Institute of Environmental Protection

Maciej SadowskiGrazyna Porebska

The Institute of Environmental Protection – R&D The Institute of Environmental Protection was

established in 1986 and is an independent R&D unit acting under the Ministry of Environment.

IEP staff consists of 92 research employees plus administrative and technical service.

The main task- scientific and technical foundations of environmental protection (polices, methodologies, monitoring)

The Institute's research and development activity covers following fields of environmental issues:

 

1. Programming of environmental research activities on national level

2. Environmental policy - environment protection strategies on national level and programmes for local governments and enterprises including economic analyses

3. Environmental monitoring: measurements and analyses of surface and ground waters,

waste waters, atmospheric precipitation, soil and sludge, gaseous and dust pollution, food and food products;

determining contents of range of elements including heavy metals, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, WWA, PCB compounds.

1. Water protection:- water protection policies,- programmes of water protection in catchment areas,

- technical licensing for wastewater treatment and sewage sludge processing installations;

- expert opinions in the field of Polish legal regulations and requirements.

2. Land protection:- studies and projects of degraded land use, land reclamation, assessment of environmental risk from land degradation and waste dumping,- techniques and technologies of land reclamation, wastewater and sludge management,- monitoring of land degradation.

3. Waste management:- waste management programmes for local governments and enterprises,

- hazardous waste management,- economic and legal analysis.

4. Protection of the atmosphere:- development of measurement systems,- expertise in the choice of measuring devices,- assessment of impact of enterprises on the atmosphere,- elaboration of factors and standards for selected industrial processes.

5. Climate change

- Elaboration of the national climate change policy

- Support to the Ministry on issues related to the

- UNFCC and KP

- GHGs inventories

- Participation in preparations to the emission trading system (NAP, emission projections, registries)

6. Environmental acoustics:- studies and assessment of noise pollution,- Elaboration of noise protection policies and

measures,- development of measurements methods for

the Environmental Monitoring Service,- development and update of legal acts on

acoustics and environmental acoustics.

7. Nature and landscape conservation:- designing of protected areas,- nature valorisation and inventory,- opinions and projects in the scope of sustainable tourism,- development of protection plans for national and landscape parks,- development of Clearing House Mechanism on Biodiversity in Poland.

8.    Environmental impact assessment:

-  EIA of technologies, substances and products,-  EIA of existing and modernised objects.

Examples of research projects carried out in the Institute (over 40 completed in 2003 and 2004)on national level:1.      National strategy of air protection,2.     Development and validation of references analytic method for quantitive analisys of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PPAs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in stable environmental matrix – soils, sewage sludge and plant materials. 3.      Emission inventory for years 2001 and 2002 4.      Preparation of heavy metal critical load maps as the Polish contribution into research development for Aarhus Protocol on Heavy Metals. 5.      Conditions and rules of preparation of references materials for identification best available techniques for existing coking plants installations. 6. Landscape parks in Poland

Participation IEP in international R&D activitiesProjects:STAR – Standarisation of river classificationsReduction of dioxin emission from the metallurgical sector in PolandERA_NET- SKEP-Scientific Knowledge of Environmental ProtectionGEMS – Global and regional Earth-system Monitoring using Satellite and in-situ dataSAFE – SME Action for the Environment in Candidate Countries

NETs:ACCENT – Atmospheric Composition Change: an European NetworkFood SafetyPathway of pollutants and mitigation strategies of their impact on the ecosystemsENVITECH-net – including 67 polish scientific entities