Visit of the Working Group on the Air Quality Plan and Energy in Krakow

On 25-26 August this year, a meeting of the Working Group on the Air Quality Plan and Energy was held in Krakow, a great opportunity to present the actions undertaken in the Malopolska Region in terms of improving air quality and exchanging experiences with other regions in Poland.

During the visit, the actions taken by the Malopolska Region and the Malopolska municipalities in implementing the current Air Quality Plan for the Malopolska Region were presented. Representatives of the Voivodship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Krakow presented the conclusions of their monitoring carried out in municipalities regarding the implementation of remedial measures.  The Office of the City of Krakow, along with the Municipal Social Welfare Center in Krakow presented the available aid programs for replacing heating appliances and subsidies for the residents who incur increased heating costs. The pro-environmental actions of EDF Polska SA Krakow Branch and Protech Sp. z o. o. in Zator were presented. During the meeting, the impact of the automotive industry on air quality was also discussed.

During the discussions, representatives of offices and boiler producers discussed the lack of adequate legislation and actions at the national level. Attention was paid to the need for defining regulations for the quality parameters of solid fuels released for sale in Poland, for the technical parameters and emission of pollutants for solid fuel boilers. What is more, the participants discussed the social awareness of air pollution and the need for further education of the public.

The Working Group on the Air Quality Plan and Energy works at the General Directorate for Environmental Protection within the network of environmental authorities “Partnership: Environment for Development”. Its members include representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, the Marshal’s Offices, the General Directorate for Environmental Protection, the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection, experts on the subject of air quality.

Below, there are the presentations presented at the meeting:

 Presentation of EDF Polska SA Krakow Branch

Pro-environmental actions implemented by EDF Polska SA Krakow Branch

Implementation of the cooperation agreement on sustainable development by EDF Polska SA Krakow Branch

Practical use of art. 96 of the Environmental Law

Financial support of the City of Krakow for the replacement of heating devices

Financial support of the Municipal Social Welfare Center in Krakow resulting from increased heating costs of the premises

Presentation of Protech Sp. z o. o.

Activities of Protech Sp. z o. o.

Experiences of the Malopolska Region in the implementation of the Air Quality Plan

Integrated project LIFE “Implementation of the Air Quality Plan for the Malopolska Region – Malopolska in a healthy atmosphere”

Voivodship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection Krakow – cooperation with municipalities and control of the implementation of the provisions of the Air Quality Plan for the Malopolska Region

Implementing the Air Quality Plan for the Malopolska Region, as exemplified by the Municipality of Wadowice

The impact of motorization on air quality

Activities undertaken by the City of Krakow to reduce transport emissions

The requests of residents, non-governmental organizations and municipal authorities that should be included in the work of updating the Air Quality Plan have been collected. During the period from June 22 to July 29, requests were received from a total of 52 institutions, including 35 from municipalities, 13 from organizations and 4 from private individuals.

The comments largely concerned the necessity for designating the need for preparing and adopting an anti-smog resolution setting out the emission parameters for low-power boilers in the Malopolska Region in the Air Quality Plan. There have been comments on the lack of effective legal instruments that would allow residents to replace low-effective heating systems and those pointing out the lack of financial resources to undertake the replacements. The comments also concerned the phenomenon of illegal waste incineration in domestic heating systems, which is still widely observed throughout the region. This is due to insufficient control or lack of it in some municipalities, which results from the lack of knowledge concerning regulations or staffing difficulties.

Some of the municipalities for which no old boiler replacement was required in the previous Program of 2013 have requested to be included in the updated document and declared actions on low-emission abatement. On the other hand, some of the municipalities for which the current Program has set targets for reducing air emissions have requested a reduction in the scale of the assigned duties.

On September 12-22, there will be consultative meetings in the various regions of the region to present the assumptions of the new Program. Work on the preparation of the draft of the updated Air Quality Plan for the Malopolska Region will last until October this year. In November, official public consultation and the process of evaluating the document by the municipalities and counties will be held. The presentation of the resolution to the Sejmik of the Malopolska Region is scheduled for January 2017.

