“In order to address the negative phenomenon of illegal waste abandonment and in response to social expectations, we have proposed a package of criminal sanctions aimed at environmental criminals,” says Minister of Climate and Environment, Michał Kurtyka.

Amendments to the Criminal Code

Changes include amendment of part of the provisions of Chapter XXII of the Criminal Code, including Article 183, in which environmental offences have been codified. As amended, in the case of unlawful storage, disposal, treatment, recovery, disposal and transport of waste which may endanger human health or life or cause significant deterioration in the quality of water, air, land surface or destruction in a plant or animal world, the term imprisonment is to be changed from the range of three months to five years to the range of from one year to 10 years.

The proposed amendments also provide for an increase of penalty to the limits of from one to 10 years of imprisonment (instead of the current three months to five years) for illegal shipments of waste from abroad. The level of penalties for acts involving illegal shipment of hazardous waste from abroad will also be strengthened. The proposed change in this respect defines a period of imprisonment of between two and 12 years (instead of the current six months to eight years).

At the same time, the proposal sets a new limit for penalties for the acts in question, committed by the perpetrator's unintentional misconduct, i.e. it indicates that such prohibited acts could be punishable by imprisonment of up to five years (the current wording of the Criminal Code indicates a penalty of two years).

The Ministry of Climate and Environment also proposes to amend the provisions of Article 185, which codifies acts of a qualified nature, providing an increased framework of penalties for acts (including illegal waste treatment) which result in:

• the destruction in a plant or animal world in a significant size or significant deterioration in the quality of water, air or land, which is currently punishable by penalties of between six months and eight years. The amendment increases the limits of the penalty by indicating that such offender is punishable by a custodial sentence of between two and 12 years;
• serious harm to human health – currently punishable with penalties of between one and 10 years. The amendment increases the limits of the penalty by indicating that such offender is punishable by a custodial sentence of between two years and 15 years;
• death of a person or serious injury to many people – currently punishable with penalties of between two and 12 years. The amendment increases the limits of the penalty by indicating that such offender is punishable by a custodial sentence of between two and 15 years or by imprisonment of 25 years.

“One of the key changes is strengthening the punishment of the perpetrators of environmental crime. This act will be punishable with as much as 25 years of imprisonment. The severity of the sentence must be appropriate to the offence,” highlights Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, Jacek Ozdoba.

Moreover, the amendment to be made concerns changes to Article 182 of the Criminal Code, which codifies environmental crime as acts of water, air or earth contamination by a substance or ionising radiation in such a quantity or in such a form as to endanger human life or health or to cause a significant reduction in the quality of water, air or surface of the earth or the destruction in a plant or animal world of a significant size. The amendment will introduce a new criminal offence limit, i.e. from one year to 10 years (it is currently punishable with a penalty of between three months and five years).

Articles 181 and 186 of the Criminal Code were also included in the amendment. Changes to these provisions are supposed to organise and harmonise the attitude towards offences identified therein. 

Fine for the benefit of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management

According to Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, Jacek Ozdoba, the cost of managing abandoned waste constitutes an acute problem for the state budget and the budget of local authorities.

“These charges often amount to several tens of millions of Polish zlotys. Therefore, proposed changes include also the imposition of an obligation on the perpetrators of environmental crime to pay a fine for the benefit of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in the amount of from 10,000 to 10,000,000 zlotys. These funds will not only be used to remove the effects of criminal activity, but will also fund programmes aimed at improving air quality in Poland,” he points out.

Educational mechanism

As highlighted by the Minister of Climate and Environment, Michał Kurtyka, the proposed changes do not concern only the tightening of penalties.

“These changes are of a systemic nature, which, in addition to the repressive effect of the sentence on the perpetrator, should also have educational aspect,” notes the minister.

That is why the draft legislation plans to introduce a mechanism to activate environmental criminals to remove the negative effects of their acts.

“We want criminals who have illegally collected waste to have it removed and properly disposed at their cost. The possibility of applying to the perpetrators of acts - who have removed the negative effects of their criminal activity - extraordinary leniency and even deviating from applying the punishment is to be such an incentive to remedy the damage caused,” indicates Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, Jacek Ozdoba.

Minister Kurtyka adds that the proposed changes to the provisions of law are also intended to lead to an imminent penalty in the case of crimes related to the illegal shipment of hazardous waste from abroad.

Establishment of the Department for the Fight Against Environmental Crime in the Chief Environmental Protection Inspectorate

“There is no doubt that the amendment to law itself is not enough to effectively discourage perpetrators from committing environmental offences. Parallel action is needed to increase their detection. Therefore, the Department for the Fight Against Environmental Crime has been established in the Chief Environmental Protection Inspectorate, whose main task is to coordinate inspection activities in the fight against environmental crime, in cooperation with law enforcement authorities, including the police, which has identified as a priority in its activities the intensification of actions in this area. In addition, in February this year similar cells were created in the entire country in the voivodeship environmental protection inspectorates,” announces Deputy Minister Jacek Ozdoba.

Moreover, in order for the inspection to become a specialised law enforcement partner for the conduct of environmental crime cases, this amendment also proposes changes to the Act on Environmental Protection Inspection, which will strengthen the competence to detect environmental crime and offences, i.e. to provide the possibility of carrying out operational follow-up activities.

Amendments to the Code of Offences

In addition to the above amendments, the draft law will also include an amendment to the Code of Offences. Changes will cover, among others:

• article 82 §3, which states that anyone who, in the forest, within the wooded area, in the meadow, peatland and heath, as well as within a distance of up to 100 m from them, set fire outside the places designated for that purpose or smokes tobacco – except hard-surfaced roads and places designated for the stay of people – commits an offence. The amendment concerns the extension of the catalogue of penalties by adding a penalty of the restriction of liberty. In addition, §3a will be added to this Article to indicate a mandatory judgement in such situations of an educational measure in the form of an obligation to restore to a previous state;
• article 162 §1, which indicates that any person who pollutes the soil or water in forests, or who expels stones, rubbish, scrap, carrion or other impurities into the forest, or otherwise scrapes the forest, commits an offence. The amendment concerns the extension of the catalogue of penalties by adding a penalty of the restriction of liberty and an increase in the amount of the fine that can be imposed to 5,000 zlotys;
• article 162 §2, which states that whoever buries, dumps, landslips or otherwise stores waste in the forest, commits an offence. The amendment concerns the extension of the catalogue of penalties by adding a penalty of the restriction of liberty and an increase in the amount of the fine that can be imposed to 5,000 zlotys; In the case of article 162 of the Code of Offences, a mandatory judgement of an educational measure in the form of an obligation to restore to a previous state is introduced in such situations;

Amendment of the Act on Environmental Protection

Moreover, the Act on Environmental Protection is enlarged with a new Article 130a, which introduces a new category of offence, indicating that whoever is burning the meadows, pastures, unutilised areas, ditches, roadside lanes, railway, cane or rushes is punishable by detention, restriction of liberty or fine of up to 30,000 zlotys. This provision also introduces an obligation to restore the previous state, which was imposed in the event of the perpetrators of the above-mentioned offence being punished.