Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic

      Environmental investments data (data on investments in environment pollution control) are measured through annual statistical questionnaires. The data on tangible fixed assets are the sum of expenditures spent by reporting units on the acquisition of tangible fixed assets (by purchase or own activity), together with the total value of tangible fixed assets acquired free of charge, by transfer under respective laws and regulations, and by transfer from personal use to business.

      Waste management refers to activities focused on preventing waste generation, managing waste, and subsequent care for places where waste is deposited, as well as to checking these activities.

      Water management refers to all activities, which target the use, development and protection of water sources as well as protection against harmful effects of water.

Notes on tables

Tables 3-1 to 3-4. Protected areas

      Act No. 114/1992 Coll., of the Czech National Council, on Nature and Landscape Conservation distinguishes between 6 categories of especially protected areas:

• national parks and protected landscape areas - referred to as large protected areas, and
• national nature reserves, nature reserves, national nature monuments, and nature monuments referred to as small protected areas.

Table 3-5. Changes in land use (plantations)

      The differences between decreases/increases in agricultural and non-agricultural land are due to the updating of areas after mapping.

The figures shown in this table were provided by the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre.

Tables 3-6 and 3-7. Value of fixed assets acquired for environmental protection

      Environment pollution control projects include:

• water pollution control: waste water treatment plants, facilities designed to dispose of or reduce pollution in specific indicators, sludge treating, thickening and/or dewatering facilities, facilities designed to diminish negative impact of discharged waste water on the quality of water in water courses, facilities designed to improve the quality and self-purification capacity of water, construction of sewerage networks with end-of-pipe waste water treatment plants, facilities designed to use waste water without influence on the quality surface and ground water, equipment designed to monitor the quality of water;
• air pollution control and climate protection: removal of solid emissions, removal of gaseous emissions, environmental substitutions in the area of using different fuels and fluidized-bed combustion, substitution of existing polluters with facilities running on alternative energy sources, shift to technological processes with low or no emissions, programme improvement of the efficiency of energy in final consumption, equipment to monitor air pollution;
• environment-friendly management of waste: use and disposal of hazardous, municipal and other types of waste, decontamination of old landfills, equipment designed to monitor waste;
• nature and landscape conservation: land reclamation due to result of mining and quarrying activities and on land filling sites; protection of species and habitats; regeneration and tending of forests in national parks, protected landscape areas and other areas protected according to regulations on the protection of nature, which call for different management methods; protection against erosion, avalanche and fire, projects included in the programme of the revitalisation of river systems, and other similar measures;
• reduction of impact of physical factors on the environment: projects including the designing and applications of noise abatement equipment, anti-radon measures, measuring equipment, etc.

Tables 3-8 to 3-12. Emissions from air polluters and specific emissions of main pollutants

      Basic pollutants of primary concern, which are generated by combusting solid and liquid fuels and discharged into the air, comprise solids (fly-ash and solid particulate matter), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbons (C_xH_y).

      Their amounts discharged into the air are listed in the Register of Emissions and Air Polluters (Registr emisí a zdrojů znečišťujících ovzduší - REZZO), which keeps records of the following types of polluters broken down by their thermal outputs:

• REZZO 1: includes stationary fuel-burning systems more than 5 MW in thermal output, plus systems operated in especially important technological processes. The systems classified to this group are referred to as 'big polluters';
• REZZO 2: includes technological systems incorporating stationary fuel-burning equipment whose thermal output ranges from 0.2 to 5 MW, equipment of important technological processes, and coal mines and similar areas, where burning, evaporating or escaping of pollutants is possible. This group is referred to as 'medium-sized polluters';
• REZZO 3: includes local technological systems with stationary fuel-burning equipment whose thermal output is lower than 0.2 MW (with the exception of local furnaces used in flats, residential and weekend houses), production process equipment not falling into the category of big and medium-sized polluters, areas where work done can pollute the air, storage sites of fuel, raw materials, products, waste and captured emitted pollutants, and other facilities and activities polluting the air to a large extent. This group is referred to as 'small polluters';
• REZZO 4: mobile systems equipped with air-polluting combustion or other engines. This group includes especially road and rail motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft. It is referred to as 'mobile polluters'. Since 1995, the balance has been including emissions of solid and sulphur dioxide pollutants from transport.

