By the end of 2024, the establishment of the Environmental Controls Sector is recommended, with responsibilities for inspections in waste management facilities and units operating in areas under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment.
The unit will be staffed with 15 inspectors, partially meeting the long-standing demand of the Department of Environment personnel for a radical change and revision of the framework governing environmental inspections and enforcement of environmental legislation provisions.
This is one of the most significant innovations of Nikos Christodoulides’ governance to address a significant gap that has existed for decades.
It began with the approval by the Cabinet in November 2023 of the proposal for the establishment of the Environmental Controls Sector.
This Sector, which falls under the Department of Environment, will be responsible for inspections and audits in waste management units and units operating in areas under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment. It will be staffed by 10 Environmental Officers and five technicians by the end of 2024, with further expansion expected in the coming years.
Nikos Christodoulides’ governance program commits to the “creation and staffing of a specialized Environmental Control Service, which will oversee the implementation of the entire spectrum of environmental legislation, ensuring the protection of citizens from health and welfare risks arising from environmental degradation.”
As part of the creation of the new General Directorate of Environment and its transformation into the General Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment entrusted the responsibility for creating a specialized Environmental Control Service to the new General Directorate of Environment.
It even submitted a request to the Ministry of Finance for the creation of 55 new inspector positions.
The Director of the Service will be appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment as the Chief Inspector, who is legally responsible for the implementation of the laws. It includes five Support Directorate staff (IT/Database, Communication, Compliance Campaigns, and Legal Support) and five Archive and Accounting staff.
Moreover, three thematic branches of operation for the specialized Environmental Control Service were proposed:
- The Air and Industry Branch (14 staff) covering industrial emissions, large-scale combustion facilities, air emissions, medium-sized combustion installations, and regulations for unlicensed facilities.
- The Waste and Resources Branch (16 staff) covering waste management facilities, waste collectors/transporters, waste disposal, livestock farming, sewage treatment plants, and protection of water and soil.
- The Branch of Environmental Impacts, Pollution Rights Distribution, and Collective Systems (15 staff) covering opinions, reasoned findings, collective systems, and pollution rights distribution.
According to a study conducted in 2017-18 with technical assistance from the EU and carried out by experts with over 30 years of experience from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), the situation regarding the regulatory control system was deemed “critical.”
Staff struggles to carry out their work with far fewer manpower units than the workload demands, with multiple duties and constant changes in priorities, resulting in inadequate inspections/audits, problems in the full implementation of EU environmental acquis and national legislation, and insufficient environmental protection.
Experts sounded the alarm that the continuation of the current system could result in the EU imposing high fines on the Republic of Cyprus, as there is an increased risk of failure to comply with the requirements of the EU environmental acquis.
Applying the principle of “the polluter pays”
The objectives of the Environmental Control Service should be the protection of the environment, compliance with national environmental legislation and environmental acquis, combating environmental crime, addressing emergencies, and responding to society’s demands for a good quality of life.
The need also arises from the implementation of the zero pollution strategy, which is a pillar of the Green Deal.
The establishment of the new Service must ensure principles such as independence, impartiality, proportionality, equality, etc.
The Service will have a compliance branch responsible for informative campaigns, training of all involved parties, consultation with businesses to achieve compliance with the law.
Adequate resources, a framework, legal tools, and established cooperation with the police, legal services, customs, fire department, and environmental licensing (EP) should also be provided.
Staffing plans for the Service must ensure that inspectors possess all necessary knowledge to conduct inspections and, importantly, are available 24/7 for emergencies and overtime in cases of emergencies and violations that usually occur outside regular working hours.
Additionally, qualifications, experience, ethics, honesty, etc., should be seriously considered in the selection of inspectors.
Due to the increasing danger and frequency of environmental crime cases, the Service requires institutionalized procedures and collaboration with the Police, assisting in enforcement (issuing extrajudicial decisions, filing charges), as well as ensuring inspectors’ safety, conducting campaigns, and investigating environmental crimes.
Additionally, the Legal Service should appoint a legal officer to assist the Service in evidence collection, preparing charges, and ensuring proper implementation and enforcement of the law.
By applying the principle of “the polluter pays,” the cost of the majority of inspections will be covered by fees imposed on facilities and activities.
Additionally, a significant portion of the cost for services such as education campaigns, compliance, targeted inspections, complaint investigations, pollution incident investigations, and emergency response will be balanced by income from extrajudicial settlements, administrative fines, and monetary penalties following convictions.
Current situation
Inspections for compliance with environmental legislation (covering 8-10 laws and dozens of regulations and decrees) and ensuring environmental protection are conducted by officials and technicians of the Department of Environment located in the 4 district offices. Inspectors appointed by the Minister perform multiple duties such as licensing, impact assessment for projects, handling other matters (meetings, Parliament, etc.).
There is not a single individual whose sole responsibility is inspections. As a result, inspectors may not be adequately trained and qualified, and they lack the opportunity to specialize and acquire the skills necessary for such a challenging task with enhanced powers from the laws.
Moreover, there is no stability, consistency, and continuity in violation cases, as handling cases may involve different inspectors or significant time lapses due to other priorities, resulting in ongoing violations.
Inspectors lack security and support from a legal officer in the difficult task of combating offenses, and necessary legal tools are not provided. Additionally, inspectors face threats, abuse, and pressure in carrying out their duties, resulting in departmental staff fearing to conduct on-site inspections and issue extrajudicial decisions.
Reassessment of policy is essential
Based on all the above, coupled with Cyprus being the only EU country without organized control bodies, a government reassessment of the policy announced pre-election is deemed necessary within the environmental and social framework.
Furthermore, due to the inability to control, the issue of unfair competition arises between compliant businesses, resulting in higher costs than those violating the laws.
