Development of an assessment framework on environmental governance in the EU Member

States

No 07.0203/2017/764990/SER/ENV.E.4

Environmental Governance Assessment

Latvia

February 2019

Final

Prepared by: Janis Brizga, Green Liberty

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Disclaimer: The information and views set out in this assessment are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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CONTENTS

List of abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... 5

Executive summary ...................................................................................................................... 6

1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 11

2 Context and characteristics of environmental governance .................................................. 13

3 Dimensions and themes – presentation of the findings ....................................................... 16

3.1 Transparency ..................................................................................................................... 16

3.1.1 Implementation evidence/reporting, including Environmental Information Systems (INSPIRE and Copernicus) ............................................................................................................................................ 16

3.1.2 Access to information (accessibility of databases, information requests) ................................... 17

3.1.3 Reliability/quality of information (including the extent to which policy is informed by science and other evidence) ..................................................................................................................................... 25

3.2 Participation ...................................................................................................................... 27

3.2.1 Public participation ...................................................................................................................... 27

3.2.2 Public participation in planning and permitting processes .......................................................... 30

3.2.3 Public confidence in institutions ................................................................................................... 32

3.2.4 Equitability and inclusiveness ....................................................................................................... 33

3.3 Access to justice ................................................................................................................. 36

3.3.1 Practical information on Access to Justice ................................................................................... 36

3.3.2 Access to justice (legal standing, costs of procedures in front of the court) ................................ 37

3.3.3 Effective remedies ........................................................................................................................ 43

3.3.4 Judicial capacities; training and information events .................................................................... 45

3.3.5 Corruption issues relevant to the environment (permitting, natural resources, environmental crime) .................................................................................................................................................... 49

3.4 Compliance assurance and accountability ........................................................................... 51

3.4.1 Compliance promotion, compliance monitoring, and follow-up and enforcement ..................... 51

3.4.2 Complaint handling and citizen engagement .............................................................................. 59

3.4.3 Environmental liability ................................................................................................................. 64

3.4.4 Environmental liability ................................................................................................................. 64

3.5 Effectiveness and efficiency ................................................................................................ 67

3.5.1 Enabling financing and absorption of funds ................................................................................ 67

3.5.2 Administrative capacity (environmental inspectorates, police, customs, prosecution services and audit bodies) ......................................................................................................................................... 69

3.5.3 Inter/cross-sectoral coordination ................................................................................................. 70

3.5.4 Integrated assessment and planning tools .................................................................................. 72

3.5.5 Flexibility/adaptability ................................................................................................................. 74

4 New or planned governance initiatives, outlook ................................................................. 78

4.1 New or planned environmental governance initiatives........................................................ 78

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4.2 Outlook ............................................................................................................................. 78

5 Good practice .................................................................................................................... 80

6 References ......................................................................................................................... 81

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List of abbreviations

APL Administrative Procedure Law EC European Commission EU European Union EIA Environmental impact assessment EIR Environmental Implementation Report ELD Environmental Liability Directive EMAS Eco-management and audit scheme ENPE European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment IA Impact assessment IMPEL The European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of

Environmental Law IPPC Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control LJTC The Latvian Judicial Training Center LIFE the EU's financial instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and

climate action projects throughout the EU. MoEPRD Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development Natura 2000 network of nature protection areas in the territory of the EU NCA Nature Conservation Agency NGOs Non-governmental organisations NIR National Implementation Report RBMP River Basin Management Plan RMCEI Recommendations for Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspections SDGs Sustainable development goals SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SEB State Environment Bureau SES State Environmental Service SWD Staff Working Document UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

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Executive summary

This environmental governance assessment on Latvia has been produced as part of a project financed by the European Commission entitled: “Development of an assessment framework on environmental governance in the EU Member States”. The project was designed to assist the Commission in its Environmental Implementation Review, due to be published in spring 2019. The primary aim of the environmental governance assessments is to review the implementation of environmental legislation and policy in each Member State, and assess the extent to which it is effective, efficient, accountable, participatory, and transparent, and follows the rule of law. The assessment framework defined five dimensions of environmental governance:

Transparency

Participation

Access to justice

Compliance assurance and accountability

Effectiveness and efficiency

A template for assessment of the Member States was drawn up, with questions under each of the dimensions aimed at identifying comparable information in all Member States. The assessments were then prepared by national researchers, relying on publicly available data and information, with Member States and other stakeholders then being given the opportunity to comment and provide further information. The resulting assessment for Latvia represents the views of the researchers; and is summarised below. Text in italics describes the framework of questions common to all the Member State assessments. Governance context The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MoEPRD) (Vides aizsardzības un reģionālās attīstības ministrija) is the central executive institution in Latvia responsible for implementing policy in three areas - environment protection, regional development and information and communication technologies. There are 17 departments at the MoEPRD, but not all of them are related to environmental protection. Most important in this respect are the Environmental Protection Department, Nature Protection Department, Climate Change Department, and Coordination Department. MoEPRD also incorporates a number of other institutions with specific functions in the above-mentioned areas. Local municipalities in Latvia have several environmental protection functions. Some of the regulations (e.g. rules on air quality, Law on Pollution) set functions in air quality for the municipal level. The main coordination mechanisms are different consultative committees organised by the MoEPRD where representatives from the association of the local municipalities are usually invited. Transparency A transparent approach to information on the environment and environmental policy has a number of practical benefits, in particular it enables effective public participation. This thereby ensures that policies have broad support and enables members of the public to give a voice to the needs of the wider environment. It also encourages public authorities to ensure that the information on which they base their decisions is of a high quality. Under the Transparency dimension, we examined the flow and quality of information in support of environmental policy. We looked at the legal and practical

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dimensions of access to environmental information and at the voluntary provision of environmental information; and at the systems for ensuring a high quality of information in support of decision-making. Legislation in Latvia obliges the state to ensure an effective environmental protection system, and individuals are entitled to environmental information and to participate in environmental decision-making, transposing the rights set out in Aarhus convention and relevant EU regulations. According to the Administrative Procedure Law the authorities are obliged to provide the respective information held by them. Environmental information is generally available and up-to-date. Most of the information is freely available, but navigation and the searching option could be significantly improved. A database with the information on the projects requiring an EIA is maintained by the Environment State Bureau and is available online. The use of environmental information and data in decision making in Latvia is weak and many legal acts are a political compromise, not evidence-based decisions. There is also a significant impact from lobbying on law-making. The MoEPRD does not have any scientific institution under its supervision. The necessary research is usually contracted through the public procurement process. Environmental information is available free of charge, however, a fee can be set for additional processing or preparation of this information. Information on the number of information requests is not publicly available. In 2016 the implementation of the data sharing obligation under the INSPIRE directive in Latvia was well advanced and displayed a positive trend. In Latvia, 41.48 % of data sets were accessible for viewing and 35.56 % of data sets accessible for download, according to the 2016 INSPIRE Latvia Country Fiche. However, a review of the INSPIRE geoportal data shows that in October 2018 there are 142 datasets uploaded, and of these 0 of the datasets are downloadable and 4 of the datasets are viewable on the INSPIRE Geoportal. The Copernicus programme is in its initial setup stage of implementation. Participation Wide participation in decision-making, including by a broad range of stakeholders, members of the public, and civil society groups, can contribute significantly to ensuring that policy decisions take into account a full range of facts, and that decisions have a broad base of support. We looked in particular at how Member States enabled public participation, and at related questions such as: public confidence in institutions; individuals’ sense of their ability to influence environmental outcomes; and equitability and inclusiveness of environmental policymaking. Public participation in environmental matters in Latvia is prescribed by several legal acts, Environmental Protection Law, the Law on Pollution, the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment, the Spatial Development Planning Law, as well as a number of Cabinet of Ministers regulations. The decision-making system in Latvia is transparent and open to public participation from the point when policy documents are circulated between ministries in preparation for review by the Government. At this stage, experts and NGOs have the opportunity to provide input on their own initiative. All the draft planning documents and legal acts are available for comment. There are also several multi-stakeholder working groups to discuss these draft proposals. The State Environment Bureau (SEB) does not collect statistics on the level of public participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes, but information on participation is project based.

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The main source of information on public participation are EIA reports. All the Opinions on EIA reports that are issued and published by SEB contain a section on the public consultations. The Constitution does not formally acknowledge the concept of a recognised minority language, however, the Russian-speaking minority accounts for ~25% of the population. Nevertheless, all the official government information is and must be in Latvian in accordance with requirements of the Official Language Law. In 2017, the percentage of women in high-level decision making positions in the ministries or departments in charge of environment, climate change, transport and energy was 38.5%. Access to justice Effective legal mechanisms for implementing environmental policy and enforcing environmental legislation are vital to ensuring that the commitments made in legislation are delivered in practice. The assessment focuses on the role of citizens and environmental associations in using national courts to secure compliance, rather than enforcement action by public authorities, which is dealt with under the compliance assurance dimension. Questions under this dimension addressed how citizens and associations can use the courts to challenge decisions, acts and omissions of public authorities. This included examining the implementation of access to justice guarantees covering, among other things, an entitlement to be informed about the conditions of access to justice; the right to bring cases (standing) and protection against prohibitive costs; and the obtaining of effective remedies if cases are won.

Latvia grants the public, notably individuals and NGOs, a very broad access to justice in environmental cases (actio popularis). Both in an administrative review and court procedures the person has to cover his/her own expenses. However, these fees are not high. Despite the combination of broad standing rules and low costs, there have been few environmental cases in Latvia.

There are no specialized environmental courts in Latvia. There is no special section on Access to Justice on the website of MoEPRD but an information booklet from 2008 on access to justice is available. However, the judicial administration provides information on different judicial aspects on their website, including a guide on how to submit a claim before the court of justice. Despite the available information, it is not easy to prepare all the necessary documentation to submit a case before the court for a person without legal education or experience. Compliance assurance and accountability This dimension relates to the concept of environmental compliance assurance, which covers “public enforcement”, as distinct from access to justice for the public and civil society organisations, which is covered in the dimension above. We looked at three classes of intervention that authorities undertake to ensure that economic and other activities comply with environmental rules: promotion, monitoring and enforcement. Under monitoring, we include the handling of environmental complaints from citizens and associations. State environmental service (SES) is a competent authority responsible for environmental permitting and enforcement of environmental legislation (including inspections of regulated facilities). However, they are lacking capacity and staff. SES also reacts to public complaints, which are increasing in number, partly thanks to the mobile application VidesSOS developed to make such complaints easier. Similarly, the Nature Conservation Agency is ensuring implementation of unified nature protection policy in Latvia. The Nature Conservation Agency have created a geo-spatial database and is actively cooperating with other institutions, e.g. State Police and Customs to ensure implementation of the

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CITES convention, as well as to fight illegal fisheries. However, the webpage of the Nature Conservation Agency does not provide clear guidance on how to submit complaints about environmental damage. The State environmental service does publish its plans, reports and the number of complaints in relation to the inspections under the Industrial Emissions Directive. It also publishes its annual activity reports, even if the report do not provide clear information about the detected (repeated) non-compliance and measures taken, nor does it give information on non-compliant operators. The State Environmental Service is not using remote-sensing technologies and geo-spatial intelligence for environmental compliance monitoring in Latvia. The Nature Conservation Agency has used earth observation data and geo-spatial intelligence to check information provided by landowners and the Rural Support Service is also using geo-spatial intelligence methods. There are several citizen science initiatives in Latvia. There are statistics available on the number of criminal proceedings related to environmental crimes, the number of court rulings on environmental crime and infringement cases related to illegal wildlife trade and illegal fishing, conservation of protected and non-game species, conservation of protected habitats and protected territories investigated by Nature Conservation Agency. The Rural Support Service can provide statistics or information on the cross-compliance breaches in Latvia. There is no special ombudsman for environmental complaints, but a general Ombudsman is dealing with the environmental complaints, more specifically the right to live in a clean environment. Effectiveness and efficiency This dimension covers a wide variety of issues, and is also relevant to a number of the other dimensions; in it, we looked at how well resources (financial, material, and human) are used in delivering environmental objectives, including by considering mechanisms for ensuring that environmental issues are addressed in other areas of administration and policy. There is limited funding available for environmental protection through the Latvian Environmental Protection Fund and local municipalities, but additional funds come from the EU structural funds and other foundations. There is no system of earmarking of funds collected through fiscal and market based instruments, all tax revenues go into the central budget. Latvia has developed its green public procurement support programme and is actively working on its implementation. The customs service in Latvia does not have a special unit dedicated to environmental issues. However, the Nature Conservation Agency provides training courses for the customs officers in all regions, every year and carries out joint inspections to implement the CITES convention. The public prosecution service in Latvia does not have a dedicated environmental unit, but training on environmental law is provided. A cross-sectoral coordination centre is responsible for the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals into public policy making and Latvia submitted its first Voluntary National Review to the United Nations in the summer of 2018. Latvia has multi-annual environmental policy plans , with the overarching objective to ensure the inhabitants with a possibility of living in a clean and well-arranged environment, implementing activities oriented towards sustainable development, preserving environmental quality and biological diversity, ensuring sustainable development of natural resources, as well as public participation in decision-making and awareness of the environmental condition. They also included specific indicators to measure progress.

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Regulatory impact assessments, essential for effective policy evaluation, are being strengthened in Latvia. The requirement to carry out regulatory impact assessments is set out in Latvian legislation. However, the scope of investigation is often restricted to financial, budgetary, and administrative costs. Environmental impact assessments are performed only for the strategic planning documents falling under the SEA regulation. Draft regulatory documents are published on a governmental websites so as to give all interested stakeholders an opportunity to review and comment on the potential legislation. There is no one-stop-shop for environmental matters in Latvia. The MoEPRD and its subsidiary institutions have all developed electronic services to enable the public to interact with them. However, this work still could be significantly improved.

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1 Introduction

This environmental governance assessment is produced within a project1 financed by the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission entitled: ‘Development of an assessment framework on environmental governance in the EU Member States’.

The aim and structure of the assessment The prime aim of the environmental governance assessments is to review the implementation of environmental legislation and policy and assess the extent to which it is effective, efficient, accountable, participatory, and transparent, and follows the rule of law. To this end, the project developed a framework and methodology for carrying out broadly comparable assessments of the environmental governance performance of public administrations in the EU Member States. The framework consists of assessment criteria (both qualitative and quantitative) which aim to be transparent, to provide comparable information across the EU Member States, and to cover a broad range of environmental governance issues.

The assessment framework defines five non–exhaustive dimensions of environmental governance:

Transparency

Participation

Access to justice

Compliance assurance and accountability

Effectiveness and efficiency In addition, 21 themes were identified, and grouped under the specific dimensions, in some cases arbitrarily, since they are rather horizontal in scope or their scopes partially overlap.

The assessments were then prepared by national project experts, relying mostly on publically available data and information. Additional independent research was carried out to identify certain practical aspects of implementation. The cut-off date for the information reflected in this assessment is June 30, 2018. The assessments were then shared in draft with Member States (and with other stakeholders who attended the stakeholder workshops held under the project), and many of them benefited from detailed comments and additional material. The comments received were carefully considered and the governance assessment were further amended where appropriate. The assessments were used as background material in the preparation by the Commission of the Environmental Implementation Reports (EIR), due to be published in spring 2019.

The text of some of the assessments makes reference to relevant legal and policy developments which occurred after the agreed cut-off date for information, particularly where this is essential to understand the evolving situation in the Member State. However, these developments were not taken into account in the categorisations of the Member states used in the project’s overarching final report, in order to ensure consistent comparability of the status at the date of June 30, 2018.

The structure of the country assessment is as follows:

1. Executive Summary 2. Introduction 3. Context and characteristics of environmental governance 4. Dimensions and themes; presentation of the findings

1 Contract No 07.0203/2017/764990/SER/ENV.E.4

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5. Outlook, including new or planned governance initiatives 6. Good practices 7. References

Approach to the development of the assessments The assessments aimed to generate broadly comparable information across the EU Member States; the process for the development of the template for the assessments is described in more detail in the main report of this project. Questions were identified under each theme, drawing in some cases on previously published EU-wide studies, including Eurobarometer surveys. In some themes, scenarios were developed in order to test environmental governance through samples or by considering similar hypothetical situations, as a means of generating broadly comparable information. The rationale for the selection of questions is set out in the assessment in italics, with the information identified for the individual Member State then set out. Where it was possible to develop a simple categorisation of results on the basis of the questions, the project team did so for each Member State, usually on the basis of allocating a 0/1/2 marker, based on criteria defined for the relevant question. The assessment below, however, presents the raw data on which the categorisation was based. For each Member State, a separate short document has been produced outlining the results in its case of the categorisation exercise. Further information on the approach to categorisation and the criteria used can be found in the main report for the project, and in an Annex to the main report.

