In the legislation on air protection in the Czech Republic, adopted in September 2012, when compared with the original legislation from 2002, there were changes mainly due to the creation of three new laws, namely Act No. 201/2012 Coll., on air protection (hereinafter referred to as "the Air Protection Act"), Act No. 73/2012 Coll., on substances that damage the ozone layer and on fluorinated greenhouse gases (hereinafter only "Act No. 73/2012") and Act No. 383/2012 Coll. on the conditions for trading in allowances for greenhouse gas emissions.
The Air Protection Act focuses primarily on the protection of external air quality in the troposphere, on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport fuels, on smog situations, introduces low-emission zones and individual access to operators of stationary sources of air pollution. The latest legislation also fundamentally changed the existing "categorization" of stationary sources of air pollution, into sources listed in Annex No. 2 of the Act and non-listed ones. Compared to the previous law, there is no provision for protection against light pollution. The CEI's control scope was expanded to include inspections of compliance with the obligations of operators of less significant stationary sources, sources not listed in Annex No. 2 to the Air Protection Act, which were classified in the category of small sources according to the previous legislation.
Act No. 73/2012 Coll. regulates the rights and obligations of legal entities and natural persons, both entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs, when dealing with regulated substances and selected fluorinated greenhouse gases, as well as with products that contain these substances.
According to the mentioned legal standards, the Czech Environmental Inspectorate in the field of air protection oversees compliance with all obligations of operators of stationary sources of air pollution, supervises the activities of authorized/certified persons, selected obligations of producers, importers and exporters of biofuels, imposes corrective measures, discusses misdemeanors and administrative offenses (fines, suspension of operations). The inspectorate controls persons in the area of compliance with obligations during installation, service, maintenance, operation, recovery, recycling and regeneration of equipment that contains regulated substances and fluorinated greenhouse gases. An integral part of the protection of the Earth's climate system, in which the CEI participates to a significant degree through control activities, is also protection against the emissions of other greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, via the system of trading in allowances for greenhouse gas emissions. Control and surveillance activities are carried out by inspectors of the Air Protection Unit of territorial inspectorates and inspectors of the Air Protection Unit of the Headquarters of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate in accordance with the applicable legislation.
The CEI is also entrusted by the Agricultural Land Fund with the administration of the fee for the production and import of regulated substances and products containing them. The fee is based on the quantity of the controlled substance in kilograms. The rate is CZK 400 per kilogram of regulated substance, the fee is the product of the base and the rate. The taxpayer is then every producer and importer of regulated substances and products that contain them.
The fee is due by April 30 of the year following the calendar year in which the fee obligation arose. The payment is made to the CEI account number: 106016-9126101/0710. The variable symbol is the identification number (ID number) of the taxpayer.
All obligations that apply to the fee for regulated substances are listed in § 6 of the Agricultural Land Fund. In the event of non-payment of the fee, the fee is assessed by the Czech Environmental Inspectorate, as the administrator of the fee, including interest on late payment in accordance with the Tax Code. If the taxpayer does not pay the interest due to the delay within the specified period, the CEI proceeds to its recovery.
Part of the control activities in the areas of air protection, the ozone layer and the Earth's climate system are also control analyzes and measurements, which are provided by CEI's own measuring and analytical technology.