Summary of requests for updating the Air Quality Plan

The Malopolska Region has taken on providing a clear and transparent list of low-emission boilers and room heaters (e.g. fireplaces, stoves) that use solid fuels – coal or biomass. The list can include any device that has a laboratory test accredited for Class 5 compliance according to PN-EN 303-5:2012 standard or compliance with the requirements of the EU Commission Regulation 2015/1189 of 28 April 2015 (in the case of boilers) or the EU Commission Regulation 2015/1185 of 24 April 2015 (in the case of room heaters).

Additional conditions that must be met by the devices that will be included in the list:

• boilers, with the exception of gasifying boilers, must be fitted with an automatic fuel feeder,
• boilers must not have an emergency grate or components enabling mounting it,
• heating appliances operating with an electrostatic precipitator must not have the technical capacity to operate when the electrostatic precipitator is off.

Those submitting heating devices to the list should send their e-mails to powietrze@umwm.pl with the following:

1. a scanned completed and signed application for listing,
2. an electronic version or scan of the technical documentation and instructions for installers and users of the heating device,
3. a scan of the signed document issued by a relevant accredited body, including a report on pollutant emissions and thermal performance or seasonal energy efficiency,
4. one photo or a graphic depicting the heating device (jpg or png, 1200 × 1200 pixels)

Verification of the applications for registration will be conducted by employees of the Environmental Department of the Marshal’s Office of the Malopolska Region or outsourced experts.

The list is intended to serve the inhabitants and employees of municipalities in the correct choice of solid fuel heating appliances that meet the requirements of the co-financing programs and guarantee a significant reduction of harmful emissions into the air.

The regulations will be in force from September 1, 2016 and will replace the list of coal and biomass boilers that has been provided so far on the website powietrze.malopolska.pl/kotly.

Regulations for keeping the list of low-emission heating devices – effective from 01.09.2016

Application for entry into the list of low-emission heating devices

The Ministry of the Environment has developed the Code of for the Prevention of Odor Nuisance which aims to reduce the growing odor problem, taking into account the existing social and economic situation and the shortcomings in the existing legal regulations. This is a set of environmentally-friendly practices that can help reduce or eliminate the odor nuisance at different stages of the investment, reduce negative impacts on people and the environment, and improve the quality of life.

The Code was created for the needs of central administration, regional and local self-governments, and entrepreneurs. It includes, among other things, such methods of preventing and reducing odors as: the location of installations away from residential buildings, the use of such technical barriers as tree planting, review of the raw materials and materials used in the production process, and the use of the best available BAT techniques. The techniques of reducing and limiting emissions of odors are also important, such methods as filtration techniques, combustion, deodorization can be used.

The main sources of odor-active substances are broken down into sectors: waste management, water and sewage management, agriculture and food processing, where ways to prevent odor nuisance are outlined. The proper location, installation and site layout, compliance with the operating procedures, encapsulation, odor masking are just some of the proposed measures.

The draft Code for the prevention of odor nuisance on the website of the Ministry of the Environment

A total of 101 projects related to low emission reduction through the use of modern boilers for coal (sub-measure 4.4.3) were filed within the Regional Operational Program for the Malopolska Region from 24 June to 25 July 2016. The activities concern municipalities in 5 subregions: the Krakow Metropolitan Area, the Tarnów Subregion, the Sącz Subregion, the Podhale Region and the Western Malopolska Region. The total cost of heating replacement from all projects is over PLN 190 million, of which the requested EU subsidy is about PLN 147 million.

On the other hand, in the case of the measures involving the replacement of heat sources in individual households with modern boilers using biomass, gas and other fuels and the development of district heating networks (sub-measure 4.4.2), the total of 97 project charters were filed for municipalities in 5 subregions. The total cost of the actions is over PLN 222 million, of which PLN 162 million is the amount of the requested grant.

Call for project charters for measure 4.4.2

Call for project charters for measure 4.4.3