Tables 3-13 and 3-14. Pollution at selected locations and background stations

      Pollution limit is the maximum permissible concentration (by weight) of a pollutant contained in the air.

      Permissible 24-hour concentrations (µg/m³) are set as follows: sulphur dioxide - 60, suspended particulate matter - 60, PM₁₀ - 48, and nitrogen oxides - 80.

Methods of measurement:

• sulphur dioxide (SO₂): colorimetry, coulometry and UV fluorescence
• suspended particulate matter (SPM): gravimetry and radiometry
• nitrogen oxides (NO_x): colorimetry and chemical luminescence
• precipitation acidity: pH-metry.

Table 3-15. Near-ground layer of ozone

      The maximum level of ozone at the ground is the maximum 8-hour average level measured between 09.00 and 17.00 hours.

      The ozone concentrations at the ground are measured by the method of UV absorbance.

Figures shown in Tables 3-8 to 3-15 were taken over from the Czech Institute for Hydrometeorology.

Table 3-16. Total amounts of ozone in the atmosphere

      Ozone is measured with Dobson spectrophotometer on the principle of determining the extent of selective absorption of solar radiation, passing through the atmosphere, by ozone at certain wavelengths. The extent of selective absorption is proportional to the amount of ozone. All the values are given in Dobson units (D.U.) B.P. Scale and supplied by the Solar and Ozone Observatory, Hradec Králové managed by the Czech Institute for Hydrometeorology.

Table 3-17 to 3-20. Generation of waste

      On 1 January 2002 a new Act No. 185/2001 Coll., on Waste and Amendments to Some Other Acts, as last amended, entered into force. The Act fully complies with waste management laws and regulations of the EU.

      Waste is any movable thing its owner disposes of or intends to dispose of, which is classified to a group of wastes listed in Annex No. 1 to Act No. 185/2001 Coll.

      Hazardous waste is waste included in the list of hazardous wastes given in the implementing regulation as well as any waste exhibiting one or more hazardous characteristics listed in Annex No. 2 to Act No. 185/2001 Coll.

      Waste management refers to gathering, concentration, concentration, purchase, sorting, transport, recovery and disposal of waste.

      Ways of waste management

      The ways of waste management are divided into two groups, in compliance with the division according to the EU. They are:

• waste recovery - activities shown in Annex No. 3 to Act. No. 185/2001 Coll.; and
• waste disposal - activities shown in Annex No. 4 to Act. No. 185/2001 Coll.

In this publication the municipal waste refers to all wastes generated within the municipality by the activity of actual persons and similar wastes generated by trades, offices, etc., including components of these wastes collected separately.

      Trade waste refers to wastes, whose composition is similar to the municipal wastes classified under Group 20 of the Waste List, generated by the non-productive activity of legal or natural persons holding a business licence (e.g. small entrepreneurs, offices, etc.).

      Standard collection of waste refers to collection of mixed wastes from dustbins, containers or bags.

      Collection of bulky wastes refers to collection of wastes too large to be placed in dustbins, containers or bags.

      Data for the tables were collected and processed by the CZSO from figures provided on the CZSO statistical questionnaire. Except for CZ-NACE 37, 5157 and 90, the reporting units for Tables 3-17, 3-18 and 3-20 are enterprises with 20+ employees, classified under CZ-NACE codes 01, 02, 10-41, 45, 502, 5157 (5+ employees), 55, 601, 602, 62, 642, 747, 7481, 851, 852, 90 (0 or more employees), 9211 and 93. The data in Table 3-19 were provided by municipalities (chosen via local authorities) classified under CZ-NACE code 751.

Tables 3-21 and 3-22. Environmental expenditure from central resources; income and expenditure of the State Environmental Fund (SEF)

      SEF‘s incomes consist of various payments and charges and resources from the National Programme of Air Pollution Control (NPAPC), while SEF‘s expenditures include grants and loans.