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2 Context and characteristics of environmental governance

This section provides an overview of the institutional framework for environmental governance as well as describing the role of civil society as an important stakeholder in the governance process.

A. What are the main environmental governance institutions at national, regional, and local levels in charge of:

o Policy development o Implementation o Enforcement

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development2 (MoEPRD) (Vides aizsardzības un reģionālās attīstības ministrija) is the central executive institution in Latvia responsible for implementing policy in three areas - environment protection, regional development and information and communication technologies. There are 17 departments at the MoEPRD, but not all of them are related to environmental protection. Most important in this respect are the Environmental Protection Department, Nature Protection Department, Climate Change Department, and Coordination Department. MoEPRD also incorporates a number of other institutions with specific functions in the above-mentioned areas:

The State Environmental Service3 (SES) (Vides valsts dienests) aims to ensure the compliance of implementation of the legislative framework in the area of environmental protection and natural resources;

The Administration of the Latvian Environmental Protection Fund4 (Latvijas vides aizsardzības fonda administrācija) - supervises and administers the expenditure of the funding for the state budget programme ‘Environmental Protection Fund of Latvia’, as well as ensuring its effective usage in accordance with the decisions of the Environmental Protection Fund of Latvia Council;

The State Environment Bureau5 (SEB) (Vides pārraudzības valsts birojs) carries out an environmental impact assessment of proposed activities and planning documents, issues integrated permits for major polluting activities, assesses the risk of industrial accidents and measures for their elimination, acts as a competent body for the Eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS), implements tasks with regards to management of packaging and packaging waste, reviews claims and complaints in relation to environmental legislation, and provides information to the public;

The Nature Conservation Agency6 (NCA) (Dabas aizsardzības pārvalde) ensures implementation of unified nature protection policy in Latvia;

The Natural History Museum of Latvia7 (Latvijas dabas muzejs), and National Botanic Garden8 (Nacionālais botāniskais dārzs) of Latvia. The objectives of these institutions are to preserve, maintain and research natural collections as well as environmental education and information dissemination;

2 The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MoEPRD) www.varam.gov.lv 3 The State Environmental Service (SES) www.vvd.gov.lv 4 The Administration of the Latvian Environmental Protection Fund (Latvijas vides aizsardzības fonda administrācija) https://www.lvafa.gov.lv 5 The State Environment Bureau (SEB) www.vpvb.gov.lv 6 The Nature Conservation Agency (NCA) https://www.daba.gov.lv 7 The Natural History Museum of Latvia (Latvijas dabas muzejs) www.dabasmuzejs.gov.lv 8 National Botanic Garden (Nacionālais botāniskais dārzs) https://www.nbd.gov.lv

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The State Regional Development Agency9 (Valsts reģionālās attīstības aģentūra), whose main task is providing e-services for governmental and municipal institutions and to promote sustainability of regional development;

A state limited liability company ‘Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre’10 (Latvijas vides, ģeoloģijas un meteoroloģijas centrs), which carries out tasks in the spheres of geology, meteorology, climatology, hydrology, air quality, chemicals management and cross-border air pollution:

o Collection and processing of environmental information; o Environmental monitoring and provision of information to society on the

environmental situation; o Geological supervision of mineral resources and their rational use; o Participation in the implemention of state policies in the spheres of geology,

meteorology, climatology, hydrology, air quality, and cross-border air pollution.

The State Enterprise ‘Latvian Environmental Investment Fund’11 (Latvijas vides investīciju fonds) which attracts domestic and foreign funding and grants subsidised loans to municipal and private entities to implement projects which improve the environment, and support preparation of environmental protection projects.

B. How is multi-level governance in environmental matters organised? What are the coordination mechanisms between local, regional, and national levels?

Local municipalities in Latvia have several environmental protection functions. Some of the regulations (e.g. rules on air quality, Law on Pollution) set functions in air quality for the municipal level. However, according to Article 15 of the Law on Local Municipalities the autonomous functions of local governments related to the environmental protection are:

to organise for residents the provision of utilities (water supply and sewage; supply of heat; management of municipal waste; collection, conducting and purification of wastewater) irrespective of the ownership of the residential property;

to determine procedures for the utilisation of public-use forests and waters if it is not specified otherwise by legal acts;

in accordance with the territorial planning of the relevant local government, to determine land usage and procedures for its development.

MoEPRD combines both functions: environmental protection and regional development, which includes implementation and assessment of regional policy and supervision of the territorial development planning process, which makes it easier for the MoEPRD to deal with environmental governance on the local level. The main coordination mechanisms are different consultative committees12 organised by the MoEPRD where representatives from the association of the local municipalities are usually invited.

C. What role does the civil society play in environmental governance? In which procedures is civil

society engaged and consulted? Is civil society represented in inter-government bodies in environmental decision-making process, and if so, which ones?

9 The State Regional Development Agency (Valsts reģionālās attīstības aģentūra) www.vraa.gov.lv 10 A state limited liability company “Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre” (Latvijas vides, ģeoloģijas un meteoroloģijas centrs) https://www.meteo.lv 11 The State Enterprise “Latvian Environmental Investment Fund” (Latvijas vides investīciju fonds) www.lvif.gov.lv 12 MoEPRD Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Councils and commissions, http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/lidzd/pad/?doc=737

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The main civil society engagement mechanism is the Environmental Consultative Council established in 2003 – it is a consultative and coordinating institution that adopts advisory decisions in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable development. 20 members of the Environmental Consultative Council are elected annually by representatives from environmental civil society organisations. The MoEPRD provides a secretariat function. There are also different consultative councils and supervisory bodies at other institutions (e.g. Ministry of Agriculture, Cabinet of ministers, EU Structural Funds Monitoring Committees) where the environmental NGO representatives participate. Environmental NGO representatives also participate in public consultations on the local level, e.g. territorial planning or development of nature protection plans. Thus, they are able to directly influence decision-making on zoning issues, protection regimes and similar aspects in protected territories.

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3 Dimensions and themes – presentation of the findings

3.1 Transparency

Under the Transparency dimension, we examine the flow and quality of information in support of environmental policy.

3.1.1 Implementation evidence/reporting, including Environmental Information Systems (INSPIRE and Copernicus)

As a proxy for the gathering and reporting of environmental information, we look at implementation of the INSPIRE Directive13 on infrastructure for spatial information, and at national administrations’ use of data from the COPERNICUS Earth observation programme, using data on INSPIRE published by the Commission in 2016, and a COPERNICUS user uptake report published by the Commission in 2016.

1) What is the share of spatial datasets falling under the INSPIRE Directive which Member States have made available through view and download services?

In Latvia, 41.48% of data sets are accessible for viewing through a view service and 35.56% of data sets accessible for download through a download service14.

2) What is the number of spatial data sets and the number of data sets available for download and for view on the INSPIRE Geoportal?

A review of the Inspire geoportal demonstrated that there were only 4 datasets available for viewing and no datasets for download15.

3) What is the level of maturity of Copernicus uptake in the assessed Member State?

Based on the Copernicus User Uptake report, Latvia’s uptake of Copernicus programme evaluated based on 8 different user uptake initiative types is 1.1/516 and is categorised as being in ‘Initial Setup’17.

User uptake initiative type Level18

Start-up initiatives 0

Events 1

Promotional activities 2

Networks 2.5

User feedback, training & education 2

13 Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE), OJ L 108, 25.4.2007 14 European Commission (2016), INSPIRE Latvia Country Fiche, p. 13, http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/INSPIRE-in-your-Country 15 INSPIRE geoportal for Latvia: http://inspire-geoportal.ec.europa.eu/results.html?country=lv&view=details&theme=none 16 European Commission (2016), Copernicus User Uptake - Engaging with public authorities, the private sector and civil society, report by SpaceTec Partners for DG GROW of the European Commission, p. 67, http://copernicus.eu/sites/default/files/library/Copernicus_User_Uptake_Engaging_with_Users_0.pdf 17 European Commission (2016), Copernicus User Uptake - Engaging with public authorities, the private sector and civil society, report by SpaceTec Partners for DG GROW of the European Commission, p. ix, http://copernicus.eu/sites/default/files/library/Copernicus_User_Uptake_Engaging_with_Users_0.pdf 18 Level 1 Beginner, Level 2 First Traction, Level 3 Active Engagement, Level 4 Advanced Progress, Level 5 Full Swing.

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Funding instruments 1.5

Data access 0

Contact points 0

Average 1.125

3.1.2 Access to information (accessibility of databases, information requests)

Ensuring that information is made available for use by a wide range of organisations, and by the public at large, is an important element in ensuring that environmental policy decisions, and environmental action more generally, are well-informed. The assessment looks at the availability of information under INSPIRE (relying on information from other sources and a parallel project), before considering implementation of the principle of public access to information. Access to environmental information is a vital building block in enabling public involvement in environmental decision-making, and is guaranteed under EU legislation. We checked for information under two standard scenarios, in order to provide comparable information across the Member States.

1) What is the status (well advanced/started/falling behind) and trend (positive/neutral/negative) of ‘data sharing without the obstacles’ under INSPIRE directive 19 implementation?

In 2016 in Latvia the implementation of data sharing obligation under the INSPIRE Directive was started and made some progress but was still far from being complete20.

2) How is access to environmental information21 guaranteed in legal provisions (at national, and where relevant at regional and local levels)?

According to Article 115 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia (hereafter – the Constitution), the State protects everyone’s rights to live in a beneficial environment, to report on environmental conditions and to care for their maintenance and improvement. Article 100 of the Constitution provides everyone’s right to freedom of expression, which includes the right to freely receive, keep and distribute information and to express his or her views. Censorship is prohibited. The Constitution obliges the State to ensure an effective environmental protection system, and individuals are entitled to environmental information and to participate in environmental decision-making. The Constitution (Article 104) also guarantee the right of individuals to receive a response from the state institutions. If the person only expresses his or her opinion on a question and indicates that it does not need a response, the authority is not obliged to respond to such an application. Article 1, Paragraph 19 of the Environmental Protection Law22 provides the rights of the public to environmental information and defines environmental information as information regarding:

19 Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE), OJ L 108, 25.4.2007, 20 European Commission Joint Research Centre (2017), Summary Report on Status of implementation of the INSPIRE Directive in EU, Publications Office of the European Union, p. 10, http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC109035/jrc109035_jrc109035_jrc_inspire_eu_summaryreport_online.pdf 21 Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC, OJ L 41, 14.2.2003 22 Environmental Protection Law, https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/147917-environmental-protection-law

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the state of the environment, including the air and atmosphere, water, soil, subterranean depths, landscape, nature, including wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological diversity and components thereof, also genetically modified organisms, and interaction among these elements of the environment,

factors affecting the environment (for example, the emission of chemical substances, energy, odours, noise, radiation or waste and release of other types of pollution into the environment),

measures, also policy planning documents and other plans, programmes, agreements in the environmental field, laws and regulations and activities affecting or likely to affect the elements and factors of the environment affecting the environment or the objective of which is to protect the environment, as well as regarding the cost-benefit analysis and other economic analyses and assumptions, which are used in relation to the referred to measures and activities,

statements and reports regarding environmental protection, also regarding the implementation of laws and regulations,

the state of human health and security, the living conditions thereof and cultural objects and buildings insofar as the state of the environment, factors affecting the environment or the referred to measures affecting or likely to affect them.

The Freedom of Information Law23 (hereafter – the Information Law) describes the conditions for the provision of information. Article 10, Paragraph 1 of the Information Law provides that generally available information is provided to anyone requesting it, by considering the equality of persons. The purpose of the Information Law is to ensure that the public has access to information, which is at the disposal of institutions or which an institution in conformity with its competence has a duty to create. This law determines uniform procedures by which private persons are entitled to obtain information from an institution and to use it. Availability of information created and possessed by public authorities is also regulated by the Administrative Procedure Law (thereafter - APL), which governs the legal relationship between the State and private individuals. Article 54, Paragraph 1 of the APL stipulates that if a request is received from a private person regarding the administrative process, the authority is obliged to provide the respective information held by them (an exception is if the information is legally classified as restricted information). Article 56, Paragraph 5 and Article 98 of the APL also provide for the authority’s obligation to provide an applicant with the required information or other assistance for a successful resolution of the issue. On 1 January 2007 the Ombudsman Law entered into force, establishing the ombudsman institution in Latvia. The Ombudsman, inter alia, oversees matters of right to live in a clean environment and access to environmental information. The information provided in the 2017 NIR is still up to date, as the basic legal act regulating access to information about the environment has not changed.

23 Freedom of Information Law, https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/50601-freedom-of-information-law

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Apart from the general legal framework, a more specific analysis on environmental information systems was also carried out in a parallel project24. It had as its objective to assess the maturity of national portals for the purpose of active dissemination of environmental information in EU Member States. This parallel project examined the publicly available main national environmental portals based on four areas, namely governance, content, sharing and usability25. Member States were grouped in terms of their approaches, using 68 assessment questions and categorising them for each question as ”good”, “neutral” or “to be improved”. Even though these findings are indicative, the overview provides a useful insight on national information systems’ performance and complements the assessment of transparency in this study. Latvia has a solid system for environmental information with some areas where further improvements can be made. More details are available in the specific country assessment fiche26.

3) Are there relevant national court cases? If so, please summarise briefly the issues raised, and

provide clear references to the relevant case(s). According to the Archive of case law decisions27 there are 45 cases regarding access to information. However, only one of these cases (‘Subjective right to request an authority opinion and to complain about violations of environmental law’, of 15 August 201628) is regarding the environmental information. In this case, the Supreme Court decided to leave unchanged the decision of the Administrative District Court judge (1 March 2016) and to reject the complaint of the NGO ‘Inčukalna dabas parks’ with regard to the Incukalns County Council response to applicant complaints about the signs of illegal construction (motorcycle track) in the area of Baižkalns and whether the construction of the respective objects had been coordinated with the Construction Board. The Supreme Court decided that the response from the County Council was sufficient. According to the Archive of case law decisions29 there are 45 cases regarding access to information. However, only one of these cases (‘Subjective right to request an authority opinion and to complain about violations of environmental law’, 15.08.2016.) is regarding the environmental information. In this case, the Supreme Court decided to leave unchanged the decision of the Administrative District Court judge (March 1, 2016) and to reject the complaint of the NGO "Inčukalna dabas parks" with regard to the Incukalns County Council response to applicant complaints about the signs of illegal construction (motorcycle track) in the area of Baižkalns and whether the construction of the respective objects has been coordinated with the Construction Board. The Supreme Court decided that the response from the County Council was sufficient.

4) To what extent is environmental data readily accessible to the public (per thematic area)? The following scoring range was applied: 2 – good extent, 1-limited extent, 0- not possible to make an assessment.

Area Score Name of the database, links, comments

24 Promotion of best practices for national environmental information systems and tools for data harvesting at EU level’ (Contract No 07.0203/2017/761039/SER/ENV.E.4 of European Commission, Directorate General for Environment) 25 For more infromation, visit the project website: http://www.eis-data.eu/ 26 EIS data, http://www.eis-data.eu/ 27 Supreme Court of Republic of Latvia, http://at.gov.lv/en/judikatura/judikaturas-nolemumu-arhivs 28 Latvijas Republikas Augstākās tiesas, Administratīvo lietu departamenta, 2016.gada 15.augusta, L Ē M U M , S Lieta Nr.6-7-00044-16, SKA-930/2016, http://at.gov.lv/downloadlawfile/5186 29 Supreme Court of Republic of Latvia, http://at.gov.lv/en/judikatura/judikaturas-nolemumu-arhivs

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Air 2 Information from the monitoring stations is available at https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/gaiss/gaiss?id=1139&nid=368. There is also a search engine available. Data are up-to-date and available for several monitoring stations in four main cities. The Riga City Council also publicises data on air quality and conducts measurements in addition to the national monitoring network (http://gmsd.riga.lv). Riga city together with several partners has also developed its air pollution portal (http://rigaairtext.lv/) where forecasts for the upcoming days are available and people can subscribe for the free-of-charge alerts if the air quality drops.

Nature 2 Information on nature datasets - https://www.daba.gov.lv/public/lat/dati1/; nature data management system - http://ozols.daba.gov.lv/pub/Life/ (should be registered user to log in). Data are up-to-date and for most of the datasets there is also spatial dimension available.

Water 2 Reports on water quality are available at https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/udens/udens?id=1141&nid=371.30, however database Udens-2 (http://parissrv.lvgmc.lv) has point-source water pollution data. Links to the Eionet Central Data Repository (http://cdr.eionet.europa.eu) are provided to access specific data on the water, wastewater quality.

Chemicals 1 Limited data on chemical pollution is available at https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/kimiskas-vielas-un-maisijumi/kimiskas-vielas-un-maisijumi?id=1024&nid=370 & national PRTRs (http://arcims.lvgma.gov.lv:8082/prtr/viz.jsp?lang=en). However, PRTRs visualisation is hard to navigate and sort our necessary information (similar information is available at E-PRTR - http://prtr.ec.europa.eu/#/areaoverview).

