areas and conflicts categorization in terms of possibility of their overcoming, the scale of the range and the period of their occurrence exemplified by urban - rural commune Stary Sącz have been presented. The software ArcGIS 10.1, the method of maps superimposing and analysis of interactions between different geoenvironmental factors have been applied to obtain the goal of the investigation. Specific geological structure together with morphological and climatic conditions in Stary Sącz commune create ideal conditions for occurrence of con-flict areas on the background of the geological conditions. Accurate and early recognition of these conflicts - existing and potential ones, is a prerequisite for the environmental risk prevention and elimination of its effects through the proper preparation of planning documents and development plans and programs

Delimitation of Areas of Environmental Conflicts on the Background of Geological Conditions, Exemplified by Stary Sącz Commune

Delimitation and characterization of areas of conflict are essential to assess suitability of land for different activities carried out in the field of rational land use. In the paper, delimitation of the conflict areas and conflicts categorization in terms of possibility of their overcoming, the scale of the range and the period of their occurrence exemplified by urban - rural commune Stary Sącz have been presented. The software ArcGIS 10.1, the method of maps superimposing and analysis of interactions between different geoenvironmental factors have been applied to obtain the goal of the investigation. Specific geological structure together with morphological and climatic conditions in Stary Sącz commune create ideal conditions for occurrence of con-flict areas on the background of the geological conditions. Accurate and early recognition of these conflicts - existing and potential ones, is a prerequisite for the environmental risk prevention and elimination of its effects through the proper preparation of planning documents and development plans and programs

Preliminary recognition of state of incorporating climate change impacts and adaptation considerations in SEA and EIA procedures for renewable energy projects

In the last years, the European Union has developed and set a several environmental policies whose imposes an obligation on Member States to implement specific actions, including incorporating climate change considerations into SEA and EIA processes. One of major environmental challenges facing most developing countries is that of global climate change. The aim of the research was to obtain a comprehensive review of existing SEA and EIA practical approaches for renewable energy installations in the aspect of adaptation to climate change with specific reference to Polish projects. Both SEA and EIA procedures implemented in Poland and other countries was introduced with the intent of factoring in potential risk to the environment by future large-scale project developments such as the construction of power plants, roads, or dams. The paper consist the initial recognition of available data of the current experience and level of implementation climate change impact and adaptions into local procedures. Preliminary results suggest that the additional funding should be given for climate change adaptation in the energy sector, especially in renewable energy projects, as well as specific interventions for climate-adapted energy systems should be targeted in order to fill the gap in RES sector and spur sustainable energy development

Sozology in contemporary earth sciences and economic practice – selected aspects

Known mostly in Poland, formulated by Prof. W. Goetel, the science - called sozology perfectly corresponds to today's pro-environmental activities developing worldwide. Sozology combines both concern for the precious values of primeval nature and the management of areas transformed by man. It includes civilization changes, climate change, and access to natural resources. The article discusses four main research directions: 1) protection of the natural environment and mineral resources, 2)rational spatial management, 3) post-exploitation management of industrial areas, 4) analysis and prevention of environmental changes. The authors point to the need to integrate specialists from various fields who can jointly solve environmental problems

Impact of Covid-19 on the Mining Sector and Raw Materials Security in Selected European Countries

Events that change the global economy rapidly, without warning, in principle strongly affect mining, which is one of the pillars of global development. After the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the mining pillar seems to be relatively stable. In this study, thanks to the meeting of an international team, it was possible to collect and compare a set of data on the impact on mining. In contrast to the general assessments of the stability of the mining sector, the authors decided to assess the impact of Covid-19 at individual stages of the mining project life cycle. In this way, it was possible to identify the most impacted fragments of the mining pillar. It was assessed that the highest influence of Covid-19 is observed in projects implementing feasibility studies and in projects for the development of new mines. The same is true of extracting residual resources in mines prior to the closure decision. The medium impact was confirmed at the exploration and discovery stage. The authors conclude that the impact on the current mining production is smaller and the effects in this case are short term, which is mainly due to a continued strong demand for minerals in China, which has balanced the weaker demand in other parts of the world. On the other hand, stopping the exploration and development of new mines will have a long-term impact, including an increased possibility of disruption of the future security of supplies of raw materials

Environmental impact assessment process in the field of recreation in the V4 countries

Abstract The purpose of this article is to present issues related to the process of environmental impact assessment carried out for sport, recreation and tourist facilities in the V4 countries. The results represent data obtained during the survey carried out as a part of the international project "Assessment of the quality of the environment in the V4 Countries (AQE V4)" Standard Grant IVF 21210018 supported by the International Visegrad Fund partners from the V4 countries: Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The analysis of the survey responses indicates that there are significant differences in the process of qualification of such objects for the EIA which also results in differences in the number of reports made and the methods used for evaluation. Among the V4 countries which have been analysed, Poland seems to be the most distinctive, as its regulations appear to be the most liberal

Analysis of short – term heavy rains in eastern Slovakia in the period 2003 - 2018

Short-term heavy rains are one the most important rains from a meteorological, hydrological, and also technical point of view. When designing rainwater drainage systems or rainwater management systems, the intensity of short-term rains is used as a design parameter, because of short-term rains usually reach the highest intensity. This paper is focused on analysis of short-term heavy rains occurrence in the last 15 years in 3 rainfall stations in eastern Slovakia. The data used in analysis are automatically collected 10-minute precipitation totals at rainfall stations Poprad, Kamenica nad Cirochou and Košice