President Zuzana Caputova has vetoed an amendment to the law on climate protection and an amendment to the law on environmental impact assessment. During the renegotiation of the legislation in the National Council of the Slovak Republic, the President also proposed changes. In the justification of her decision, she pointed to the constitutional right to own property and the guarantee that expropriation or forced restriction of property rights is possible only to the extent necessary and in the public interest, on the basis of the law and for reasonable compensation. "However, according to the President, the law lacks any provision on adequate compensation for the restriction of the right to property and therefore the material condition of adequate compensation required by the Constitution cannot be said to be met, nor can the restriction of the right to property be said to be constitutionally consistent," the presidential spokesman said. The Head of State therefore proposes to delete this point of the legislative amendment when it is renegotiated. The new law on air protection from the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic aims to reduce the total amount of emissions released into the air. At the same time, it is intended to guarantee an increase in air quality and to limit the amount of emissions directly at the source. It establishes the permissible level of air pollution in the country, defines the competencies of air protection authorities, determines obligations and prohibitions for natural and legal persons, and corrects air quality monitoring and assessment. It also takes into account the local approach to air quality management. Municipalities could prohibit selected specific activities in their territory. They would also gain the power to create low emission zones with the possibility to restrict road traffic. It is to introduce the possibility of control of individual combustion by the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate. It will also bring high fines for polluters, limit illegal imports of waste from abroad for the purpose of incineration and reduce the content of PM2.5 dust particles in the air, especially in the areas of transport, industry and heating of family houses.
Source:TASR