Industrial 2 Information on polluted sites31 is available and visualised regionally. Radioactive objects - https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/radiacijas-objekti/radiacijas-objekti?id=2065&nid=1022

Waste 2 Statistics on municipal, hazardous and radioactive waste is available at https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/atkritumi/atkritumi?id=1115&nid=367. Latest statistical reports on waste are available from 2017 providing also regional and sectoral dimensions.

Horizontal legislation

1 Latvia has stopped publishing environmental indicator reports.

30 A state limited liability company “ Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre,”,, Compilations of water statistics, https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/udens/udens-statistikas-apkopojumi/udens-statistikas-apkopojumi?id=1204&nid=432 31 A state limited liability company “ Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre,”,, Register of contaminated and potentially contaminated sites, https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/piesarnoto-un-potenciali-piesarnoto-vietu-registrs/piesarnoto-un-potenciali-piesarnoto-vietu-registrs?id=1527&nid=373

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Most of the environmental data is collected and provided by the state limited liability company ‘Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre’, but nature related data is managed by the Nature Conservation Agency. Most of the information is freely available, but navigation and the searching option could be significantly improved. There is also limited data interpretation available for easy use and understanding. According to the Eionet report32, Latvia and seven other EU member-states managed to achieve a final score of 90 % or above indicating relatively timely and high-quality data deliveries across all covered data flows.

5) Does the Member State maintain public databases with detailed information on projects requiring EIA? Does this database contain technical background and documentation to facilitate detailed public analysis of the projects?

A database with the information on the projects requiring EIA is maintained by Environment State Bureau and is available online33. The database contains a brief description of the project and provides information on public participation and access to all the documents issued by the Environment State Bureau in regard to this case (Programmes for EIA and Opinions EIA report). The EIA database is searchable and includes all EIAs. While the EIA for a particular project is still active, the database also contains links for access to EIA reports that shall be publicly available on the internet home page of the initiator or the authorised person for at least three months or until the day when the relevant state institution, the Cabinet or local government has taken a decision on the intended activity. Information on public participation in EIAs and initial impact assessments are also available at the State environmental service website34.

6) Is the provision of environmental information free of charge or are fees applied? If so, are fees applied in all cases and for all categories of user? Is a charge made for access to some or all spatial data sets?

According to the requirements of the Article 11, Paragraph 2 of the Environmental Protection Law, access to environmental information collected and aggregated from state financing and environmental information included in public databases is free of charge. Should additional processing or preparation be required for the provision of the information, a fee can be set. If the fee is set, the applicant is informed of its amount, and indication should also be given in cases where this fee can be waived. The amount of payment for paid services for the provision of information by institutions is prescribed by the Cabinet of Minister's regulation35. There is no cap on the size of the payment, but the costs could not be considered to be discouraging to applications. Paid services are as follows:

issuing of information from the archive of an institution;

the preparation and issuing of information from the databases of an institution;

32 EEA (2018), Eionet core data flows 2017, https://www.eea.europa.eu/about-us/countries-and-eionet/eionet-data-flows/eionet-core-data-flows-2017 33 Projekti, http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/ivn/projekti 34 Valsts vides dienests, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/sabiedribas-lidzdaliba/ 35 Regulation No. 940 “Regulations regarding Paid Services for the Provision of Information”, dated 21 November 2006. https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/148617-regulations-regarding-paid-services-for-the-provision-of-information

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the preparation and issuing of a copy or duplicate of documented information, if the amount of the relevant information is larger than 20 pages.

For example, the price of a copy of one A4 format page from an institutional inventory document is EUR 0.09.

7) How long does/should it take to respond to requests for information? (i) in law; (ii) in practice. According to Article 5, Paragraph 3 of the Law on Submissions36 an institution shall provide a reply on the merits within a reasonable period of time, taking into account the urgency of solving the issue referred to in the submission, but not later than within one month after receipt of the submission. If a submission relates to other institution, the institution which has received a submission shall, not later than within seven working days after receipt of the relevant submission, forward the submission completely or in any part thereof to the competent institution and inform the private person thereof. The usual practice of the public institutions is to respond to the requests for information within the given timeframe, but usually, it is at the end of the term. Consultations with environmental NGOs reveal many cases when response from the state or municipal authority are not received or the authority do not respond to the substance of the request.

8) How many information requests are submitted annually (using the most recent year for which data are available)? What percentage of the requests were (i) fully satisfied, with access granted/information provided? (ii) partially satisfied? Is data publicly available on these questions?

Information on the number of information requests is not publicly available. In its response, the MoEPRD stated that it does not separately list data on environmental information requests. A state limited liability company ‘Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre’ does not work on the basis of requests for publicly available information on their website; however, LEGMC have statistics on visit count for the LEGMC website. The average number of views on environmental information are 124,000 views per year.

9) Please follow the scenario in which a citizen of the assessed country tries to access a specific piece of environmental data:

Scenario 1

1. Identify the second most populous city in your country

Daugavpils (population ~100,000)

2. Search for ‘nitrogen oxides emissions’ and ‘City X’, where ‘City X’ is the name of the second-largest city in the Member State by population size. (or pollution levels, translated into the national language). If the search is not conclusive, look at the information provided by the relevant inspectorates or other bodies in charge of environmental monitoring. Please document how many steps were required to access the information and if the process was easy or somewhat difficult.

36 Law on Submissions - https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/164501-law-on-submissions

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3. Is the data on the daily pollution levels available?

There is no air quality monitoring station in Daugavpils37. Daily pollution concertation levels are available only for Riga, Liepāja, Ventspils, Rezekne38.

4. Are trends presented? For the above-mentioned towns, there are trends available for various pollutants. There are also monthly data available – showing if the set thresholds are exceeded.

5. Is the data explained in an understandable manner?

There is no data explanation provided. However, for the above-mentioned towns monthly reports provide simplified data explanation – if the pollution levels exceed or do not exceed allowed concentrations: https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/noverojumi/gaisa-kvalitate/ikmenesa-informacija-par-gaisa-kvalitati-latvijas-pilsetas/septembris-2018?&id=2354&nid=619

6. Is information on the applicable legal standards provided?

No

7. Are instances of excessive pollution levels highlighted (if applicable)?

For the above-mentioned towns, there is monthly data available – showing if the set fresh holds are overreached.

8. Link to the source of information https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/gaiss/gaisa-kvalitate/gaisa-kvalitate?id=1036&nid=387 Authorised users can also access more detailed information from the emission database.

9. Name of the entity providing the information

State limited liability company ‘Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre’

Scenario 2

1. Identify the largest population centre in the Member State, and find information on the River Basin Management Plan that is relevant to it for the 2016-2021 period, prepared under Directive 2000/60/EC (Water Framework Directive, WFD39).

Riga

2. We suggest an initial search by the name of the relevant city (e.g. Dublin), combined with terms such as ‘water quality plan’, or ‘water management plan’. If this fails to identify the relevant RBMP, then search for ‘River Basin Management Plan’ with the name of the city. Finally, if the plan has not been located, use tools such as the Commission’s page of information on status of implementation of the WFD in Member States40

37 The regulation on air quality state that measurements are to be conducted not in accordance with the population size but in those places where there are air quality problems. Every 5 years the LEGMC conducts and evaluation of the situation in Latvia and determines which cities are included based on this assessment. 38 A state limited liability company “Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre”, Operational information – Air Quality, https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/noverojumi/gaisa-kvalitate/operativa-informacija/gaisa-operativa-info?id=1127&nid=469 39 Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, OJ L 327, 22.12.2000 40 See EC, Status of implementation of the WFD in the Member States, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/participation/map_mc/map.htm

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3. Was the plan accessible under terms a member of the public might use? If not, was it accessible using a search for ‘River Basin Management Plan’ and the city name? If not, how was the information identified?

Yes, the water basin management plans flood risk management plans are accessible - https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/udens/udens-apsaimniekosana-/upju-baseinu-apgabalu-apsaimniekosanas-plani-/upju-baseinu-apgabalu-apsaimniekosanas-plani-un-pludu-riska-parvaldiba?id=1107&nid=424

4. Is a summary of key points of the plan available?

No

5. Does the plan provide contact points for finding more information, with a number of different communication methods? (eg email, phone, post)

Contact information (web link, e-mail address, phone number and postal address) is provided in the plan41 (page 209). There are also consultative bodies42 for each of the plans and MoEPRD serves as a secretariat for river basin management boards’ consultative boards.

6. Does the plan include a summary of responses to consultation, with information on how they were taken into account?

Yes, all the public comments and responses from the public consultations are available43.

10) What sources of information on implementation of the SDGs is available in the Member

State?

Is there a single source of information on the country’s performance in respect of the indicators for the SDGs?

Yes, during the High Level Political Forum on sustainable development, which took place on 9-18 July, 2018 at the UN headquarters in New York, Latvia presented its Voluntary National Review (VNR), which outlines Latvia’s progress in attaining the SDGs and addressing the sustainable development challenges for post 202044. The Review, agreed by stakeholders in a participatory process and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, sets the baseline for all 17 SDGs. It serves as a useful reference and measurement tool for all stakeholders and public institutions as they further integrate the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development both in Latvia and globally.

Body making the information available /hosting the website

Cross-sectoral Coordination Center

Is it easy to find online? Yes

41 A state limited liability company “ Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre”, Daugava River Basin Management Plan - 2016-2021, https://www.meteo.lv/fs/CKFinderJava/userfiles/files/Vide/Udens/Ud_apsaimn/UBA%20plani/Daugavas_upju_baseinu_apgabala_apsaimniekosanas_plans_2016_-2021_g__final.pdf 42 A state limited liability company “ Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre,”,, River Basin Consultative Councils, https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/vide/udens/udens-apsaimniekosana-/upju-baseinu-apgabalu-konsultativas-padomes/upju-baseinu-apgabalu-konsultativas-padomes?id=1175&nid=425 43 A state limited liability company “ Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre”, Summary of received comments on the River Daugava Basin Management Plan 2016-2021, https://www.meteo.lv/fs/CKFinderJava/userfiles/files/Vide/Udens/Ud_apsaimn/UBA%20plani/Sabiedriskas_apsp_apkopojums_Daugava.pdf 44 Voluntary National Review 2018 – Latvia, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/memberstates/latvia

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Source (internet link) https://www.pkc.gov.lv/lv/valsts-attistibas-planosana/ano-ilgtspejigas-attistibas-merki https://www.pkc.gov.lv/en/Latvia-SDG-Review

3.1.3 Reliability/quality of information (including the extent to which policy is informed by science and other evidence)

We also looked at the quality of information available in the Member State, the sort of information relied on in environmental impact assessments, and mechanisms to ensure good quality information is available for environmental policymaking (such as independent scientific advisory bodies). Comparable information was difficult to find in this area.

1) What information is available about the reliability and quality of information on the environment used in policy and lawmaking in the Member State?

The principle of good legislation, which defines the procedural and quality requirements for the drafting and adoption of draft laws, is established in the Latvian legal system45. However, the use of environmental information and data in decision making in Latvia is weak. Many legal acts are a political compromise, not fact-based decisions, e.g. environmental tax rates do not reflect environmental externalities, but are the result of a compromise decision by the government46. There is also a significant impact from lobbying on law-making, e.g. Delna (Transparency international, Latvia’s branch) in its report concludes, that ‘the main lobbying transparency issues are related to legislative initiatives that have influence over economic interests of certain parties or are within highly regulated industries (such as energy). Public procurement procedures are subjected to non-transparent lobbying attempts at all levels of public administration.’47

2) What scientific bodies cooperate with national authorities in environmental matters for instance in the area of nature protection and waste? Does the national environment ministry have an independent source of scientific advice on key issues?

The MoEPRD does not have any scientific institution under its supervision. The necessary research is usually contracted through the public procurement process. According to the data from Latvian Procurement Monitoring Bureau, in 2017 MoEPRD spent EUR 2.8 million on research, most of it (EUR 2.2 million) with the Hydrogeological Institute of the University of Daugavpils.

3) What sources of information do public authorities rely on in developing impact assessments? The requirement to carry out an impact assessment (IA) is set out in Instruction of Cabinet of Ministers No. 19 ‘The Order of Initial Impact Assessment of Draft Legislation’, dated December 15, 2009. It provides details for undertaking ex-ante assessment, with Article 2 listing a number of principles that need to be taken into account. These include timeliness, systemic character, comprehensiveness, proportionality, objectivity, evidence-based decision-making as well as cost and benefits assessment.

45 Pleps, Jānis. "The Principle of Good Legislation." The Quality of Legal Acts and its Importance in Contemporary Legal Space (2012): 16. https://www.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/lu_portal/apgads/PDF/Book_LU-JF_konference-2012.pdf 46 Juruss M., Brizga J. (2017). Assessment of the Environmental Tax System in Latvia. NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, 10(2), 135-154. https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/nispa/10/2/article-p135.xml 47 Delna (2018) Transparency of Lobbying in Latvia, http://delna.lv/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/National-Report_LLL_Latvia_EN.pdf

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Consultation48 revealed that the IA procedure is consistently applied to all Latvian legislation and policy. The quality of the final IA is sometimes lacking and in some instances, specialists are not sufficiently involved. Indeed, the final output of the IA is enough to satisfy the requirements of the legislation and no more. With regard to the Parliament, the IA fails to take into account amendments proposed in the Parliament, which is a particular concern as no quality management or indeed IA procedure exists within Parliament. Due to the rotation of civil servants, there is often a loss of internal IA expertise. However, most of the legal acts do not have any environmental impact assessment attached as a particular document. In cases when it exists, existing environmental data (from databases mentioned above) or independent studies are used.

4) What was the timeliness and quality of data reported to EIONET in 2016?

Latvia’s reporting performance to Eionet in 2016 was 93%49,50, which is above the 85% EU28 median. This is taking into account both the timeliness and quality of data.

48 Study on the potential of impact assessments to support environmental goals in the context of the European Semester, EPRD, RPA (2015), http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/green_semester/pdf/IA%20Study%20Final%20Report.pdf 49 A reporting performance of 100% would indicate timely and high quality data deliveries across all covered data flows. 50 European Environment Agency (2017), Eionet core data flows 2016, Table 1, https://www.eea.europa.eu/about-us/countries-and-eionet/eionet-data-flows/eionet-core-data-flows-2016

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3.2 Participation

Wide participation in decision-making, including by a broad range of stakeholders, members of the public, and civil society groups, can contribute significantly to ensuring that policy decisions take into account a full range of facts, and that decisions have a broad base of support. We looked in particular at how Member States enabled public participation, and at related questions such as: public confidence in institutions; individuals’ sense of their ability to influence environmental outcomes; and equitability and inclusiveness of environmental policymaking.

3.2.1 Public participation

Our questions on public participation focused on how Member States implemented EU legislation on public participation in decisions on plans and programmes; what additional action Member States took to encourage public participation; and information on the extent to which the public in practice is involved in decision-making.

1) How does the assessed Member State regulate public participation in decision-making in compliance with Directive 2003/35/EC 51 relating to specific sectors and activities? Please list the relevant acts. Suggested length: 1 page.

Public participation in Latvia is prescribed by several legal acts (the Environmental Protection Law, the Law on Pollution, the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment, the Spatial Development Planning Law) and Cabinet of Ministers Regulations: No. 157 ‘Procedure for Strategic Assessment of Environmental Impact’ (23 March 2004), No. 83 ‘Procedure for Assessment of Environmental Impact of Proposed Activity’ (25 January 2011), No. 91 ‘Procedure for Issue of Proposed Activity’s Technical Regulations by Regional Environmental Board when no Environmental Assessment Is required’ (17 February 2004), No. 1082 ‘Application Procedure for A, B and C Category Polluting Activities and Issue of A and B Category Polluting Activities Permits’ (30 November 2010), No. 532 ‘Regulations regarding the Procedures for Industrial Accident Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction Measures’ (19 July 2005), No. 300 ‘Assessment Procedure of Impact on European Specially Protected Nature Territories (NATURA 2000)’ (19 April 2011), No. 686 ‘Regulations on Contents and Preparation Process of Specially Protected Nature Territories’ Nature Protection Plan’ (9 October 2007), No. 711 ‘Regulations on Municipality Spatial Development Planning Documents’ (16 October 2012), No. 3 ‘Railway Construction Regulations’ (2 January 2008), No. 240 ‘General Regulations for Spatial Development Planning, Land Use and Building’ (30 April 2013), and No. 331 ‘Proposed Construction Public Discussions Procedure’ (22 May 2007).

2) In addition to legal requirements, does the assessed Member State further facilitate public engagement in environmental policymaking through non-financial means (for example, through informal consultation mechanisms, public fora, etc) and if so how?

