Ocena oddziaływania autostrad i dróg ekspresowych na środowisko – uwarunkowania prawne i ekologiczne

Highways and expressways are road investments which contribute to socio- economic development but have a negative impact on the environment. Environmental impact assessments are the legal instrument that contributes to limiting this negative impact. The purpose of this article is to define the legal nature and essence of the environmental impact assessments of highways and expressways, and to define the role of this legal instrument in the protection of its resources. Environmental impact assessments are a legal instrument and placed in the procedure of obtaining a decision on environmental conditions, which is the first administrative decision in the implementation of projects with significant environmental impact, such as highways and expressways. However, the type of planned protection solutions depends on the degree of detail in determining the potential impact on individual elements of the environment, which is difficult in practice and is the reason for challenging the correctness of EIA reports. Moreover, there are no clearly defined requirements for road environmental protection devices.Autostrady i drogi ekspresowe są inwestycjami drogowymi, które przyczyniają się do rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego, ale negatywnie oddziałują na elementy środowiska. Instrumentem prawnym, który przyczynia się do ograniczenia tego negatywnego wpływu są oceny oddziaływania na środowisko. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest określenie charakteru prawnego i istoty ocen oddziaływania autostrad i dróg ekspresowych na środowisko oraz określenie roli tego instrumentu prawnego w ochronie jego zasobów. Oceny oddziaływania na środowisko są instrumentem prawnym i umiejscowionym w procedurze uzyskania decyzji o środowiskowych uwarunkowaniach, będącej pierwszą decyzją administracyjną w realizacji przedsięwzięć znacząco oddziałujących na środowisko, jakimi są autostrady i drogi ekspresowe. Jednakże od stopnia szczegółowości określenia potencjalnego wpływu na poszczególne elementy środowiska zależy rodzaj zaplanowanych rozwiązań ochronnych, co jest trudne w praktyce i jest powodem zaskarżania prawidłowości raportów OOŚ. Ponadto brakuje jednoznacznych ściśle dookreślonych wymogów drogowych urządzeń ochrony środowiska

Humanitarna ochrona prawna zwierząt bezdomnych

Animal rights at the international level have been defined in the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, which has become a guiding principle for many EU countries in shaping animal protection legislation. The subject of this article is the humane protection of homeless animals, which is the responsibility of the municipality in terms of maintaining cleanliness and order. The study assumes that by carrying out tasks regarding the protection of animals from homelessness, municipalities contribute to the effective protection of animals by providing them with appropriate care. The analysis found that the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare have been fully incorporated into Polish legislation. However, the effectiveness of the provisions on the protection of homeless animals executed by municipalities is not entirely satisfactory as evidenced by the post-inspection data and selected jurisprudence. In order to improve this state of affairs, the following de lege ferenda postulates were formulated, which in part are also guidelines of the Supreme Audit Office extending the catalog of activities in municipal homeless animal protection programs, introducing the requirement to inspect animal shelters by municipalities, changing the location requirements of animal shelters and also clarifying sanitary requirements concerning the conditions in which animals live in to improve their welfare. The above changes in legislation may contribute to more efficient humane protection of homeless animals in Poland and may serve as an example for other EU countries.Prawa zwierząt na forum międzynarodowym zostały określone w Światowej Deklaracji Praw Zwierząt, która stała się wytyczną dla wielu państw Unii Europejskiej (UE) w kształtowaniu przepisów w zakresie ochrony zwierząt. Przedmiotem analizy niniejszego artykułu jest humanitarna ochrona zwierząt bezdomnych, która jest obowiązkiem gminy w ramach utrzymania czystości i porządku. W pracy założono, że realizując zadania w zakresie ochrony zwierząt przed bezdomnością, gminy przyczyniają się do ich efektywnej ochrony poprzez zapewnienie im odpowiedniej opieki. W wyniku przeprowadzonej analizy stwierdzono, że w pełni wprowadzono postanowienia Światowej Deklaracji Praw Zwierząt do prawodawstwa polskiego, jednakże skuteczność przepisów w zakresie ochrony zwierząt bezdomnych przez gminy nie jest do końca skuteczna, czego potwierdzeniem są dane pokontrolne i wybrane orzecznictwo. W celu poprawy tego stanu sformułowano postulaty de lege ferenda, będące częściowo również wytycznymi Najwyższej Izby Kontroli, a mianowicie rozszerzenie katalogu działań w gminnych programach ochrony zwierząt bezdomnych, wprowadzenie wymogu kontroli schronisk dla zwierząt przez gminy, zmianę wymogów lokalizacyjnych schronisk dla zwierząt, a także doprecyzowanie wymogów sanitarnych dotyczących warunków bytowania zwierząt w schroniskach dla poprawy ich dobrostanu. Powyższe zmiany w prawodawstwie mogą przyczynić się do bardziej efektywnej humanitarnej ochrony zwierząt bezdomnych w Polsce oraz mogą być wskazówką dla innych państw UE

