Environment and emergency situations

Environmental protection involves a set of different procedures and measures that prevent environmental damage in order to preserve the biological balance. In accordance with its strategic commitments, the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities is actively working on: (1) raising the readiness of towns and municipalities to implement legal provisions and adopting European standards in the field of environmental protection, (2) strengthening the capacities of towns and municipalities in the area of civil protection which represents the backbone of disaster risk reduction. By strengthening and building civil protection at the local level, we encourage that investment in human resources and preventive measures rises in the priority list of the social community in order to make the individual safer, and the local community is more resistant to natural disasters created, inter alia, as a result of climate change.

SCTM actively cooperates with state bodies and institutions in charge of these areas, and above all with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Internal Affairs - the Emergency Situation Department, the Public Investment Management Office, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning and Environmental Protection and other bodies and institutions.

Legislative framework

The basic regulations that regulate the field of environmental protection are: Law on Environmental Protection; Law on Strategic Assessment of Impact on Environment; Law on Environmental Impact Assessment; Law on Waste Management; Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste; Law on Nature Protection. When talking about emergency situations, the most important laws are: Law on Emergency Situations; Law on Fire Protection; Law on Protection from the Hail; Law on Restoration after Elemental and Other Disaster; Law on Air Traffic; Law on Waters; Law on Safety and Protection at Work.

How SCTM contributes to the improvement of the environment and emergencies

SCTM actively contributes to the creation of an adequate legal framework for the functioning of local self-government on the protection and improvement of the environment, prevention and management of emergencies, taking care that the interests of local self-government units are advocated in dialogue with national institutions. Also, SCTM intends to influence the development of local capacities for implementing responsible local policy in these areas.

In order to exchange experiences and practical knowledge between towns and municipalities and to monitor the situation and support the definition of the organization's policy in this area, within the framework of the SCTM operate Committee on Environment and Emergency Situations and the two SCTM Networks: the Network of Eco-Officers and the Network for Risk Management and Emergency situation.

The most important priorities of the SCTM in the field of environmental protection in the following period are:

• Assessing the need to strengthen the capacity of local self-government to implement environmental competencies, and in particular the European legal framework;
• Capacity building of local self-government for the preparation and implementation of local programmes for the use of environmental funds;
• Improving the legal framework at the local level, in line with the transposition of EU legislation;
• Improving the expertise of local officers working on environmental issues, in particular strengthening the environmental protection inspection at the local level;
• Improvement of the system of full information of citizens about the state of the environment in the local community and their participation in planning and decision making in environmental issues at the local level;

The most important priorities of SCTM in the field of emergency situations in the following period are:

• Supporting towns and municipalities in the process of association in relation to joint risks from natural disasters and the process of capacity building of joint local authorities;
• Strengthening the capacities of towns and municipalities in the development of financial plans for the needs of civil protection at the local level;
• Support to local self-governments in the implementation of measures prescribed by law, new solutions, methodologies, national strategies and international standards in the area of prevention and reduction of risks from natural disasters by other acts and standards;
• Improving good and timely communications in the field of civil protection at the local level and supporting better understanding and cooperation between towns and municipalities, republic authorities, and international partners.