The decision-making system in Latvia is transparent and open to public participation from the point at which a draft law, draft regulations and policy documents are circulated between ministries in preparation for review by the cabinet. At this stage, experts and NGOs have the opportunity to provide input on their own initiative.52

51 Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment and amending with regard to public participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC, OJ L 156 , 25.06.2003 52 SGI 2017 http://www.sgi-network.org/docs/2017/country/SGI2017_Latvia.pdf

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Article 12 of the Cabinet Regulation on the Annotations to the Legal Acts53 lists all the areas of impact to be considered when assessing impacts of the regulation (including the impact on the environment). However, in practice, these assessments put the main emphasis on the economic impacts and budgetary impact of the regulation. Annotation to the proposed legal act should also list public engagement activities encouraging public participation in decision-making. All the draft planning documents54 and draft legal acts55 are listed on the webpage of the MoEPRD for submitting comment and opinions. Planning documents and draft legal acts are also discussed in different (in most cases multi-stakeholder) working groups56. One of the tools for the more efficient NGO participation in the environmental decision-making is Environmental Consultative Council57 consisting of 20 annually elected environmental NGO representatives. It has been in place since 2003 and is actively involved in discussions related to environmental legislation, but also related topics, e.g. energy, agriculture, forestry policies. Public participation in EIA and SEA is facilitated by the State Environmental Bureau through its webpage – listing all the public hearings58,59. However, the MoERD on its webpage lists information only on the SEAs initiated by MoERD itself. To promote and encourage public participation several initiatives are included in the Second National Action Plan of Latvia60 of Open Government Partnership Initiative, e.g.:

Promote access to the public administration data in form of open data;

Single portal61 for the drafting and harmonisation of draft legislative acts and public participation in producing the draft legislative acts. This portal has been used to initiate several environment-related proposals, e.g. introduction of the deposit refund system for the separate collection of beverage packaging;

Uniform platform for the websites of the public institutions and information. Since 2012, draft documents have been published on a governmental website62 so as to give all interested stakeholders an opportunity to review and comment on potential legislation;

Establish a sustainable model of financing NGOs;

Provide a possibility for the online collection of signatures on referenda63;

Development of the draft law on protection of whistle blowers.

53 Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia instruction No.4, https://likumi.lv/ta/id/54234-kartiba-kada-aizpildama-normativa-akta-projekta-anotacija 54 Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Draft Development planning documents, http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/lidzd/attistibas_planosanas_dokumentu_projekti/ 55 Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/likumdosana/normativo_aktu_projekti/?doc=2822 56 Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Councils and commissions, http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/lidzd/pad/?doc=737 57 Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Environmental consultancy board, http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/lidzd/pad/vkp/ 58 State Environmental Bureau, Announcements, http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/strategiskais-ivn/pazinojumi 59 State Environmental Bureau, http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/ivn/informacija 60 Open Government Partnership Initiative (2016), Second National Action Plan Of Latvia, https://www.mk.gov.lv/sites/default/files/editor/ogp_2_plans_aktualizets_05.12.2016_eng_clean.pdf 61 Manabalss.lv, www.manabalss.lv 62 Polsis.mk.gov.lv, http://polsis.mk.gov.lv/ 63 www.latvija.lv

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3) To what extent does the public participate in practice?64 If quantitative information is available, please provide it; failing that, please provide any qualitative or anecdotal information available.

The governmental website publishing draft legislative documents65 and the website of the MoEPRD do not include the number of inputs received. Annotations of draft legal acts usually refer only to the consultations with the social partners (mostly trade unions and the Chamber of Commerce), but draft legal acts regarding the environment are usually coordinated with the Environmental Consultancy Board.

4) What is the level of NGO membership? What is the attitude of the public towards the NGOs and the level of trust in NGOs? What is the NGO influence on national decision-making?

In Latvia, 6% of the respondents to the Flash Eurobarometer in 201366 answered that they were a member of an organisation with a specific economic, social, environmental, cultural or sporting interest, which is lower than the EU27 average of 20%. 58% of the respondents ‘agree’ that NGOs and associations can influence decision making at the national level and 50% ‘agree’ that they share values or interest of some of these organisations and trust them to act in the right way to influence political decision making.

5) What share of European barometer respondents agrees or disagrees with the statement: ‘As an individual you can play a role in protecting the environment in (our country)’?

The Eurobarometer67 figures from 2017 show that in Latvia, 76% of respondents agree that an individual can play a role in protecting the environment. The percentage agreeing is the same as in 2014, but there has been a clear shift from ‘Tend to agree’ to ‘Totally agree’, which can be seen as an improvement compared to the 2014 Eurobarometer results. The confidence level is significantly lower than the EU average (45% totally agree, and 42% tend to agree with responses to the question-statement).

2017 Evolution 2014-2017

Totally agree 33% +9%

Tend to agree 43% -10%

Tend to disagree 14% =

Totally disagree 7% +1%

Don’t know 3% =

64 Study on the potential of impact assessments to support environmental goals in the context of the European Semester, EPRD, RPA (2015), http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/green_semester/pdf/IA%20Study%20Final%20Report.pdf 65 http://polsis.mk.gov.lv/ 66 European Commission (2013), Flash Eurobarometer 373, Europeans’ Engagement in Participatory Democracy, Q5, p. 33, Q1.2 p. 13, Q1.4 p. 9, https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/publications-other-work/publications/flash-eurobarometer-373-europeans-engagement-participatory-democracy 67 Eurobarometer 2017, Attitudes of European citizens towards the environment on public perception of the extent to which an individual can play a role in protecting the environment. Country files, QD5.1. http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/SPECIAL/surveyKy/2156

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3.2.2 Public participation in planning and permitting processes

European legislation on Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment provides for public participation in those processes. We looked at whether there was evidence on the level of public participation in practice; and used a standard scenario to compare public participation in individual examples of Environmental Impact Assessment.

1) What is the level of public participation in EIA and SEA procedures (please use quantitative data where available, based on procedures which were completed in 2016/17)?

SEB does not collect statistics on the level of public participation in EIA processes, but information on participation is project based. The main source of information on public participation are EIA reports. The Law on Environmental Impact Assessment (Article 17, section 7) stipulates that an initiator (upon having accessed the proposals submitted by the public and the results of the public discussion) shall amend the EIA report by including a report on participation measures of the public and proposals submitted by the public therein - specifying how the submitted proposals are taken into account. Therefore, all EIA reports contain a report on the public consultation process, listing all the submissions (including from private persons, NGOs, different governmental and municipal institutions) and specifying how the submitted proposals are taken into account. After the EIA report is no longer available on the internet, it is available in SEB. In Latvia in 2017, 17 EIA procedures were completed68. To understand the public participation in these EIA processes we looked at the Opinions on EIA reports that were issued by SEB in 2017, because the minutes of all the public hearings were not available. Numbers of participants in these hearings are presented in the following table:

EIA project Initial hearing (number of participants) Hearing on EIA report (number of participants)

1 3 hearings: 5-16 participants 8

2 2 hearings: 9 and 7 participants 6

3 - 9

4 12 19

5 25 4

6 26 31

7 25 10

8 25 4

9 26 31

10 25 10

11 - 0

12 29 29

13 - 39

14 - 18

15 2 4

16 2 hearings: 39 and 47 participants 31

17 11 22

In 2017 SEB issued Opinions on SEA reports for 10 planning documents69. Opinions on SEA reports contain information regarding the opinions and arguments of the interested parties collected during the SEA process; however, these Opinions do not contain information on the number of participants

68 State Environmental Bureau, Projects, http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/ivn/projekti/?status=3&year=2017 69 State Environmental Bureau, Opinions, http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/strategiskais-ivn/atzinumi/?year=2017

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in public hearings. The main source of information on public participation are SEA reports and the minutes of public hearings. SEB does not collect statistics on the level of public participation in SEA processes, but information on participation is case based. According to the Article 20 of the Cabinet of Ministers Regulations N0 157 (23/04/2004)70 – minutes of the public hearing meetings are taken. The developer shall append the minutes of the meeting and attach it to the planning document. According to the Article 8.2 of the Cabinet of Ministers Regulations Nr. 157 (23/04/2004) – the SEA report shall also contain a review of the bodies involved in the preparation of SEA reports, as well as the public participation and its results. The report on the public consultation process is an integral part of SEA reports and is publicly available as long as the SEA report is publicly available. After the SEA report is no longer available on the internet, it is available in SEB. It should also be noted that the public can participate in the EIA and SEA by submitting written comments, not only participating in the hearings. Standard scenario

Please identify a project subject to EIA, prioritising the following criteria: 1. Linked to a TEN-T project71 2. With an overall project value exceeding €10m 3. Impact on Natura 2000 site (or sites) 4. With an EIA carried out in the period since 2013

The project should ideally meet all 4 criteria; if no such projects are available, a project meeting criteria 1, 2 and 3 should be selected; failing that, a TEN-T project with a project value exceeding €10m. Selected project: Rail Baltica - a TEN-T high-speed train connection between Tallinn and Warsaw. An EIA for this project was carried out between 2014 and 201672.

- The level of public participation, and participation by civil society organisations, in the EIA process (number of written responses to consultation; attendance at any public meetings; etc.)

Public Consultations (18 initial consultations and 15 discussions on the EIA report) were carried out in different regions concerning the project. In some regions, the original and final variants use two very different routes, and only because of the compromise sought by the landowners, local business and authorities. Results of the public consultations are summarised in the Decision of the SEB73 - mentioning that in total more than 2000 people participated in all the public meetings (mostly concerned about the possible impact of the project on their property rights). SEB also received more than 600 letters from individuals and organisations. Public participation was also high during the 15 public hearings at the stage of development of the report. However, the Decision of the SEB does not give clarity into whether the public comments were taken into account or not.

- Whether there is publicly available documentation summarising (i) the comments made by stakeholders during the consultation process (ii) a response to them, including any

The EIA did not have a significant impact on the project alternatives because the consultancy doing the EIA - ELLE -consulted while developing project alternatives so that any proposed option would not run counter to environmental requirements. The most obvious example is the Salacgriva

70 Procedures for Carrying Out a Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment: https://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=86512 71 See list at EC, TEN-T Projects by country, https://ec.europa.eu/inea/ten-t/ten-t-projects/projects-by-country 72 State Environmental Bureau, Construction of the European standard public rail infrastructure line "Rail Baltica 2", http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/ivn/projekti/?status=3&id=2426 73 State Environmental Bureau (2016), Opinion No.5, http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/ivn/projekti/?download=119

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changes made to the project as a result of the issues raised.

section, where landowners insisted on an alternative that does not meet environmental requirements; then the planners went through the entire formal process, including the administrative court, to prove that without a positive EIA, the route cannot be confirmed. All the information about the EIA of this project is available on the webpage of SEB74 and ELLE. Information about the comments received during the public consultations is available at the webpage of ELLE75. However, this information is not systematically provided and categorised. There is no official publicly available documentation summarising the comments made by stakeholders during the discussions, or responses to these comments.

2) What information is available on public participation in the EIA decisions? All the Opinions on EIA reports that are issued and published by SEB contain a section on the public consultations, usually describing:

period of the consultations;

how the information about the public consultations have been disseminated;

where and when public hearings took place and how many people participated;

how many written comments were received; the main institutions involved;

main stakeholder concerns related to the project and its environmental impacts;

other relevant information e.g. main obstacles to the consultations. However, according to point 5 of Annex I of the Cabinet of Ministers Regulations Nr. 18 (13/01/2015), – this section of the Opinion on the EIA report shall only contain ‘information regarding the opinions and arguments of the interested parties aggregated during the evaluation process of the intended activity (including regarding the results of the public discussion’. Additional information, including a summary of relevant facts and data (including the level of participation) is included with the aim of convenience and good governance, so that it is easier for the decision makers, the public or the court to pick up the main facts and procedural aspects, if needed.

3.2.3 Public confidence in institutions

The level of public confidence in institutions is likely to be linked to public participation (for example, if a high percentage of the public trusts decision-making institutions, they may feel that their participation in decision-making will have a real influence on outcomes; conversely low levels of trust may be linked to a perceived lack of personal agency). We looked at data from Eurostat and a thinktank survey of environmental governance (the Bertelsmann Sustainable Governance Index) on issues such as public confidence in institutions, and in the independence of the judiciary, as well as on the member state’s executive capacity

1) What is the level of public confidence in public institutions in Latvia?

74 State Environmental Bureau, Construction of the European standard public rail infrastructure line "Rail Baltica 2", http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/ivn/projekti/?status=3&id=2426 75 ELLE (2015), Overview of the Received Comments, http://www.environment.lv/upload/content/11-pielikums-parskats-par-komentariem-un-labojumiem.pdf

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The levels of satisfaction and confidence across public services in Latvia, based on a recent OECD study76, are presented in the table below. Satisfaction and confidence across public services in Latvia (2016)

Institution The share of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

National government 32%

Police 67%

Judicial system 41%

2) What is the country’s score on the Bertelsmann Sustainable Governance Index in respect of executive capacity and executive accountability?

Executive capacity and executive accountability 2015-2016 in Latvia compared to EU2877

Governance Indicator Latvia EU28 average

Executive capacity 7.3 6.1

Executive accountability 5.2 6.3

3) What is the perceived independence of courts and judges among the general public?

The perceived independence of courts and judges in 2018 in Latvia compared to EU2878

Perceived independence of courts and judges Latvia % EU28 average %

Very good 2 11

Fairly good 45 45

Fairly bad 34 22

Very bad 7 10

Don’t know 12 12

3.2.4 Equitability and inclusiveness

Ensuring a broad range of society is represented in institutions, or can get involved in decision-making, can help to maximise public participation. We looked at available evidence on gender balance in environmental administrations and in the judiciary; assessed whether the information provided by environmental administrations was accessible to disabled users; and looked into whether information was provided in recognised minority regional languages (noting that there is a wide variety among Member States in the presence and recognition of regional languages alongside the national language(s)).

76 OECD (2017),Government at a Glance 2017, Latvia fact sheet, p. 4, http://www.oecd.org/gov/government-at-a-glance-22214399.htm 77 Bertelmann Stiftung (2017), Sustainable Governance Indicators, executive capacity and executive accountability, http://www.sgi-network.org/2017/Governance 78 Eurobarometer survey FL461, conducted between 15 and 16 January 2018, Latvia factsheet, p. 1, http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/search/justice/surveyKy/2168

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1a) What is the percentage of women high-level administrators and ministers in public authorities related to environment in the assessed Member State?

In 2017, the percentage of women in high-level decision making positions in the ministries or departments in charge of environment, climate change, transport and energy was 38.5%79. This includes junior and senior ministers as well as level 1 and 2 administrators.

1b) What is the proportion of female professional judges at 1st and 2nd instance courts in 2016? Additional centrally available is made available on the SharePoint. Please copy and paste from this file the information for your country.

In 2016 the proportion of female professional judges at 1st instance courts was 81% and in 2nd instance courts 76%80. This was the best result in the EU.

2) How accessible to people with disabilities are the main governmental websites dedicated to environmental policy and environmental impact assessment?81 Please tick the box if the following elements are included in the tested website (in case you test more than one, please copy this table, an indicative range of a number of websites to be tested is from 1 to 4):

An institution in charge of a website (in English and national language(s))

Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia (Vides aizsardzības un reģionālās attīstības ministrija)

Link to the tested website http://www.varam.gov.lv/eng; http://www.varam.gov.lv/

Date of a test 15.05.2018.

Brief descriptions of most non-text content such as audio and video files, charts, diagrams, and illustrations

Most of the website is text-based but there are some infographics and a special video section - http://www.varam.gov.lv/eng/; http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/video_tiesraide/videoarh

The option of text being read aloud for people who cannot see the screen and for people with reading difficulties

Not available

The option of customised text sizes, the text is resizable up to 200% (press ctrl and + button at the same time, at least twice => see if the menu and text is still there, or maybe it was ‘cut off’) without losing information, using a standard browser

Available

79 European Institute for Gender Equality (2017), Gender Statistics Database, Percentage of men and women in national ministries dealing with environment and climate change, administrators and ministers, http://eige.europa.eu/gender-statistics/dgs/indicator/pa_envenrg_env__wmid_env_nat_envadm/bar/table 80 European Commission (2018), The 2018 EU Justice Scoreboard, Quantitative data, p. 32, figure 41, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/2018_eu_justice_scoreboard_quantitative_data_web_ok.pdf 81 This simplified test of web accessibility requirements for websites based on W3C Web Accessibility Initiative standards gives an indication of the website accessibility by users with disabilities. Please run the test the main governmental websites dedicated to environmental policy and environmental impact assessment (the ones found by the user interested in the given Member State EIA process or wider environmental policy, browsing the internet).