QUESTIONI ATTUALI DELL’USO DELLE AREE COSTIERE DEL MAR BALTICO (GLI ESEMPI DELLA RUSSIA E DELLA POLONIA)

The article proves that the existing threats to coastal marine areas that are notable for significant vulnerability to human activity require changes in Russian water legislation, which must introduce the category “coastal territories” and clarify the regime of permissions, restrictions and prohibitions within them. This will make it possible to more effectively regulate the economic, environmental and social aspects of the use and protection of the marine environment and coastal areas. For Russian water law, a number of legal structures that are successfully used in Polish water law are of interest, including the allocation of two zones with special legal regime on the coast, environmental planning of the use and protection of the coast and sea waters, as well as a set of measures to ensure sustainable development of coastal areas.Članak dokazuje kako su postojeće prijetnje priobalnom morskom području značajne zbog ranjivosti ljudske aktivnosti te traže promjene u ruskom pomorskom zakonodavstvu koje mora uvesti kategoriju “priobalnih područja” i unutar njega pojasniti režim dozvola, ograničenja i zabrana. To će omogućiti učinkovitiju regulaciju ekonomskih, okolišnih i društvenih aspekata korištenja i zaštite morskog okoliša i priobalnih područja. Za rusko pomorsko pravo od interesa je određeni broj pravnih struktura koje su uspješno implementirane u poljsko pomorsko zakonodavstvo, uključujući alokaciju dviju zona u posebnom pravnom režimu na obali, planiranje korištenja i zaštite priobalja i morskih voda, kao i set mjera koje osiguravaju održiv razvoj priobalnih područja.In diesem Beitrag wird aufgezeigt, dass die vorhandene Gefährdung der Küstengebiete durch menschliche Tätigkeit verschlimmert wurde, weshalb für die Änderung der russischen Gesetzgebung durch die Einführung der Kategorie der „Küstengebiete“ mit einem klarstrukturierten System der Genehmigungen, Beschränkungen und Untersagungen plädiert wird. Dies wird eine wirksame Regulierung der wirtschaftlichen, umweltbetreffenden und Gesellschaftsaspekte und Schutz der Meeresumgebung und Küstengewässergebiete zur Folge haben. Für das russische Seerecht sind einige Regelungen die in der polnischen Seegesetzgebung erfolgreich implementiert wurden besonders interessant, einschließlich der Allokation von zwei Zonen im Sonderregime an der Küste, Planung der Nutzung und Schutz der Küsten- und Meeresgewässer, sowie eine Reihe von Maßnahmen die nachhaltige Entwicklung der Küstengewässergebiete gewährleisten.Quest’articolo prova che le esistenti minacce che rendono vulnerabili le aree marine costiere causate dalle attività umane richiedono cambiamenti nella legislazione russa sulle acque, la quale dovrebbe introdurre la categoria dei “territori costieri” e fare chiarezza sul regime dei permessi, delle restrizioni e dei divieti entro di essi. Questo creerà le condizioni per regolare più efficacemente l’economia, gli aspetti ambientali e sociali dell’uso e della protezione degli ambienti marini e delle aree costiere. Per il diritto russo sulle acque, un numero di strutture legali che sono usate con successo nel diritto polacco sulle acque sono di interesse, comprese l’allocazione delle due zone con un regime giuridico speciale sulla costa, la pianificazione ambientale dell’uso e della protezione della costa e delle acque marine, come anche una serie di misure per assicurare uno sviluppo sostenibile dell’area costiera

The Legal Regulation of Food Waste in Poland and Lithuania in Compliance with EU Directive 2018/851

Food waste is a global problem, one that has moved up the public and political agenda in recent years. Food is at the core of the United Nations' (UN) 'Sustainable Development Goals'. Food waste prevention is also highlighted as a priority area in the '2015 Circular Economy Package'. Food waste is an important indicator of sustainability because it embodies the sum of resources being used to produce uneaten food, and food waste disposal has an environmental, economic, and social impact. Directive 2018/851 established amendments to the food waste regulatory regime, including the definition of a food waste category and general provisions, which were related to food waste, providing a strong emphasis on waste prevention and the reporting of data in connection with food waste. New EU food waste rules should be implemented at the national level. Comparative research is needed for identifying any potential implementation problems. Such research will be carried out using case studies of Poland and Lithuania

