Special municipal environmental protection support programmes: problem aspects of legal regulation

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas aplinkos apsaugos finansavimo vietiniu (savivaldybių) lygiu klausimas. Pagal galiojantį teisinį reguliavimą aplinkos apsaugos priemones Lietuvoje finansuoja gamtos išteklių naudotojai, valstybė ir savivaldybės. Savivaldybių specialiosios aplinkos apsaugos rėmimo programos (SAARSP) valstybiniu lygiu yra papildomas aplinkos apsaugos finansavimo šaltinis, turintis prioritetinę reikšmę savivaldybėse. Straipsnyje analizuojami pagrindiniai SAARSP šaltiniai, programos lėšų naudojimo kryptys bei tvarka, atskleidžiami SAARSP teisinio reguliavimo probleminiai aspektai bei siūlomi galimi jų sprendimo būdai. Dėmesio skiriama ir SAARSP lėšų naudojimo kontrolės klausimams.Public function is carried out by all state and local institutions. The article deals with the question of legal regulation of financing of environmental protection measures at the local level in Lithuania. The current legislation states that the environmental protection shall be financed by the users of natural resources, the state government and the local governments. State and municipality funding for significant environment protection measures is allocated in accordance with the priority directions and programmes determined by the government. According to the Environmental Protection Act (Art. 30), the funds of the Special Municipal Environmental Protection Support Programmes as well as the Special Environmental Protection Programme implemented by the Ministry of Environment shall be supplementary sources of funding of environmental protection. The main sources of income of special programmes (such as environmental pollution tax, tax for utilisation of state natural resources, tax for use of wild animals, etc.), as well as the main trends and the order of usage of the funds of special programmes, are analysed in the article. The problem aspects of the legal regulation of special programmes (such as nontransmit of the increased environmental pollution tax to programmes, etc.) are raised in the article, too. Special attention is given to the question of control for usage of the means of special programmes. The law on the special programmes for the support of environmental protection of municipalities as well as other legal acts define a wide spectrum for the use of these funds, therefore, without effective control of allocation of funds and their use a part of funds are not distributed or are used inefficiently. The Ministry of Environment as the main control institution does not have sufficient information about the measures implemented within the special programmes for the support of environmental protection of municipalities and the funds used by those programmes, therefore, it cannot be sure if all the funds are used for the measures defined by the law. It is necessary to enhance a positive impact on the environment brought about by the special programmes for the support of environmental protection of municipalities, to ensure the publicity of allocation of funds and more efficient control of the use of funds