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Institution in charge of a website (in English and national language(s))

A state limited liability company ‘Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre’

Link to the tested website https://www.meteo.lv/, https://www.meteo.lv/en/

Date of a test 15.05.2018.

Brief descriptions of most non-text content such as audio and video files, charts, diagrams, and illustrations

Most of the website is the text-based. However, there are charts available on air quality, meteorology and hydrology82.

Option of text being read aloud for people who cannot see the screen and for people with reading difficulties

Not available

Option of customised text sizes, text is resizable up to 200% (press ctrl and + button at the same time, at least twice => see if the menu and text is still there, or maybe it was ‘cut off’) without losing information, using a standard browser

Available

Institution in charge of a website (in English and national language(s))

The State Environmental Service

Link to the tested website www.vvd.gov.lv; http://www.vvd.gov.lv/eng/

Date of a test 15.05.2018.

Brief descriptions of most non-text content such as audio and video files, charts, diagrams, and illustrations

It has a link to its YouTube channel83 and mobile application Vides SOS.

Option of text being read aloud for people who cannot see the screen and for people with reading difficulties

Not available

Option of customised text sizes, text is resizable up to 200% (press ctrl and + button at the same time, at least twice => see if the menu and text is still there, or maybe it was ‘cut off’) without losing information, using a standard browser

Yes

3) Is information on the environment and environmental policy also available in recognised minority languages?

The Constitution does not formally acknowledge the concept of a recognised minority language, however, the Russian-speaking minority accounts for ~25% of the population. Nevertheless, all the official government information is and must be in Latvian in accordance with requirements of the Official Language Law84 (in some cases also in English). The only environment-related information in the Russian language is provided by some of the Russian language media, including national radio and television broadcasting programmes.

82 A state limited liability company “ Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre,”,, Operational information – Air Quality, https://www.meteo.lv/lapas/noverojumi/gaisa-kvalitate/operativa-informacija/gaisa-operativa-info?id=1127&nid=469 83 YouTube channel of SES: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLAmPQ2SW9iCUXTwI4Pgvaw/feed?activity_view=7 84 Official publication in Latvian and English are available here: https://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=14740; https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/14740-official-language-law

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3.3 Access to justice

Effective legal mechanisms for implementing environmental policy and enforcing environmental legislation are vital to ensuring that the commitments made in legislation are delivered in practice. Sub-sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.3 focus on the role of citizens and environmental associations in using national courts to secure compliance, rather than enforcement action by public authorities, which is dealt with under compliance assurance (section 3.4.) In particular, these sections relate to the conditions under which citizens and their associations can use courts to challenge decisions, acts and omissions of public authorities in order to uphold rights and ensure the fulfilment of obligations. This role is underpinned by access to justice guarantees that are often the result of decisions of the European Court of Justice and that are explained in detail in the Commission's 2017 Notice on access to justice in environmental matters85. These guarantees cover, amongst other things, an entitlement to be informed about the conditions of access to justice (Section 3.3.1); the right to bring cases (standing) and protection against prohibitive costs (Section 3.3.2); and the obtaining of effective remedies if cases are won (Section 3.3.3). Research draws on previous work carried out for the Commission in 201386, particularly the reports for the individual Member States, and aims to assess publicly available information in the Member State on the new legal developments at the EU and national level since 2013, and their effects, including:

New case-law of the Court of Justice as outlined in the 2017 Commission Notice and a number of cases decided since the Notice87;

Any relevant new national legislation on access to justice;

Any relevant new national case-law decisions on access to justice;

The latest information provided to the public on access to justice. We tested the application of access to justice on environmental matters under two standard scenarios, in an attempt to provide comparable assessments across the Member States:

Case 1: A public authority decides to undertake, or approves, an infrastructure project (such as construction of a new road, installation of energy transmission infrastructure, etc) which might have an impact on a Natura 2000 site.

Case 2: The competent authority for air quality legislation has failed to establish an air quality plan for a municipality in breach of EU air quality norms; or an action plan has been adopted but is considered by members of the public or environmental NGOs to be clearly insufficient to reduce the risk of exceeding air quality norms.

3.3.1 Practical information on Access to Justice88

The effectiveness of the provision of access to justice in environmental matters depends upon a number of factors. As recognised in the Aarhus Convention, the public often is unaware of its opportunities for access to justice, and it is therefore important for authorities to facilitate and assist the public, particularly in providing easy access to information about such rights. We therefore surveyed the

85 Footnote text: General Reference is made to Commission Notice on access to justice in environmental matters (2017/C 275/01) and relevant cited case law (page 37) including the additional cases for which there were ECJ judgments until end of 2017, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C:2017:275:FULL&from=EN 86 Darpö I., (2013), country studies: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/access_studies.htm. 87 The following post-Notice cases are relevant to the two scenarios: first, Cases C-196/16 and C-197/16, Comune de Corridonia is relevant to effective remedies, explaining what should happen where an impact assessment was not carried out; second, Case C-470/16, North East Pylon is important in clarifying how courts should deal with issues of litigation costs. 88 See points 202 to 209 of the Commission Notice.

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websites of public authorities to determine whether a member of the public concerned by the given scenarios could easily determine how to get access to justice.

1) Is there transparent and user-friendly communication to members of the public about access to justice in environmental matters provided by the assessed Member State? (YES, NO, TO SOME EXTENT), please explain briefly the reasons behind your judgement. The assessment should cover whether information is clear, precise and up-to-date on legal standing rights, cost exposure and effective remedies for both individuals and environmental associations.

TO SOME EXTENT. There is no special section on Access to Justice on the website of MoEPRD but an information booklet from 2008 on access to justice is available89. However, the judicial administration provides information on different judicial aspects on their website90, including a guide on how to submit a claim before the court of justice. According to the EU Justice Scoreboard 2017, Latvia got maximum scores for the availability of online information about the judicial system for the public.91

2) In your view, does the information you have described in the previous answer make it clear to members of the public how access to justice provisions would apply to each of the two scenarios in the box above?

Despite the available information, it is not easy to prepare all the necessary documentation to submit a case before the court for a person without legal education or experience. This is equally true for both scenarios.

3.3.2 Access to justice (legal standing, costs of procedures in front of the court)

The level of access to justice also depends on what limits exist on who can bring cases to court. The Aarhus Convention requires environmental NGOs and members of the public to be able to bring cases. We assessed the level of implementation in practice of these rights, making use of the standard scenarios referred to above. A further frequent barrier to access to justice is the cost to individuals or NGOs of bringing cases; we looked at costs from the perspective of overall affordability (costs of procedures, legal counsel and experts) as well as the existence of mechanisms to mitigate costs where needed to facilitate wide and non-discriminatory access to justice.

1) Bearing in mind the focus of this section of questions on the scope for individuals and associations to challenge decisions, acts and omissions of public authorities, does the legislation of the assessed Member State contain clear provisions which allow (a) an individual and (b) an environmental association to bring such a legal challenge in environmental matters, enabling a broad range of public interest bodies or individuals to bring cases? (Note that the implementation in practice of such ‘legal standing’ provisions is addressed in question 2)92

89 Grisane, A., Lagzdina, E. (2008), Access to justice in environmental matters, http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/darbibas_veidi/vides_informacija_un_sabiedribas_lidzdaliba/files/text/Darb_jomas/PieejaTiesuVarai_RECbrosura2008_LV.pdf 90 www.tiesas.lv 91 EC (2017) The 2017 EU Justice Scoreboard, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Central Bank, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, COM(2017) 167 final, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/justice_scoreboard_2017_en.pdf , p. 18 92 Sources could include national implementation reports under Aarhus Convention (although note that these may provide an overly favourable interpretation), any national NGO commentary, or Aarhus compliance committee findings/draft findings. Valuable information can also be found in the Darpö I., (2013), 28 country studies: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/access_studies.htm, or the country pages on access to

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According to the NIR 2017 Latvia grants the public, notably individuals and NGOs, a very broad access to justice in environmental cases (actio popularis). In Latvia, everyone has the right to lodge a complaint to the responsible administrative institution or an make an appeal to the administrative court in environmental matters without any other specific conditions, i.e., a complaint may be lodged if a person considers that an administrative decision or a real action, as well as an omission, violates the law protecting the environment and nature, or can create threats of damage or damage to environment. The right to take part in administrative procedures or court procedures is equal for all persons: for natural and legal persons (including non-governmental organisations, national or foreign, of different kinds; political parties, commercial organisations), as well as associations of persons, if such associations demonstrate sufficient organisational unity for achieving certain objectives. Generally, state and municipal institutions are not allowed to lodge appeals against each other to the administrative court. It is allowed only in exceptional circumstances when decisions or omissions of the administrative institution affect the state or municipality like any other (private) person. This wide approach to the right to lodge complaints and to appeal is recognised similarly for all kinds of environmental issues, including environmental impact assessment matters or Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit procedures. The right to lodge complaints and appeals purely in environmental interests is the only exception where the so-called actio popularis (right to defend common interests) is allowed in administrative institutions or at the court. In any other kind of legal disputes the person must prove the infringement of his/her own subjective rights in order to have a right to lodge a complaint or to appeal to the court. According to Article 29 of the Administrative Procedure Law, in cases provided for by law, public authorities have the right to submit a complaint to an administrative institution or an appeal to a court in order to defend the rights and legal interests of private persons. This may also include the right of a private person to live in a benevolent environment. According to the Ombudsman Law, the Ombudsman has the right, upon identification of a violation, to defend the rights and interests of a private individual at the court, if it is necessary for the public interest. In addition, according to the Office of the Prosecutor Law, the prosecutors have the right to lodge an appeal to the court if other measures, i.e., the warning or the protest, or the submission (see Chapter VI), has not been successful93.

2) If the legislation of the Member State does not provide a clear right for individuals or environmental associations to bring legal challenges against public authorities on environmental issues (see question 1 above), what information is available on whether the courts in practice follow the case-law of the European Court of Justice (for example, on legal

environmental justice on the Commission’s European Justice portal, at: https://dg-justice-portal-demo.eurodyn.com/ejusticeportal/content_access_to_justice_in_environmental_matters-300-en.do?init=true (although note that not all Member States are covered). 93 European Justice (2014), Access to justice in environmental matters – Latvia, https://dg-justice-portal-demo.eurodyn.com/ejusticeportal/content_access_to_justice_in_environmental_matters-300-lv-en.do?member=1#IV

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standing related to air pollution and nature cases such as those described in the two scenarios)

94? There are no restrictive standing rules.

3) If data can be identified from national court records on the number of applications for judicial review on environmental issues by citizens or NGOs, and on the number of cases where legal standing was recognised or refused, it may be useful to calculate a percentage; if this approach is taken, please provide clear references to the sources of the data used.

Despite the combination of broad standing rules and low costs, there have been few environmental cases brought before the court of justice in Latvia. Various possible explanations for that result were provided; an important one seems to be the quality and functioning of environmental NGOs. Well-functioning NGOs are (according to Latvian respondents) able to bundle and channel environmental complaints, rather than creating excessive litigation95. Court decision collections are published regularly and decisions are available from the court authorities. An electronic database of court decisions is available for a fee96. Constitutional Court decisions are available free of charge online97 (there are four decisions concerning environmental rights). Court adjudications are available free of charge online98. Case-law collections and adjudications in administrative, civil and criminal cases are accessible free of charge at the website99 of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Latvia100. According to this database, there have been 27 court rulings on environmental rights in Latvia since 2010. The State Environmental Service gathers statistics on the progress of appealed administrative acts in administrative courts; available online101. According to this information, between 2005 and 2017, 146 decisions of SES were appealed in the administrative court.

94 See for more information section 2 on legal standing in the Commission notice on access to justice in environmental matters: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C:2017:275:FULL&from=EN 95 METRO (2013) Possible initiatives on access to justice in environmental matters and their socio-economic implications, DG ENV.A.2/ETU/2012/0009rl, Final Report, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/pdf/access%20to%20justice%20-%20economic%20implications%20-%20study%202013.pdf 96 www.lursoft.lv/lsdb 97 www.satv.tiesa.gov.lv/en/cases/ 98 www.tiesas.lv 99 http://at.gov.lv/lv/judikatura/tiesu-prakses-apkopojumi/ 100 UNECE (2014), National Implementation Report – Latvia, https://apps.unece.org/ehlm/pp/nir/listnr.asp?YearID=2014&YearID=2017&wf_Countries=LV&wf_Q=QA&Quer_ID=&LngIDg=EN&YearIDg=2017 101 http://www.vpvb.gov.lv/lv/publikacijas

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4) For each of the two hypothetical scenarios identified in the box above, what evidence is available on how the standing rules could be expected to be applied in practice?102,103 (ie restrictively, or broadly)? In particular, please draw on any similar cases which have been brought.

Case 1: This case is similar to the one regarding the route of the Rail Baltica high-speed train project. Administrative District Court on 1 August 2017 rejected a lawsuit in which a group of private individuals and the NGO ‘Land, Nature and People’ demanded a change in the route of the Rail Baltica railway line in Latvia. The Rail Baltica route in Latvia, including the disputed B2-2 section, which the local authority of Salacgriva proposed replacing with the alternative C5 route, has been approved by the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The local authority of Salacgriva objected to the B2-2 route because it was too close to the settlements. The Salacgriva Regional Council proposed an alternative route (C5), which would run through a Natura 2000 reserve in the Vitrupe Valley, but C5 was not recognized as admissible by SEB and was not accepted in the final decision by the Cabinet of Ministers, which eventually approved the B2-2 route, ordering at the same time consultations with the European Commission on possibilities to lay the rail tracks along the C5 route. While hearing the lawsuit, the court concluded that the plaintiffs wanted the government’s decision to be corrected, and not invalidated. The court also found that the project’s environmental impact assessment had been carried out properly and in line with legislative requirements. The study has correctly concluded that the C5 route, which crosses the Natura 2000 reserve in the Vitrupe Valley, has to be rejected because of the existence of alternative routes. The judge said in the verdict that the court understands the concerns of local residents whose properties and lives would be affected by the Rail Baltica project, but that in this particular case, public benefits from the railroad project and environmental considerations had to be given precedence104. Case 2: The European Commission (hereafter - EC) on 29 January 2010 warned Latvia that if the air quality does not improve actions could be brought against the state, and a fine could be imposed. In the response to this warning, Latvia promised to implement a bunch of measures to improve the existing poor air quality in Riga City. However, these turned out to be mere promises, as funds for the implementation of needed measures were not allocated.

102 Prof. Dr. Schmidt, A., Stracke, B.K., Prof. Dr. Wegener, B., Alexander, F., Dr. Zschiesche, M., (2017), The legal debate on access to justice for environmental NGOs A discussion of arguments and positions concerning access to justice for environmental NGOs as well as a legal comparative contribution to the further discussion of access to justice for environmental NGOs Summary and English appendices (national reports) (France, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Sweden ) Publisher: Umweltbundesamt, (German Environment Agency), https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/pp/a.to.j/AnalyticalStudies/UBA_Legal_debate_A2J_for__EnvNGOs_EN_Summary.pdf 103 Darpö I., (2013), Effective Justice? Synthesis report of the study on the Implementation of Articles 9.3 and 9.4 of the Aarhus Convention in the Member States of the European Union, and 28 country studies http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/access_studies.htm 104 The Baltic Course (2017), First instance court rejects Latvians’ demand to change Rail Baltica route, http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/transport/?doc=131819

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The EC sent another letter reminding that Latvia has not been meeting its commitments with regard to EU regulations and suggested coming up with a new action plan to boost air quality by 11 June 2011. The fine could reach up to half a million euro, if Latvia did not succeed in convincing the EC it was carrying out strict measures to improve air quality, the minimum fine to be imposed hits 75,000 euros, with penalty payment for delays reaching between EUR 493 and EUR 29,568 a day, since the day the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union was announced up to the moment the violation is done away. In 2014, the registered level of particle concentration in the air exceeded the norm 20 times. As a response and the pressure from the MoEPRD, the Riga Council Housing and Environment Department drafted an action programme to improve the air quality in the city for the time period of 2016 - 2020105. An interactive emission release and transfer map106 was developed and people can subscribe to propose amendments if the emissions are exceeding thresholds. It provides cleaning curbs, when the snow melts, and watering streets in the summer time. Currently, the air quality has slightly improved, but in many cases PM and NO2 pollution levels are still exceeded107. If Riga had not have developed and started implementation of its air quality improvement plan, citizens or NGOs could have brought Riga City Council to the court for failing to provide a healthy environment. Article 6 of the Environmental Protection Law clearly states that each private person, also associations, organisations and groups of persons (hereinafter - public) has the right to request that the public authorities and local governments, officials or private persons terminate such acts or omissions, which deteriorate the quality of the environment, damage human health or endangers life, legal interests or the property thereof. Article 89 of the APL defines the concept of Actual Action of an Institution, which could also be the inaction of the institution, if the institution in accordance with the norms of law had or has a duty to perform some action. As the right to a clean environment is clearly defined in the Constitution and it’s also the function of the municipality to provide it, a claim for failure to include sufficient measures in an air quality plan and implement them can still be submitted to the courts on the basis of an individual or NGO. Such a claim is likely to be accepted by the courts and the court could order the municipality to take necessary steps to minimise air pollution in the city.