Prawne i techniczne aspekty gospodarowania odpadami komunalnymi

The article shows basic legal regulations and technical methods of municipal waste management and its processing. After the implementation of Waste Directive 2008/98/WE, changes in the waste management system occurred, especially in the scope of the limitation of waste mass disposed in landfills and technical requirements of these installations. The consequence of these changes is the increase in municipal waste recycling and composting and the decrease in waste disposed in landfills.W artykule przedstawiono podstawowe regulacje prawne oraz rozwiązania techniczne w zakresie zasad gospodarowania oraz metod przetwarzania odpadów komunalnych. Po wprowadzeniu nowej dyrektywy „odpadowej” 2008/98/WE nastąpiły zmiany w systemie ichgospodarowania, szczególnie w zakresie ograniczenia masy odpadów deponowanych na składowiskach oraz wymogów technicznych tych instalacji. Następstwem tych zmian jest wzrost udziału odpadów komunalnych poddawanych recyklingowi i kompostowaniu oraz spadek masy odpadów deponowanych na składowiskach

Legal protection of waters in the context of human rights

This article shows the general prinicples of water protection in the international, European Union and Polish levels in the contex of human rights. Because deficit of drinking waters is very important issue not only in Africa and Asia countries but also in some state in UE e.g. in Poland with scarce water resources. The legal aspect of water protection against pollutants stemming from anthropogenic activity is complex and hence, is regulated in many conventions, directives and national laws. The very important for water protection is to limit iflows of sewage into water bodies or limit pollution at source, and effective remediation and restoration of the water damage. All contribute to improved quality of waters and ensuring their proper quality which is the basic human right to life

Response of cyanobacteria to the fountain-based water aeration system in Jeziorak Mały urban lake

This study of cyanobacteria phytoplankton was conducted from May to August in 2002, 2003 and 2005 during fountain-based water aeration in the pelagial of the Jeziorak Mały urban lake in Poland. Additional water mixing by this installation’s activity changed the cyanobacterial growth conditions. Although less of their proportion was noted in total phytoplankton abundance, higher mean abundance and biomass were recorded at the fountain than at the lake centre. Higher water temperature in the surface layer favoured cyanobacterial growth at the fountain, while higher iron concentration stimulated their development in the lake’s centre. This was supported by positive correlations between their abundance and these water parameters. Moreover, the fountain’s activity contributed to the cyanobacteria sinking in the water column. The higher abundance of cyanobacteria was found at 1m depth in May, July and August than in the fountain surface layer. Additional water mixing during fountain activity caused also a shift in their abundance maximum (C - June and F - August) and contributed to intensive organic matter decomposition. These conditions promoted cyanobacterial nutrient uptake from the water at the fountain, and this is supported by the negative correlation between their abundance and orthophosphate and total nitrogen concentrations. Generally, water mixing during the fountain’s activity does not inhibit the growth of cyanobacteria. This phenomenon disturbed abundance dynamics of the cyanobacteria in summer months but didn’t contribute to their abundance decrease. It is important for these results to be considered in future management of shallow urban lakes

Environmental Management of ISO 14001 System Enforcement in EU Countries

The European Union International Organization for Standardization management system for the environment (ISO 14001) is established by European Commission Regulation 1221/2009. This legislates a voluntary system where organizations can register in a community eco-management and audit scheme. In the literature, this standard is recognized as an instrument of international environmental protection law, introduced by soft law regulations. ISO 14001 has been implemented by many global and European organizations, and it strives to improve the quality of their environmental resources. It was considered that the ISO 14001 eco-management and audit scheme enforced protection of environment in EU countries by imposing the obligation to implement appropriate legal regulations in this area. This article aims is determine what legal solutions in chosen UE countries enable the effective implementation of ISO 14001 and what positive effects it has on the state of the environment in these countries. The results demonstrated that the number of certified organizations is increasing despite the many difficulties and costs of implementing and organizing required environmental protection areas. The implementation of ISO 14001 was described using the example of Poland and Italy compared to other EU countries. The uptake identifies improved environmental quality, and this is confirmed by indicators of decreasing gas emissions and increasing waste recycling which improve global air, soil and water quality. The higher implementation index of the ISO 14001 standard in Italy translates into higher environmental quality indicators in this country than in Poland