CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Martin Řanda, Jan Lexa, Vít Fišer and Adam Vopelka, act legal
Fees for the landfilling of waste (Act No 541/2020 Coll, on Waste, as amended) These are paid by landfill operators, who subse- quently incorporate them into the waste disposal price charged to the waste producers. Fees for removing land from the Agricultural Land Fund (Act No 334/1992 Coll, on Agricultural Land Fund Protection, as amended) The fees’ amount depends on the quality of the land and the extent of the removal. Fees for the removal of forest land (Act No 289/1995 Coll, on Forests, as amended) These are paid for the conversion of forest land to purposes other than fulfilling forest functions. Fees for regulated substances (Act No 73/2012 Coll, on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer and on Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases, as amended) These are imposed on producers and importers of regulated substances (ozone-depleting substances) and products containing them. Mining-related fees/fees related to mined minerals (Act No 44/1988 Coll, on the Protection and Utilisation of Mineral Resources) The entity carrying out the mining activity must pay a fee based on the quantity and, where applicable, the type of mineral extracted. This varies for “exclusive deposits” and “reserved minerals”. 6.3 Incentives, Exemptions and Penalties The Czech legal framework incorporates several measures designed to encourage compliance with the environmental protection regulations and to pun- ish defiance. Positive Incentives The State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic (Act No 388/1991 Coll, on the State Environmental Fund, as amended) provides subsidies and financial support for projects aimed at environmental protec- tion, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Imple- mentation is frequently tied to EU cohesion policy instruments (eg, Operational Programme Environ- ment).
burning fuels increases with consumption, these taxes also have an environmental impact, affecting climate change, air quality and energy efficiency. In the Czech Republic, the so-called environmental tax is commonly referred to as the “emission fee”, and is regulated by Act No 542/2020 Coll, on End-of- Life Products. This fee applies when importing certain types of vehicles from abroad into the Czech Repub- lic, or when there is a change of owner or operator of such a vehicle, if the vehicle does not meet any emission standards or complies only with the EURO 1 or EURO 2 vehicle emissions standards. The fee is payable upon submitting an application to register the vehicle in the road vehicle registry. Other Key Fees Individual environmental protection regulations also stipulate that certain fees must be paid for activities that may impact the environment. These include the following. Air pollution fees (Act No 201/2012 Coll, on Air Protection, as amended) These are paid by operators of stationary sources of air pollution listed in the Annex to the Act. Low-emission fees (Act No 201/2012 Coll, on Air Protection, as amended) Czech municipalities may establish low-emission zones in which the operation of motor vehicles on roads is restricted in order to reduce air pollution from transport. At the same time, municipalities may intro- duce low-emission fees for such zones, whereby entry into the zones is permitted only for vehicles whose operators or drivers have paid the respective fee. Waste water and groundwater fees These include: • fees for the discharge of waste water into surface waters; • fees for the authorised discharge of waste water into groundwater; and • fees for abstracting groundwater. See Act No 254/2001 Coll, the Water Act, as amended.
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