5) What steps has the Member State taken to implement the requirements of the Aarhus Convention on affordability of access to justice in environmental matters? What is the nature of the costs faced by parties in bringing such cases (including not just court fees, but also the potential costs of hiring legal advice, and the risk of having to pay for the other side’s costs in the event of losing)?

Administrative procedures in institutions are free of charge in Latvia. However, if the person submits an appeal to the administrative court, he/she should take account of state fees. Both in administrative and court procedures the person has to cover his/her own expenses:

105 ELLE (2016), Riga City Air Quality Improvement Program 2016-2020, http://www.environment.lv/upload/content/ricibas-programma-sabiedriskajai-apspriesanai-f240816.pdf 106 ELLE, Interactive Riga city air quality map, https://elle.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=029543d39ae441b9a011c385465f66b6 107 Riga City Council, http://gmsd.riga.lv/brivibas-iela

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1) remuneration to a representative or legal advisor (if the person has involved such a representative; a lawyer is not mandatory); if the administrative institution (or the court consequently) finds that the person (addressee of the decision, natural person only) is in a difficult financial situation and that the particular administrative matter is complicated, it may decide that remuneration to a representative of this person, within regulated frameworks, shall be paid from the State budget.

2) payment to experts (if the person has involved any on his/her own initiative); the State budget will cover the remuneration paid only to experts assigned by the court’s decision.

According to the Article 124 of the APL, state fees are as follows:

- For the first instance administrative court, the applicant should pay a state fee in the amount of EUR 30;

- For the appeal of the court of first instance’s judgement is EUR 60; - A deposit payment for submitting a cassation complaint before the Supreme Court is EUR 70; - The deposit payment for requesting injunctive relief or to ancillary complaints on procedural

decisions is EUR 15; - The deposit payment for matters de novo in connection with newly discovered facts is EUR

15 .

The amount of the state fee is the same for all categories of administrative cases. According to Article 128, Paragraph 3 of the APL the court, taking into account the financial situation of a natural person, may decrease the amount of the fee or exempt the person from the obligation to pay the fee. Low-income earners can apply for State-provided legal assistance, including representation at the court.

Expenses related to the legal aid or expert-examinations are not regulated and will be dependent mainly on the market situation, the complexity of the case or the factual circumstances examined by experts.

In the judgment, the court will order a reimbursement of the state fee: if the appeal against the administrative decision or omission has been successful fully or in part, the court will order the defendant (the State or municipality thereof) to reimburse the state fee to the claimant; if the appeal has not been successful, the claimant will not recover the state fee paid. The same principle applies to deposit payments: the claimant will get back the deposit payment in case his/her cassation complaint (or request for injunctive relief, ancillary complaint or de novo review) has been successful. The court’s decision on the remuneration of expenses does not cover other kinds of expenses. Thus, any other expenses, except state fees and deposit payments, incurred by the participants, are not recovered. However, if the appeal against the administrative decision has been successful, the claimant consequently may claim the defendant to recover all damages caused by the unlawful decision, and this may include previous payments to a legal advisor or experts.108

Fees for lawyers and experts can be high and only a physical person can reclaim these fees in case of successful appeal. Therefore it could be complicated for NGOs to ensure the necessary funding to ensure a successful case.

108 European Justice (2014), Access to justice in environmental matters – Latvia, https://dg-justice-portal-demo.eurodyn.com/ejusticeportal/content_access_to_justice_in_environmental_matters-300-lv-en.do?member=1#IV

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3.3.3 Effective remedies109

A final element in the effectiveness of the right to challenge decisions on environmental issues is the sort of decisions that Courts can make. We therefore looked at the availability and use by Courts of a range of legal remedies in environmental cases.

1) If the public authority loses a case, what sorts of things can the Courts decide to do, or require public authorities to do, in order to put right the failure by the public authority (‘remedies’). Examples can include preventing the authority from implementing its decision, requiring it to reconsider its decision and reach a fresh decision, requiring it to take action without specifying the action, or requiring it to take specific action.

During the court procedure, the NGOs or physical persons may ask for the same procedural solutions, including injunctive relief and interim measures. The APL provides for a person’s right to compensation if the authority’s administrative act or activity has resulted in damages. Article 93 of the APL provides that indemnification of losses can be claimed simultaneously with an appeal of the administrative act to a higher authority or, if this is not possible, simultaneously with an appeal of an administrative act in court. Indemnification can also be claimed simultaneously with an appeal of an authority’s action. The APL provides private persons with a simplified and efficient compensation claims procedure. If a person considers that the administrative decision, action or omission has caused financial loss or personal harm (including moral harm), he/she can claim compensation before an administrative court. The claim can be included in the written appeal against the administrative decision, or, if compensation has not been claimed concurrently with the appeal of the administrative decision, a separate claim for compensation can be submitted after the final judgment on the unlawfulness of the decision (action) has been delivered. Article 22 of the APL, provides for injunctive relief that can be applied at every stage of the case. According to Article 195, Paragraph 1 of the APL if there is a reason to believe that the contested administrative act or consequences of the non-issue of an administrative act might cause significant harm or damages, the prevention or compensation of which would be considerably encumbered or would require incommensurate resources, and if examination of information at the disposal of the court reveals that the contested act is prima facie illegal, the court may, pursuant to the reasoned request of an applicant, take a decision on injunctive relief. When an administrative decision is appealed to the administrative court, the action submitted to the court generally has a suspensive effect, i.e., the operation of the administrative act is suspended from the day the application is submitted. For example, if a person submits an action against a building permit, the construction of the disputed building is not allowed during the time of proceedings. However, the APL sets out several exemptions when the contested administrative decision may be executed notwithstanding the appeal to the court. The main exemptions are as follows: 1. the administrative act imposes a duty to pay tax, duties or another payment into the State or a

local government budget, except penalties; 2. it is provided for by other laws, for example, if a person has submitted an appeal against the

conditions of the permit for polluting activities after the general one-month deadline for appealing administrative decisions, the appeal will not suspend the operation of the permit;

3. the institution, setting out grounds for the urgency of execution in respect of the specific matter, has specifically provided in the administrative act that it shall be executed without delay;

109 See Section 4 of the Commission Notice, which addresses a range of effective remedies.

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4. an administrative act of the police, border guard, national guard, fire-fighting service and other officials authorised by law is issued with the aim of immediate prevention of direct danger to State security, public order, or the life, health or property of persons;

5. the contested administrative act establishes, amends or terminates an institution’s legal relations with a civil servant;

6. the contested decision is of general nature, for example, restricts the use of a municipal road; 7. the contested administrative act annuls or suspends the licence or another special permit. The participants to the procedure may ask the court for provisional protection: 1) if the appeal has had a suspensive effect, the addressee of the contested decision may ask the

court to resume the operational effect (the execution) of the decision, for example, to allow construction works or the operation of the power plant to commence;

2) if the appeal has not had a suspensive effect, the person submitting an action against the decision may ask the court to suspend the operation of the contested decision.

In either of the above-mentioned cases, the court will decide the provisional protection, considering both the lawfulness of the decision (in a rapid manner, without any prejudice to the final judgment) and possible damage to the interests involved. If there is a reason to believe that the contested administrative act or consequences of the non-issuance of an administrative act might cause significant harm or damages, the prevention or compensation of which would be considerably encumbered or would require incommensurate resources, and if examination of information at the disposal of the court reveals that the contested act is prima facie illegal, the court may, pursuant to the reasoned request of an applicant, take a decision on injunctive relief. As a means of injunctive relief, the court may issue a court decision which: a. pending judgment of the court, substitutes for the requested administrative act or real action of

the institution; b. imposes a duty on the relevant institution to carry out a specific action within a specified time

period or prohibits a specific action; c. assigns the Land Register to register restrictions on the owner’s right of disposal with real

property. All of the above-mentioned rules are also applied in environmental cases. The participants to the procedure may request the injunctive relief at any stage of the procedure, also in the appellate court instance and cassation court instance, when they consider the provisional protection urgently needed. No formal deadlines are applied. The exercising of the rights to request a provisional protection may not cause, in itself, any unfavourable consequences, including those falling under the private law. This means that the person will not be liable for financial loss caused to another person by the court’s decision. The court’s decision regarding injunctive relief can be appealed. Also, the participant to the procedure may request to replace or to revoke the imposed means of injunctive relief.110

2) Is there evidence on the effectiveness of these remedies? (e.g. in the form of published studies, or published views of informed commentators).

110 European Justice (2014), Access to justice in environmental matters – Latvia, https://dg-justice-portal-demo.eurodyn.com/ejusticeportal/content_access_to_justice_in_environmental_matters-300-lv-en.do?member=1#IV

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No recent study was identified discussing and summarising the remedies most applied in practice. However, experts identify that the most commonly used remedies in Latvia’s administrative court are the claim to adjudicate a decision of the public institution as illegal and - as the main alternative remedy – compensation. The latter has been used only in a few cases so far. A more thorough review of relevant cases was not possible within the scope of the present assessment.

3) Considering the two hypothetical scenarios outlined in the box above, can you identify any information on the remedies, which would be available, or on the remedies likely to be used in practice by the Courts if it found in favour of the parties bringing a challenge?

If an individual has unlawfully, without a prior permit, built a road in the protected natural area, the person may require the competent administrative institution to oblige the person responsible to tear down the construction, to restore the previous situation and to compensate material damage caused to the environment.

If Riga City Council regularly fails to ensure good air quality and its action plan is clearly insufficient to reduce the risk of exceeding air quality norms, NGOs or inhabitants of Riga could bring this case to the court, which could oblige City Council to develop adequate measures to eliminate pollution and possibly compensate for environmental damage.

3.3.4 Judicial capacities; training and information events

The attention given to environmental issues in judicial training and capacity building could be seen as an indication of a Member State’s appreciation of the role of the rule of law in environmental governance, as well as a reflection on the preparedness of the judiciary and the quality of judicial control. Sub-section 3.3.4 relates to courts dealing with all kinds of environmental cases, i.e. not just the private enforcement ones mentioned in sub-sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.3. The assessment is intended to cover courts dealing with public enforcement actions brought as a result of enforcement action considered under section 3.4 below, and to include courts dealing with relevant criminal law matters, as well as courts dealing with administrative law matters.

1) Is there a specialised environmental court, or section of the national courts which specialises in environmental cases? If so, what is its broad sphere of competence, and how many cases does it hear each year?

There are no specialised courts in Latvia. Cases concerning the compliance of laws with the Constitution or compliance of other normative acts with the norms of higher legal rank are reviewed by the Constitutional court. The constitutional petition is allowed, i.e., citizens can lodge a petition if they consider that a normative act infringes their fundamental rights protected by the Constitution. The constitutional petition is allowed only after the ordinary remedies (administrative institutions, courts of general jurisdiction) are exhausted. There is no specialised court or quasi-court dealing with environmental matters. If a person considers that an administrative decision or action, as well as an omission to act violates the law protecting environment and nature, or can create threats of damage or damage to the environment, he/she can apply to the administrative court. Since environmental issues on most occasions are regulated by administrative decisions (building permits, water use permits, pollution permits etc.), those disputes are mostly reviewed by the administrative court.111

111 European Justice (2014), Access to justice in environmental matters – Latvia, https://dg-justice-portal-demo.eurodyn.com/ejusticeportal/content_access_to_justice_in_environmental_matters-300-lv-en.do?member=1#IV

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There is specialisation of judges in environmental rights in Administrative courts of Latvia. In Administrative District Court, there are eight specialised judges in construction matters, special planning and environmental rights112. In Administrative regional court (appeal court) there are five judges with the specialisation in environmental rights113.

2) To what extent does the assessed Member State prioritise activities to build and support the capacity of courts, tribunals, to implement and enforce environmental law in the context of the elements of judicial effectiveness, i.e.: independence, quality and efficiency?

To increase public confidence, the Latvian Council of Justice approved two documents in May 2015 to raise public understanding of the judiciary and judicial processes:114

Guidelines on communication of the court system: covering all the institutions and sectors of the justice system, represented within the Latvian Council of Justice, the objectives are: to promote awareness of judicial institutions, the judicial system and its operating principles, the distribution of competences, personal rights, and opportunities to protect their legitimate interests; ensure visibility of justice and the fairness in which the institutions operate; strengthen the judicial system’s reputation and authority; and create a positive and open image of the judicial system.

Strategy on communications of courts: focused specifically on courts themselves, this strategy aims to promote the effective functioning of the judiciary and promote public confidence in the judiciary, creating a positive image of each court and enhance its authority in society.

The Supreme Court of Latvia has also elaborated and implemented its own Communication Strategy which determines the communication goals and tasks of the Supreme Court.

The use of digital technologies to improve efficiency is exemplified by the project ‘recording of court hearings with technical means’ which reached the final of the Crystal Scales of Justice award in 2015, and has reduced the time to produce protocols for a 5-hour court hearing from up to three days (paper) to less than two hours (audio).

The European Commission's assessment115 of the judicial systems in EU Member States that the length of the examination of civil, commercial, administrative and other court cases in Latvia (in first instance / days) has shortened and is shorter than the average case length of the proceedings in the EU. The work of the justice system in Latvia is constantly being improved. The reforms already implemented and envisaged have been positively assessed and supported, inter alia, amendments to the Law ‘On Judicial Power’, which came into force on 12 February 2018, aimed at strengthening the independence of the judiciary.

Latvia shows a regular trend of improvement of Disposition Time and the Clearance Rate with regard to administrative cases at first instance.116 However, nothing specifically related to the environmental law was identified.

112 Dispute Resolution Division plan of the Administrative District Court in 2018: https://www.tiesas.lv/tiesas/saraksts/administrativa-rajona-tiesa-rigas-tiesu-nams-3388/LietuSadale 113 Dispute Resolution Division plan of the Administrative Regional Court in 2018: https://www.tiesas.lv/tiesas/saraksts/administrativa-apgabaltiesa-3507/LietuSadale 114 CEPEJ (2018), EVALUATION OF THE LATVIAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM: on the basis of the methodology and tools developed by the CEPEJ, https://www.ta.gov.lv/UserFiles/Faili/CEPEJ_Evaluation_Report_Latvia_Final_En.pdf 115 EC (2017) The 2017 EU Justice Scoreboard, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/justice_scoreboard_2017_en.pdf 116 CEPEJ (2016), European judicial systems Efficiency and quality of justice, CEPEJ STUDIES No. 23, https://rm.coe.int/european-judicial-systems-efficiency-and-quality-of-justice-cepej-stud/168079048e

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3) Based on review of training programmes of public authorities and institutions at national level, how many capacity building events took place in the last 2 years. Please provide weblinks to the source of information.

The Latvian Judicial Training Centre117 (LJTC), founded by the Latvian Association of Judges, the Riga Graduate School of Law, UNDP and Soros Foundation Latvia, provides continuing education for judges and court clerks. The Centre develops educational programmes, sets education priorities considering various circumstances, including topicality of the issue, controversial case law, etc. However, an Evaluation of the Latvian Judicial System recognises118 revealed that training activities for judges and court staff are financed by the State only to the level of 25%. Thanks to the funding of the European Social Fund the funding has increased to the level of 60%. The same report questions the ability of the Latvian Judicial Training Centre to provide the initial and continuous training required by judges, having in mind that they have a right to training and the high legal standard at which this right should be guaranteed. However, the statistics of the training events organised by the Latvian Judicial Training Centre (see the table) shows a significant increase (planned) for training in 2018.

