Environmental Charges Act provides the basis for the right to apply charges for the exploitation and pollution of natural resources.
The pollution charge may be replaced by environmental investment, if the polluter applies environmental protection measures which guarantee at least a 15% reduction of pollutants or waste within the next three years.
Concerning the environment, a number of EU rules and standards have also been established.
The Earth's crust and forestry
Mineral resources extraction and exploitation is regulated by the Earth's Crust Act and the Mining Act. From the legal acts applicable to oil shale, the Ambient Air Protection Act and the Waste Act are also important, regulating the use of oil shale in combustion plants and in the production of oil. Mineral resources extraction permits in a mineral deposit of national importance, transboundary water bodies, territorial and inland seas, and in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Estonia are granted by the Ministry of the Environment. Extraction permits in a deposit of local importance are granted by the Environmental Board.
The directing of forestry, forest planning and management, and compensating the damage caused to the environment is regulated by the
From 1 January 2008, it is forbidden to deposit unsorted municipal waste in landfills, which means that waste must be collected separately. The requirement for sorting municipal waste is regulated by the Waste Act. Waste sorting is organised by local governments that also provide relevant information to residents.
The grounds for conditioning waste handling are principles of the environmental strategy: sustainable development, the prevention and avoidance of environmental damages, the integration of waste handling with other fields of life and with the exploitation of natural resources.
Chemicals and hazardous waste
In order to handle hazardous waste (collection, transport, recovery, and disposal), the company has to have a hazardous waste handling license that is granted by the Environmental Board. For collecting hazardous waste from residents, the local government shall place collection containers.
The organisation of handling chemicals and restriction of economic activity related to handling chemicals is regulated by the Chemicals Act, which specifies the main safety requirements for handling and the procedure for notification of chemicals.
Additional information on chemicals can be obtained from the chemical safety section of the Health Board:
Water needs protection, above all, from the pollution generated by human activity. The Water Act regulates the protection of water bodies and aquifers and the protection of the catchment areas of water bodies (areas that feed water bodies) against pollution.
In case of special use of water, a permit for special use of water is required and a fee for special use shall be paid in order to compensate for the damages generated to the state of water or a water body when using it.
Air and protection from noise
The Ambient Air Protection Act regulates activity that includes chemical or physical impact to the ambient air, damaging the ozone layer, or generating factors causing climate change.
The requirements on noise in the ambient air are specified by the Ambient Air Protection Act and Public Health Act, pursuant to which standard noise levels, requirements specified for plans and the conditions for preparing a strategic noise map have been established.
Environmental Inspectorate is a state authority in the area of government of the Ministry of the Environment, which coordinates and executes supervision in the field of exploitation of the natural environment and natural resources, applying the enforcement powers of the state in the cases provided for by law. In Estonia, environmental supervision is carried out by several other authorities and institutions, such as the Land Board, local governments, the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, the Tax and Customs Board, etc., but the Environmental Inspectorate alone carries out supervision and conducts proceedings in the violations of law in all environmental protection areas.
Businesses are free to go beyond the minimum environmental legal requirements at their own initiative.
Permits and licenses
An environmental charge is applied to the following activities related to environmental exploitation:
- regeneration cutting of a forest stand;
- extraction of mineral resources;
- water abstraction;
- emission of pollutants into ambient air, water bodies, groundwater, or soil;
- waste disposal by deposit in landfills or other activities which result in the release of waste into the environment.
An environmental charge must be paid by everyone who extracts natural resources, emits pollutants into the environment, or disposes of waste. Companies must apply for a permit for the named activity (e.g. mining, exploitation of water, etc.).
Environmental Permits Information System is an online document management system, the purpose of which is to guarantee the uniform proceeding of environmental permits, enabling one to study and analyse the environmental exploitation taking place based on the existing environmental permits.
Environmental Investment Centre offers support and grants to companies, aimed at environmental protection investments and development of projects promoting sustainability and regeneration of the environment.