Penalties imposed for pollution and environmental damage have increased. This is regulated by the amendments to the Ordinance on the type, amount and procedure for the imposition of penalties for environmental damage or pollution above the permissible standards and/or in case of non-compliance with the set emission standards and limits, adopted by the government and published today. The new texts set higher penalties for infringements by sole traders and legal entities.

The changes reflect inflationary developments and respect the polluter-pays principle. The regulation imposes a 50% increase in the amount of individual fines for most substances and in some cases the increase is 100%.

The current penalties were introduced in 2011 and since then their level has not been updated and is disproportionate to the risk of the infringements concerned. The expert analysis of MОEW has shown that the low penalties have no real effect on violators, who have no problem paying them regularly and not taking measures to stop the pollution. Thus, low fines lead to an increase in infringements and, consequently, to damage to environmental components - air, atmosphere, water, soil, subsoil, landscape, natural sites, mineral diversity, biodiversity and its elements. This also leads to a real danger to human life and health.

The Ordinance contains four annexes, each of which includes a table describing the amounts of the penalties, including single penalties, as follows:

• Annex 1 to Article 19(4) - Polluting substances and indicators and unit amounts of penalties for pollution of surface waters and water bodies;
• Annex 2 to Art. 20(3) - Harmful substances (pollutants) and unit penalty amounts for air pollution;
• Annex 3 to Article 20(6) - Unit amounts of penalties for odour-causing substances;
• Annex 4 to Article 21(4) - Types of pollutants and soil damage and unit amounts of penalties.

The Ordinance introduces formulas for calculating penalties for measured concentrations above the established daily and annual average emission limits. The changes to the part on air quality infringements are in line with the European Directive on industrial emissions.

These formulas shall be introduced in Annex 2 to Art. 20(3) of the Ordinance for the calculation of penalties for measured concentrations above the established emission limits (ELs), which are defined as daily and annual averages. The need derives from the European Commission Implementing Decisions establishing Best Available Techniques (under Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions). Some of these Decisions introduce standards - emission levels related to best available techniques defined as daily and annual averages, while the current national legislation lacks standards for such periods. In this respect, two new formulas are added in point 2.3 of Annex 2 to the Ordinance to enable the calculation of penalties by the control authorities for measured concentrations above the established daily and annual average ELs.

The regulatory changes also introduce more severe penalties in cases of repeated offences for acts for which a single sanction is imposed - in this case the penalty is double. The purpose of this amendment is to achieve a deterrent effect on offenders.

The new texts in the Government Decree on the amendments to the Ordinance on the type, amount and procedure for the imposition of penalties for environmental damage or pollution above the permissible standards and/or in case of non-compliance with the set emission standards and limits can be found in the Legal Information System of the Council of Ministers at https://pris.government.bg/document/f8051e88ff43f1200b8c0b3661fc1352.