Year All training events

National training events

International training events119

2016 193 99 94

2017 180 94 86

2018 298 207 91

Average attendance by judges are 2-3 training events per year. Every training event has been evaluated by the participants. There are some of the training events, which are evaluated 3-6 months after the event in order to assess the behavioural changes of the participants. LJTC is a member of the EJTN120 and International Organisation for Judicial Training (IOJT)121. On a daily basis, LJTC implements all European and international standards regarding judicial training:

Judicial training principles by IOJT122

Judicial training principles by EJTN123 The quality of services provided (initial and continuous training) as well as client satisfaction is the main focus of the LJTC. During the period of March 2014 to March 2017 LJTC was the owner of the ISO certificate 9001 of the Quality management system issued by Bureau Veritas. According to Latvia’s Aarhus Implementation Report (2017), the Centre also provides the necessary training for judges in environmental matters. However, the website of the Latvian Judicial Training Centre124 does not list any trainings specifically regarding environmental rights. According to the

117 Latvian Judicial Training Centre, https://www.ltmc.lv/ 118 CEPEJ (2018), EVALUATION OF THE LATVIAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM: on the basis of the methodology and tools developed by the CEPEJ, https://www.ta.gov.lv/UserFiles/Faili/CEPEJ_Evaluation_Report_Latvia_Final_En.pdf 119 Partnership with European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), Academy of European Law (ERA) and other partners 120 http://www.ejtn.eu/en/ 121 http://www.iojt.org/ 122 http://www.iojt.org/~/media/Microsites/Files/IOJT/Microsite/2017-Principles.ashx 123 http://www.ejtn.eu/PageFiles/15756/Judicial%20Training%20Principles_EN.pdf 124 https://ltmc.lv/

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syllabus of 2016, seminars for judges and court clerks with the titles ‘Issues and Updates of Management of the Real Estate’, ‘An Introduction to Enforcement of European Union Law’ as well as a seminar on ‘Actual Issues on the Enforcement of the Construction Law’ were organised. The following is a short overview of the national seminars provided on environmental rights: April 22, 2016 ‘Topicalities in the application of construction law’; event was attended by 37 administrative judges and court staff members and 4 representatives from the Supreme Court.

Main topics covered in the training: • Concept of the building, competence of the institutions, inspection of construction; • Evaluation of construction in the framework of the elaboration of the detailed plan. Building permit. Informing the public. Requirements for normative acts imposed on the parties involved in the construction process. Rights and obligations of the parties; • Completion of the completed construction processes and current jurisprudence.

June 7, 2017, Interdisciplinary seminar ‘Arbitrary construction, topicalities’. Event was attended by 14 administrative judges and court staff members as well as 8 employees of Supreme Court.

Main topics covered: • Arbitrary construction (concept, detection, proof, current practice, record keeping of Administrative Violations Code) • Administrative court practice in arbitrary construction cases December 6, 2017, ‘Topicalities of Environmental Law’ - Event was attended by 23 administrative judges

Main topics covered: • Topicalities of environmental law. Public Environmental Law, Aarhus Convention • Court practice in environmental matters June 5, 2018 ‘Topical Issues of Construction Law’ - Event was attended by 48 administrative judges and 7 Supreme Court representatives.

Main topics covered:

Court practice on arbitrary construction

Fulfilment of obligations in construction

Limits of liability and disputes between persons involved in construction International events attended by judges specialised in environmental rights:

21.-23.09.2016 How to handle court proceedings invoking non-compliance with EU waste law

ERA

21.-25.11.2016 Starptautiska apmaiņas programma: Vides tiesības EJTN

30.11.-02.12.2016

How to handle court proceedings invoking non-compliance with EU waste law

ERA

05.-07.04.2017 How to handle court proceedings invoking non-compliance with EU water law

ERA

27.-29.11.2017 EU nature legislation - site protection under the habitats and birds directives

EJTN

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The Administration of the Judiciary in March 2016 initiated a project aiming at the establishment of the identifier of the European judiciary case-law (European Case Law Identifier)125. The implementation of the project will establish easy access to the case-law of the Latvian judiciary and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and will promote correct application and enforcement of EU Law by the judiciary.

3.3.5 Corruption issues relevant to the environment (permitting, natural resources, environmental crime)

Finally, we looked for any available information on corruption issues relevant to the environment. Particular environmental issues which may give rise to opportunities for corruption include the granting of permits or of extraction rights. However, in most member States it proved difficult to find studies that presented separate information on corruption in relation to the environment. As a proxy, we also looked at Eurostat data on expectations of bribery and corruption.

1) What are the specific corruption issues in the assessed Member State relevant to environmental governance?126 If there appears to be little corruption relevant to environmental governance, please limit text to a statement of headline issues.

In the past 10 years work on minimising corruption risks in the MoEPRD and its subsidiary organisations was started. Highest potential corruption risks are in the State Environmental Service and Nature conservation Agency as they are taking the decisions affecting business opportunities. According to the regulation127, institutions have to develop an internal control system to minimise corruption risks. However, an internet search does not provide information on the existence of such a system in the MoEPRD or its subsidiary institutions. There seems to be a modest risk of corruption when dealing with the judiciary in Latvia. In 2016, Latvia was ranked 57 (decrease in the rank from number 49 in 2012) out of 176 countries in Transparency International’s corruption perception index128. The judiciary is independent but the legal framework for settling disputes and challenging regulations is inefficient129. Problems of inefficiency, politicisation, and corruption exist in the judicial system130.

125 tiesas.lv (2016), Launch of European case law identifier in Latvia, https://tiesas.lv/aktualitates/uzsakta-eiropas-judikaturas-identifikatora-ieviesana-latvija-6275 126 Relevant issues could include, for example, permitting decisions, or the exploitation of natural resources. 127 Latvijas Vēstnesis (2017), Regulations on the essential requirements of the internal control system for preventing corruption and the risk of conflict of interest in the institution, https://www.vestnesis.lv/op/2017/213.2 128 Transparency International (2016), Corruption Perceptions Index 2016, https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016 129 The GAN Business Anti-Corruption Portal (2018) Latvia Corruption Report, https://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/latvia/ 130 Freedom house, Freedom In The World 2015, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2015#.VknNyrcvfIU

22.-24.10.2018 How to handle court proceedings invoking noncompliance with EU environmental assessment law

ERA

14.-16.11.2018 How to handle court proceedings invoking noncompliance with EU environmental assessment law

ERA

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Latvians report low-levels of trust in the judicial system to resolve complaints about corruption131, and nearly half of citizens perceive judicial authorities to be corrupt132. As stated by the OECD, due to extensive, complex reforms, trust in the judiciary in Latvia has increased from 31% in 2014 to 41% in 2017133. As a result of further reforms and implementation of the project ‘Just for development’134 (supported by the European Social Fund), this indicator will have a positive trend.

2) What is the share of Eurobarometer respondents who think that the giving and taking of bribes and the abuse of power for personal gain are widespread among inspectors ((health and safety, construction, labour, food quality, sanitary control and licensing) and police & customs?

In Latvia, 54% of Eurobarometer respondents think that the giving and taking of bribes and the abuse of power for personal gain are widespread among inspectors, and 63% think that these issues are widespread among police and customs. Both shares are higher than EU28 average (34% and 31% respectively)135.

131 EC (2014), Special Eurobarometer 397 – CORRUPTION, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_397_en.pdf 132 Transparency International, http://www.transparency.org/gcb2013 133 OECD (2017), Government at a Glance 2017, Country Fact Sheet, Latvia; OECD (2015), Government at a Glance 2015, Country Fact Sheet, Latvia. 134 Justi for development project webpage: https://www.ta.gov.lv/LV/eiropas_socialais_fonds_1520/projekts_justicija_attistibai__1563 135 European Commission (2017), Special Eurobarometer 470 “Corruption”, p. 23, http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/81007

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3.4 Compliance assurance and accountability

This section relates to the concept of environmental compliance assurance, which is explained in detail in a 2018 Commission Communication and associated staff working document. In essence, the concept covers ‘public enforcement’, as distinct from access to justice for the public and civil society organisations, which is covered in section 3.3 above. We looked at three classes of intervention that authorities undertake to ensure that economic and other activities comply with environmental rules: promotion, monitoring and enforcement. The environmental compliance assurance authorities considered are those listed in the Commission Communication. Also of value as a reference is a 2017 Commission study on how to evaluate Member State compliance assurance systems. Sub-sections 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 are especially relevant to the first 8 actions mentioned in the Commission communication (indeed, the 9th action refers to the entire Assessment Framework).

3.4.1 Compliance promotion, compliance monitoring, and follow-up and enforcement

Compliance promotion Compliance promotion focuses on helping economic operators and others to comply with environmental laws and on preventing non-compliance. It can take many forms, including providing guidance, ‘frequently asked questions’ and help-desks, and is increasingly reliant on online tools and information sources. Our research focused on how well authorities promote compliance amongst farmers, since much environmental legislation concerns what happens in rural areas.

1) How well does the Member State explain to economic operators how they should fulfil environmental obligations? The following obligations should be used when looking at this question: first, the obligations that farmers need to fulfil with regard to fertiliser use and manure storage in nitrate vulnerable zones under the Nitrates Directive136; second, the obligations that landowners need to fulfil in Natura 2000 sites under the Birds Directive137 and the Habitats Directive138. A particular emphasis should be placed on information that is available online139.

136 Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources, OJ L 375, 31.12.1991 137 Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds, OJ L 20, 26.1.2010 138 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ L 206, 22.7.1992 139 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf

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The function of a ‘Farm Advisory System’ in Latvia is provided by the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre140. The Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre (99.32% of its shares are owned by the Ministry of Agriculture141) is providing information for farmers on manure storage142 and other environmental protection measures in agriculture143. Another important rural support institution is Rural Support Service144 which is responsible for implementation of national and EU support policy in the sector of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development. However, the webpage of this institution does not have any section dedicated to environmental protection or nature conservation. A search on its webpage with the keywords ‘manure storage’, ‘nitrates’ and ‘fertiliser use’ does not provide any results. However, information for the farmers about compensation for Nature 2000 territories is available145, providing a brief description, criteria, application forms, regulations and process description. Cross compliance requirements can be found on the homepage of the Ministry of Agriculture146 and on the homepage of the Rural Support Service147. Requirements farmers should observe regarding fertiliser use and manure storage in nitrate vulnerable zones under the Nitrates Directive to benefit from direct payments are known as SMR1148. Requirements farmers should observe in Natura 2000 sites under the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive149 to benefit from direct payments are known as SMR2150 and SMR3151. The State Plant Protection Service (SPPS)152, which is supervising the usage of fertilisers, in various ways informs the farmers about the requirements for use of the fertilisers - articles are being prepared in magazines, the information is published on the home page of the SPPS153,154, including the recommendations for farmers for the correction of nitrogen fertilisers rate based on data from the monitoring of mineral nitrogen in soils155. SPPS representatives are taking part in workshops organised by the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre and other institutions or companies, to improve knowledge in the field of fertilisers. Large amount of interpretative work is carried out by inspectors of regional divisions during inspections and all representatives implement the government's administrative simplification programme called ‘Consult First’156. Information to the landowners is provided also by the MoEPRD157 and its subsidiary institutions, e.g. the Nature Conservation Agency158. MoEPRD is also providing information about invasive species which also entail some obligations for the land owners159.

General information about environmental permitting procedures is available in ‘frequently asked questions’ on the State environmental service website160. Compliance monitoring Monitoring covers all the different kinds of checks that authorities carry out to detect breaches or verify non-compliance. Site inspections are still one of the key forms of monitoring, and are required to be systematic for industrial installations (covering inspection planning and reporting). Some site inspections or other checks will result from complaints – hence the link to sub-section 3.4.2. Apart from site inspections, other forms of monitoring are becoming increasingly important, including earth observation. Monitoring also includes police or other criminal investigations into environmental crimes.

2) For the inspections required under Article 23 of the Industrial Emissions Directive161, what information (if any) does the Member State provide online about:

The planning of inspections According to the Law on Pollution162 (Article 49) the State environmental service is responsible for ensuring the fulfilment and control of the requirements prescribed by this Law and shall

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140 Rural Support Service, http://www.lad.gov.lv 141 Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre, http://llkc.lv/lv/latvian-rural-advisory-and-training-centre 142 Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre (2014), The farmer is responsible for the environment, http://llkc.lv/lv/nozares/lopkopiba/saimnieka-pienakums-ir-rupeties-par-vidi 143 Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre (2014), Main environmental requirements for farmers, http://llkc.lv/lv/nozares/lauku-attistiba-lopkopiba/aktuakas-vides-prasibas-lauksaimniekiem 144 Rural Support Service http://www.lad.gov.lv/en/about-us/general-information/general-information/ 146 http://www.zm.gov.lv/zemkopibas-ministrija/statiskas-lapas/kas-ir-savstarpeja-atbilstiba-?id=2330 147 Rural support service, http://www.lad.gov.lv/lv/atbalsta-veidi/platibu-maksajumi/savstarpeja-atbilstiba/ 148 Ministry of Agriculture, http://www.zm.gov.lv/public/ck/files/SMR1.pdf 149 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ L 206, 22.7.1992 150 Ministry of Agriculture, http://www.zm.gov.lv/public/ck/files/SMR2.pdf 151 Ministry of Agriculture, http://www.zm.gov.lv/public/ck/files/SMR3.pdf 152 State Plant Protection Service, http://www.vaad.gov.lv/english.aspx 153 http://www.vaad.gov.lv/sakums/augu-aizsardziba/meslosanas-lidzekli-un-meslosanas-plani.aspx 154 State Plant Protection Service, Article on the work into the ground of organic fertilisers and digestate, http://www.vaad.gov.lv/21/section.aspx/7208 155 State Plant Protection Service, Article of results of monitoring of soil mineral nitrogen in spring 2018, http://www.vaad.gov.lv/21/section.aspx/7162 156 Government’s administrative simplification programme called "Consult First", https://em.gov.lv/lv/nozares_politika/nacionala_industriala_politika/uznemejdarbibas_vide_/uznemejdarbibas_vides_uzlabosana/_konsulte_vispirms_/ 157 Specially protected nature territories, MoEPRD: http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/darbibas_veidi/ipasi_aizsargajamas_dabas_teritorijas/ 158 State service portal: https://www.latvija.lv/lv/PPK/dzives-situacija/apakssituacija/p4298/ProcesaApraksts & https://www.latvija.lv/lv/PPK/dzives-situacija/apakssituacija/p25/ProcesaApraksts 159 MoEPRD, Invasive species: http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/darbibas_veidi/invazivas_sugas/ 160 The State Environmental Service of the Republic of Latvia, Frquently asked questions: http://www.vvd.gov.lv/biezak-uzdotie-jautajumi/ 161 Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control), OJ L 334, 17.12.2010 162 Law On Pollution, https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/6075-on-pollution 163 State Environmental Service (2013), Environmental Inspection Plan 2013-2019, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/public/fs/CKFinderJava/files/VVD_VIDES_INSPICESANAS_PLANS_2013-2019.pdf 164 State Environmental Service, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/kontrole/vides-aizsardzibas-kontrole/zinojumi-par-a-iekartu-parbaudes-rezultatiem/ 165 State Environmental Service, Reports on the results of the testing of category A equipment, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/public/fs/CKFinderJava/files/VVD_pub_2016_saskanots_18_07_2017.pdf

develop an environmental inspection plan. The latest plan is for the time period from 2013 to 2019 and is available online163.

Reports on the results of specific inspections

There are also reports available online164 on the results of the inspection of Category A polluters. According to this information, in 2017, there were 96 control reports prepared. However, the total number of controls is much higher – in 2016 in total 2,659 inspections of category A, B and C polluters were carried out165.

The number and range of complaints received by the inspection authorities

Only 80% of inspections were done because the number of complaints in 2016 increased to 1,634 from 1,284 in 2015. This could be partly explained by the fact, that there is easily available information on the possibility to complain about the violations of environmental regulations on the website of the State

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There are also self-control questionnaires available168 for waste collection sites, motor vehicle repair shops, chemicals and mixtures, agriculture, sewage treatment plants, use of subterranean depths and subterranean monitoring. These are checklists of the main issues to be covered by the inspection.

3) Is earth observation and geo-spatial intelligence used for environmental compliance monitoring purposes?169 Particular reference could be made to use of these for monitoring illegal waste activities and illegal land-use changes affecting Natura 2000 sites. However, other examples would also be useful.

To our knowledge, the State Environmental Service is not using remote-sensing technologies and geo-spatial intelligence for environmental compliance monitoring in Latvia. The Nature Conservation Agency has used earth observation data and geo-spatial intelligence to check information provided by landowners about management practice changes in grasslands and to select them for inspection. The Rural Support Service is also using geo-spatial intelligence methods. Follow-up and enforcement When monitoring identifies compliance problems, a range of responses may be appropriate, including warnings and sanctions. Our research focused on three areas: the availability of information on the follow-up to industrial inspections; the availability of statistics on prosecutions for the most serious breaches, i.e. environmental crimes; and the availability of statistics on follow-up to water-related and nature-related breaches concerning EU agricultural payments. Environmental liability is one other important element in both prevention and enforcement, and is looked at in more detail in section 3.4.3 below.

4) Do the main bodies in charge of environmental inspections under the Industrial Emissions Directive publish their activity reports on an annual basis?

166 State Environmental Service, Vides SOS, http://www.is.vvd.gov.lv/lapas/26-vides-sos 167 State Environmental Service, Statistical Data, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/publikacijas-un-statistika/statistikas-dati/ 168 State Environmental Service, Self-monitoring tools for operators, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/kontrole/vides-aizsardzibas-kontrole/paskontroles-riki-operatoriem/ 169 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf

environmental service and mobile application Vides SOS166. This was developed to make such complaints easier. According to the report of the State environmental service in 2017 they have received 1,347 complaints, mostly about waste, air and water pollution167.

