Will entrepreneurs incur additional costs for using protective measures?
Ladies and Gentlemen, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced entrepreneurs to introduce personal protective equipment in their businesses, including by providing disinfectants for employees, customers and contractors.
According to the opinion presented by the Ministry of Climate, entrepreneurs will be obliged to bear additional costs resulting from the introduction of disinfectants into the air.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 17 April 2001 - Environmental Protection Law (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1219), the release of gases and liquids into the air is subject to an environmental fee.
The amount of this fee is determined by the entrepreneur based on the annual actual emissions, specified in the report referred to in Art. 7 paragraph 1 of the Act of 17 July 2009 on the system for managing emissions of greenhouse gases and other substances (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1077).
According to the Ministry of Climate, the environmental fee also covers the unorganized release of disinfectants into the air (VOC emissions), as no legal provision has been introduced that would exempt businesses from paying fees for releasing gases or dust into the air, including disinfectants. In particular, none of the anti-crisis shields provide for such an exemption. To ensure that businesses' use of disinfectants does not result in additional fees, it is necessary to appropriately regulate this issue by law.
The authority competent for the above-mentioned fee is the Marshal's Office competent for the place of registration of the entrepreneur.
Businesses are required to pay the environmental fee for a given calendar year by March 31st of the following year. The deadline for paying the fees for 2020 is approaching. Until a regulation is introduced exempting businesses from the obligation to include disinfectants in calculating the environmental fee, businesses will be obligated to pay this fee.
This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a source of law or binding opinion.