      The data were taken over from the State Environmental Fund, National Property Fund and the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic.

Table 3-23. Contamination of food with selected foreign substances

      The choice of commodities, chemical elements and organic contaminants, made in cooperation with the Czech Agricultural and Food Inspection, was primarily directed to those substances whose acceptable daily intakes (ADI) established by the World Health Organization are comparatively high. The table gives the numbers of samples taken and their share (in % of total samples taken) which is off the hygienic limit.

      The figures listed in the table were provided by the State Veterinary Administration of the Czech Republic and the Czech Agricultural and Food Inspection.

Tables 3-24 and 3-25. Quality of surface and ground water

      The indicators of the quality of surface water are expressed by an arithmetic mean and evaluated according to the national standard ČSN 75 7221.

      The quality of groundwater is evaluated according to the national standard ČSN 75 7111 - Drinking water, as follows:

      Chemical oxygen demand (COD_Cr): the consumption of oxygen determined by dichromate method.

      Chemical oxygen demand (COD_Mn): the consumption of oxygen determined by manganese method.

      Alpha activity: the activity of radioactive radiation; its unit of measure is 1 Becquerel (1 Bq).

      Figures listed in Tables 3-24 and 3-25 were provided by the Czech Institute of Hydrometeorology.

Table 3-26. Pollutants discharged into watercourses and accidents on water sources

      The quantities of pollutants discharged into watercourses are given in metric tonnes per year, separately for individual pollutants defined as follows:

• undissolved substances: substances determined by filtering water and drying up the residue to constant weight at 105 degrees Centigrade.
• dissolved inorganic salts: substances which remain after the filtration of the water sample. They are determined by evaporating a filtered water sample and by drying up and annealing (at 600°C) the residue after evaporation. The residue is annealed to constant weight;
• biological oxygen demand (BOD₅): the amount of oxygen consumed by aerobic biochemical decomposition of organic matter contained in water, over 5 days under standard conditions;
• chemical oxygen demand (COD): the amount of consumed oxygen (O₂) as determined by dichromate method;
• oil and oil products: substances extracted from water, which are free of polar materials (these are removed from the extract in a standardized manner).

      Watercourses are national property (Water Act No. 254/2001 Coll.) and the administration of their substantial part is entrusted to water management organizations – state-owned enterprises Povodí).

      Length of watercourses (km) includes regulated, partially regulated and non-regulated courses and excludes drainage, irrigation and feeding channels.

Tables 3-28 to 3-32. Public water-supply and sewerage systems

      The area of water-supply and sewerage systems embraces activities linked to the administration and operation of these systems - i.e., to providing sufficient supply of good quality drinking water and removing sewage water, including purification.

      Production of water: includes both invoiced and non-invoiced water. The sum of these two items may differ from figures for the total production by the amount received from or supplied to other organizations.

      Public water-supply and sewerage systems: water-supply and sewerage systems run by the municipalities. Data for small system operators were not measured from 1993 and, therefore, the figures were obtained by grossing up to the whole Czech Republic.

      The figures listed in Tables 3-26 to 3-32 were obtained from the processing of CZSO questionnaires completed by watercourse management organizations and key operators of water supply and sewerage systems. Indicators showing drinking water supplies and wastewater removal and treatment were grossed up to cover the whole country and its regions, using data provided by the Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Census 2002.

      The figures released in this chapter are comparable to those given in Statistical Yearbooks of previous years.

• “Information on the Environment in the Czech Republic 1997-2002” (Czech-English version) – November
• “Generation, Recovery and Disposal of Waste in 2002” (Czech-English version) - September
• “Vodovody, kanalizace a vodní toky v roce 2002“ - April
• “Cenzus vodovodů a kanalizací 2002“ - March
  as well as in “Statistical Environmental Yearbook of the Czech Republic” (Czech-English version) - publication jointly prepared by the Ministry of the Environment of the CR and the Czech Statistical Office.