Low Emission Zones and Clean Transport Zones in Poland – difficult beginnings and forecasts

Sławomir Pawłowski

Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

Abstract

The issue of air protection against pollution has recently become more and more relevant. Mechanical vehicles powered by internal combustion engines,
mainly equipped with older diesel engines, have a significant share in this negative impact. An expression of counteracting the term trend is limiting their entry to areas where the greatest accumulation of poisonous nitrogen
oxides and other harmful substances occurs. These areas were introduced at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries in European metropolises and not only were called Low Emission Zones. Meanwhile, national solutions did not take this trend into account for a long time, despite the obligations arising from EU law. It was only in 2018 that municipalities could adopt Clean Transport Zones as acts of local law. The aim of the study is to indicate legal and factual problems related to their establishment, which are largely the result of too rigorously defined substantive legal conditions. The biggest objection that can be made to the current regulation is the emphasis on zero emissions instead of considering a progressive approach in the initial period. STC is in fact the equivalent of Clean Air Zones, which currently appear to a small extent in global metropolises. Hence, the establishment of low-emission zones requires flexibility, and the lack of national regulations in several areas may result in the lack of interest of municipalities in their implementation.

Keywords:

local government law, smog, zones, transport, Clean Air Zones