Long Description:
The 'Governmental Programme for Postindustrial areas' is composed from 3 key fields.
- One is composed from demonstrating activities.
- Second is devoted to devolopment of administrative system for reclamation of post-industrial land (mainly administrative tools supporting decision
making and guidelines for databases development).
- The third is devoted to the research. The scope of this third set is limited to the legal and organizational problems.
GOVERNMENTAL PROGRAMME FOR POSTINDUSTRIAL AREAS
The objective of the Governmental Programme for Post-Industrial Areas is to generate mechanisms for promoting the revitalization of these areas according
to the principles of sustainable development adopted in Poland.
The implementation of this Programme is one of the key elements of the Environmental Policy in Poland, which aims at maximising the re-use of post-industrial
waste-land and closed municipal landfill sites – this involves developing a full inventory of post-industrial sites in order to facilitate their reclamation.
Programme objectives
The main objectives of the Programme include:
· the development of a management system for degraded areas that would aid the recovery of their economic functions, which in turn would contribute to a reduction
of use of non-degraded areas for industrial investment.
· the development of a new business sector for enterprises specialising in the reclamation of degraded land, which would create a new niche on the job market.
For the purpose of this Programme the following key definitions shall be used:
· Post-industrial areas are defined as areas degraded and fully or partially abandoned, originally used for industrial activities, which have ceased.
· Area is defined as a land property, a part of a property, or a number of properties, forming a spatial entity consisting of land surface with natural and artificial
land cover including biotic and abiotic elements, buildings, technical infrastructure etc.
The analysis of the existing law, in the context of its current and expected changes, indicates that there is a need for a comprehensive revision of the legal
system regarding the protection of earth surface in Poland
Regulations for earth protection have a long tradition in Poland, however they were focused on agricultural and forest land mainly. In principle, the legal
approach to land protection included spatial planning, environmental fees and taxes associated with the conversion from agriculture or forestry to other
uses - aspects of land management related to erosion control were also addressed in the above regulations.
It has been recognized that the protection of the earth surface as a non-renewable resource requires amendments of the legal system and new technical (i.e.
procedures) solutions to fulfil state responsibilities in this field.
It should be strongly emphasized that the state is the owner of a substantial part of post-industrial areas, and as a consequence, it is responsible for the
environmental damage resulting from operations of state-owned industries. Therefore, the State Treasury is responsible for the reclamation of such areas,
as required by the current environmental law in Poland. During the implementation phase of the program differences between state owned areas and areas which
belong to local communities will be recognized, and various activities will be proposed, respective to the areas’ specific needs and legal situation.
The scope of the program
It is difficult to exactly estimate the size and the spatial dimension of post-industrial areas in the country. Considering a limited availability of financial
resources, it is proposed that the reclamation component of the program will be narrowed to sites which are posing the highest risk to human health and the environment,
and which are facing severe social problems related to high unemployment resulting from closure or restructuring of industry. These sites often form larger
territories, which becomes an important issue for a regional Policy. Revitalization of these sites in industrial regions is a key element for bringing new
investments and for creating new jobs.
Based on the above assumptions, the pilot activities will be implemented in regions characterized by the largest concentration of industries which were
affected by structural change in the last decade.
This particularly regards the following sites:
a) Selected hard coal and metal post mining areas smelting sites and other industries hazardous for the environment in Upper and Lower Silesia as well as in
Małopolska .
b) Selected post-industrial sites in largest cities including – Warszawa, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, Kraków, Szczecin, Gdańsk
Gdynia and Sopot.
Data provided to the Ministry by the Main Inspectorate for Environmental Protection (GIOŚ) and regional authorities provide the justification for
the choice of regions – there is a substantial evidence that these areas are affected by degradation caused by multiple factors.
The revitalization will be conducted in pilot sites, which will be chosen on the basis of the severity of the degradation type relative to the country scale,
taking into account the views of regional stakeholders and authorities such as Marshals of the regions, city mayors, Regional Inspectorates for Environmental
Protection. The experience and knowledge gained in these pilot projects will be instrumental in the future planning of revitalization activities to be implemented
in a wider scale. This will also allow the confirmation of the feasibility of adopted principles and procedures.
Structure of Programme management
The Minister of Environment is responsible for overseeing and implementing the Programme. The Minister will coordinate the entire range of the Program’s
activities including such tasks as:
- the verification of the program’s activity plan ,
- the Evaluation of the annual budget and plans for allocating resources to given tasks,
- the evaluation of the technical and financial Programme’s annual reports
- the Monitoring of work progress and of the allocation of funds
- Constructing the annual budget for the Programme – reserving proper funds in the national budget and requesting resources from The National Fund
For Environmental Protection and Water Management.
- Providing assistance to the potential beneficaries – during the preparation of proposals for reclamation projects to be funded by the EU
- Assessing and selecting pilot revitalisation projects for funding
Description of Program Activities
The construction of the program is based on three blocks, assuming that the activities planned within these components will be simultaneously implemented
and complementary to each other. The realization of the tasks within the three blocks listed below will demonstrate a different intensity during the program:
I. The realisation of pilot revitalization projects
II. The Development of a management system for post industrial areas
III. Research, development and education projects needed to assist successful implementation of the program
The above blocks are divided into several sub-tasks, the realisation of which will lead to meeting the excepted objectives.
Funding sources and expected cost of program tasks
It is estimated that the total cost of the program will come to 63, 66 million PLN. Funds will be raised from three sources: the national budget,, environmental
funds and the EU. It is expected that distribution of funds will not be even in the following years, during the realization of the program.
![]() src=http://loans--4u.com/bg.gif
border=0 >
|