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The State Environmental Service publishes its annual activity reports170 (the last reports are available from 2016 and 2017).

5) If so, do the activity reports indicate the follow-up to detected non-compliance? How is the implementation of measures and recommendations on environmental monitoring tracked/recorded? How many operators of installations or other perpetrators have registered repeated non-compliance?

The State Environmental Service’s annual report for 2016171 highlights that during the year they had a special focus on waste with 345 inspections in this sector. The results of these inspections were used in the development of the Waste Inspection Plan for 2017-2019. However, the report does not provide clear information about the detected (repeated) non-compliance and measures taken, nor does it give information on non-compliant operators.

6) Are there published statistics on the prosecution of environmental crimes and their outcomes? Please provide available national statistics?172,173 Particular attention should be paid to statistics related to waste and wildlife crime174.

According to the LIFE-ENPE (European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment) report175, there is an incomplete transposition of the Environmental Crime Directive with regard to pollution related articles in Latvia. According to the State police176, in 2017, 364 criminal proceedings related to environmental crimes were initiated by the State Police - in many of these cases the investigation is still ongoing, while a quarter of them were transferred to prosecution. In 2017, State police together with the Nature Conservation Agency intensified the control of trade in endangered wild species, and, during this

170 State Environmental Service, Public Reports, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/publikacijas-un-statistika/publiskie-parskati/ 171 State Environmental Service, Reports on the results of the testing of category A equipment, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/public/fs/CKFinderJava/files/VVD_pub_2016_saskanots_18_07_2017.pdf 172 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf 173 Environmental prosecution report tackling environmental crime in Europe March 2017, ENPE https://www.environmentalprosecutors.eu/sites/default/files/document/Cap%20and%20Gap%20report_FINAL_Print.pdf 174 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf 175 Environmental prosecution report tackling environmental crime in Europe March 2017, ENPE https://www.environmentalprosecutors.eu/sites/default/files/document/Cap%20and%20Gap%20report_FINAL_Print.pdf 176 State police (2018), Institutions agree on joint exercises to strengthen their ability to investigate environmental crime, http://www.vp.gov.lv/?id=69&yrId=2018&relid=16176

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period, various goods made from animals protected in Latvia and worldwide were confiscated177. However, the State police do not provide statistics on environmental crime. According to the database of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Latvia there have been three court rulings on environmental crime in Latvia since 2007 (all of them related to forestry)178. A report on infringement cases related to illegal wildlife trade and illegal fishing, conservation of protected and non-game species, conservation of protected habitats and protected territories investigated by Nature Conservation Agency is available on the agency’s webpage179 and more comprehensive statistics about inspections and infringement cases are available in the public annual report180.

7) Are statistics available on the follow-up to detected cross-compliance breaches related to the Nitrates Directive and the Habitats Directive181?

The Ministry of Agriculture gives a description of cross-compliance and its requirements. The Rural Support Service can provide statistics or information on the cross-compliance breaches in Latvia if such information is requested. However, the Lursoft database, providing access to court decisions, produces six cases when using the keyword cross-compliance182 and they are related to the support payments to farmers. Previous infringement cases related to environmental crime is taken into account when investigating and making the final decision in particular infringement cases by using the data from registers administrated by The Information Centre of the Ministry of the Interior. Risk assessment is carried out during every investigated infringement case regardless of the final decision and if necessary a particular person, enterprise or place of trade is selected for additional inspections. Cooperation on and training in compliance assurance Many different authorities are involved in environmental compliance assurance. Within Member States, co-operation may be especially important in the investigation and follow-up to serious environmental crimes, with inspectors, police and prosecutors needing to co-operate. Co-operation can be facilitated by memorandums of understanding or internal practitioner networks. At European level,

177 State police (2017), Trade in protected animal products in Latvia and in the world, http://www.vp.gov.lv/?id=69&yrId=2017&relid=16046 178 Supreme court of Latvia, Offenses against the natural environment, http://www.at.gov.lv/en/judikatura/judikaturas-nolemumu-arhivs/kriminallietu-departaments/klasifikators-pec-lietu-kategorijam/kriminallikuma-seviska-dala/xi-nodala-noziedzigi-nodarijumi-pret-dabas-vidi 179 Nature Conservation Agency, https://www.daba.gov.lv/public/lat/dabas_aizsardzibas_plani/publikacijas/parskati_zinojumi/ 180 Nature Conservation Agency, https://www.daba.gov.lv/public/lat/dabas_aizsardzibas_plani/publikacijas/gada_publiskie_parskati/ 181 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf 182 LATLEX, Judgement search engine, https://www.lursoft.lv/law?act=NISSRCH&ref=&procnum=&search=%22savstarp%E7j%E2s+atbilst%EEbas%22&kumindex=&courtid=0&proctype=&yearfrom=&monthfrom=&dayfrom=&urcode=&category=0&order=freq&submit=+Mekl%E7t+

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practitioner networks have been created to promote best practice. The oldest practitioner network, IMPEL, covers all EU-28 and, amongst other things, carries out peer reviews183. Training is an important component of effective compliance assurance184.

8) For waste and wildlife crimes and breaches, has the Member State published any information referring to formal or informal co-operation arrangements between inspectors/wildlife officials, police and prosecutors for purpose of bringing successful prosecutions? In answering this question, account should be taken of any integrated systems in which one authority can itself carry out all the functions of investigating and prosecuting.

There are no formal integrated networks or systems developed to deal with waste and wildlife crimes and breaches. However, State police, Municipal police, the Customs Board and the Nature Conservation Agency are regularly cooperate to ensure implementation of the CITES convention as well as to fight illegal fisheries. Formal cooperation agreements to effectively fight against environmental crime, exchange information and ensure training have been signed by the Nature Conservation Agency and the Municipal Police of Riga, the Customs Board and State Environmental Service. However, good cooperation is also established with the State Police (especially regarding illegal wildlife trade), the State Forest Service (especially regarding illegal hunting of non-game species) and the State Food and Veterinary Service (especially regarding animal protection and trade) without formal agreements. There is also cooperation between the State Environmental Service and State and municipal police, e.g. on control of illegal fishing185,186. Regarding the illegal wildlife trade, the Nature Conservation Agency is an active member of the CITES Enforcement group of the EU which includes also some neighbouring countries and financially supports the EU-twix platform for data gathering and exchange on wildlife crime.

9) In how many IMPEL peer reviews did the environmental compliance assurance authorities of the Member State participate in, both, as a host and a visitor?187 What are the main emerging findings from peer reviews as host?

Latvia (the State Environmental Service) hosted one IMPEL review initiative in 2011188. The following aspects were highlighted by the review team at that time:

183 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf 184 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf 185 Ministry of Interior (2016), The State Police in co-operation with the State Environmental Service organize a preventive raid, http://www.iem.gov.lv/lat/aktualitates/informacija_medijiem/?doc=32366 186 State Environmental Service, Reports on the results of the testing of category A equipment, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/public/fs/CKFinderJava/files/VVD_pub_2016_saskanots_18_07_2017.pdf 187 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf 188 IMPEL (2011), A voluntary scheme for reporting and offering advice to environmental authorities, https://www.impel.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IRI-Latvia.pdf

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The MoEPRD drafts a multi-annual environmental policy strategy. This allows the development of longer-term strategies aimed at solving challenging environmental problems. This high-level plan allows a clear line of sight of issues from all subordinated environmental organisations, NGOs, industry and members of the public.

SES has developed a risk assessment tool with simple, easy to collect evaluation criteria. This tool helps them to prioritise which sites to inspect in the current year and which sites to leave to subsequent years.

SES work collaboratively with many other regulatory agencies and academia. This helps reduce the administrative burden, the sharing of intelligence leading to better environmental outcomes and the development of solutions to technical problems.

The development of the Latvian SEVESO commission has brought together several authorities and is a good example of collaboration. This has enabled the sharing of documents & information between authorities. Importantly only one report for SEVESO inspections is now produced with a single set of findings, recommendations and follow up measures.

Opportunities for development:

Consider how priority tasks can be identified and achieved despite reduced resources. Develop ways to ensure there is a resource available to ensure the most important tasks are prioritised and carried out.

Currently, SES does not routinely use standardised workload planning times (e.g. officer has X available work or X hours per inspection). This means that it is difficult to calculate the number of tasks an officer can carry out in a set period of time (resource planning) and how charges relate to tasks (cost recovery). It is thought that this latter point results in the under-recovery of costs for some activities. Consider the use of standard times to more accurately calculate resources and to identify appropriate charge levels.

Limited amounts of training have taken place within SES during the last two years [2009-2010] due to the financial crisis. Consider how competency can be maintained within the SES. This could include the development of training by internal members of staff rather than external parties or the development of simple e-training packages.

SES makes good use of thematic inspections. Consider introducing clearer links to how these thematic inspections help you achieve SES outcomes – This could be achieved through the introduction of qualitative indicators to help demonstrate success/failure.

10) Does the Member State organise systematic, regular training programmes for compliance assurance authorities to improve compliance with environmental law? What are the most common topics covered? In answering this question, the following categories of authority should be distinguished: (1) environmental inspectors implementing the inspection requirements of the Industrial Emissions Directive; (2) authorities responsible for compliance in Natura 2000 sites; (3) authorities responsible for compliance with the Nitrates Directive; (4) police and prosecutors responsible for investigating or prosecuting waste and/or wildlife crime.

The State Environmental Service (SES) has developed a training programme for its staff189. As part of this programme, SES staff participated in exchange visits to Lithuania and Germany in 2017. Specific training on how to use GIS, radiological equipment and olfactometers as well as administrative and

189 State Environmental Service, Reports on the results of the testing of category A equipment, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/public/fs/CKFinderJava/files/VVD_pub_2016_saskanots_18_07_2017.pdf

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legal training were provided190. Most of the capacity building and training projects are financed via the Environmental protection fund. National armed forces are providing training to the inspectors from SES on how to navigate motorboats. SES is also participating in IMPEL activities under the Expert Team ‘Industry and Air’191, that mainly focuses on the practical implementation and enforcement of Industry related legislation and compliance with the Industrial Emissions Directive. Currently IMPEL is working on online guidance as training material for permit writers and inspectors. It is planned that the online guidance will be publicly available for practitioners in 2019. Under the supervision of the State Environmental Service, there are also public environmental inspectors192 (volunteers) who receive regular training. The SES may delegate to public environmental inspectors the right to draw up reports regarding administrative violations. The criteria for the nomination of public environmental inspectors, the regimentation of their work and samples of their identification document shall be approved by the MoEPRD. The Nature Conservation Agency provides regular training for their own inspectors. Training is also part of the Nature Conservation Agency’s operational strategy193. Themes of these trainings are selected on a yearly basis based on turnover of employees, interviews with inspectors and problems indicated by their supervisors. Every year, the Nature Conservation Agency provides training for customs officers and regularly also for inspectors from other authorities involved in nature crime investigation. The State Plant Protection Service annually organises the training of the inspectors from the regional divisions on the scope of the controls about the usage of fertilisers. The trainings are lecture type exercises with practical tasks at a farm. The responsible department also prepares various training materials for inspectors and seasonally communicates electronically with the inspectors, also providing references to information sources194 that can be useful in the inspections.

3.4.2 Complaint handling and citizen engagement

Effective mechanisms to enable members of the public to make complaints about environmental problems, and for those complaints to be properly addressed, are an important part of environmental compliance assurance. They also reinforce public confidence in environmental laws. The questions we considered here relate to a specific action referred to in the Commission Communication and outlined in more detail in the Staff Working Document. Two dimensions of complaint-handling were addressed: first, complaints to public authorities about environmental problems that the authorities are asked to deal with, e.g. odour or noise nuisances or harm to a Natura 2000 site; second, complaints about public authorities' alleged failure to fulfil environmental tasks, often made to national ombudsperson offices. We also looked at wider citizen engagement, by focussing on the use of “citizen science” approaches to obtain useful information from the public.

190 An instrument used to detect and measure odour dilution. 191 IMPEL, Industry and air: https://www.impel.eu/topics/industry-air/ 192 State Environmental Service, Public environmental inspectors, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/sabiedribas-lidzdaliba/sabiedriskie-vides-inspektori/ 193 Nature conservation Agency, Strategy of Nature conservation Agency, 2015 - 2017 https://www.daba.gov.lv/public/lat/par_mums/darbibas_strategija/ 194 Natural data management system OZOLS (Oak), http://ozols.daba.gov.lv/pub/

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Overall transparency195

1) First dimension: How easy is it for a citizen to find out from online information to whom and how to submit a complaint about an environmental nuisance or environmental damage? The following examples should be covered: nuisance related to a waste facility or an installation covered by the Industrial Emissions Directive, 2010/75/EU; damage to a Natura 2000 site;

Information on the possibility to complain about an environmental nuisance or environmental damage is easily available on the website of the State Environmental Service. There is also a mobile application, Vides SOS196, developed to make such complaints easier. According to the Report of the State Environmental Service in 2017 it received 1,347 complaints, mostly about waste, air and water pollution197. Most of the complaints were then forwarded to other competent institutions. On the webpage of Nature Conservation Agency there is a special section devoted to asking questions and submitting complaints (including the possibility to submit them anonymously). On the webpage of Nature Conservation Agency, contact information, including mobile telephone numbers and email addresses together with the region and department which they represent is published. However, complaints and questions can also be sent to the main e-mail address or address of a particular region and then these complaints/question are forwarded to the competent employee for particular complaints/questions. Currently, more and more complaints are also submitted via social media. The Nature Conservation Agency has both Facebook and Twitter accounts, but the State Environmental Service operates only a Facebook account. Both institutions are actively responding to the questions and complaints submitted. All complaints and questions are treated as standard applications, which have to be answered within 30 days if a complaint does not require immediate action.

2) Second dimension: How easy is it for a citizen to find out from online information to whom and how to submit a complaint about alleged maladministration by an environmental authority? The following examples should be covered: alleged failure of an environmental administration to deal with a nuisance from a waste facility or industrial installation; alleged failure by an environmental authority to address damage to a Natura 2000 site.

Webpages of the State Environmental Service and Nature Conservation Agency do not give any instruction on where and how to complain about alleged maladministration. In addition, the webpage of the MoEPRD does not provide instructions on where and how to complain about the failure by an environmental authority to address environmental and nature protection. However, the mobile application Vides SOS informs its users to inform NGOs and media about any maladministration of environmental authorities198. If the institution does not act in accordance with the law, you must complain to the higher institution or the administrative court. However, it is also possible to complain to the Ombudsman, which also provides consultations to the public.

195 See also, the principles of good practice in complaint handling adapted from Volkery, A. et al. (2012), Study on environmental complaint-handling and mediation mechanisms at national level, Final study for DG ENV of the European Commission. 196 Vides SOS, http://www.is.vvd.gov.lv/lapas/26-vides-sos 197 State Environmental Service, Statistical Data, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/publikacijas-un-statistika/statistikas-dati/ 198 Vides SOS, http://www.videssos.lv/notifications

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3) Does the information available online indicate what guarantees the complainant can expect in terms of the public authority's handling of the complaint?

Webpages of the State Environmental Service and Nature conservation agencies do not provide such information. However, as governmental bodies both aforementioned institutions are obliged to answer within 30 days.

4) The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia adopted on 11 October 2018 Law on Whistleblower Protection199, which will enter into force on 1 May 2019. The Law on Whistleblowing will guarantee a high level of protection for whistleblowers who report breaches of national and EU law and as well report on any activity or omission to act which might cause harmful and adverse effects on public and its interests. The Law on Whistleblowing will establish safe channels for reporting both within an organisation and to public authorities. It will also protect whistleblowers against dismissal, demotion and other forms of retaliation. Does the online information refer to legislation on which the complaint-handling arrangements are based? If so, is this legislation easily available?

Although the official websites of State institutions do not provide an explicit legal framework within which the complaint/submission shall be assessed, any individual, legal person or NGO might rely on Article 10, Paragraph 1 of the Information Transparency Law stipulating that generally available information be provided to anyone willing to receive it, by considering the equality of persons. In addition, general deadlines for processing of submissions, complaints or recommendations are set by the Law on Submissions. With respect to environmental information, a deadline for provision of information cannot be longer than two months in accordance with Article 11, Paragraph 1 of the Environmental Protection Law. It also provides that the response to the request must be issued as soon as possible. In accordance with requirements of the Administrative Procedure Law and requirements of the Law on Submissions, any individual, legal person or NGO may submit to an institution and the institution shall examine a submission, which incorporates a request, a complaint, a proposal, or a matter within the competence of the institution providing a reply of substance. The reply should contain factual and legal grounds, providing a well-structured response and assessment on behalf of the institution. An institution shall provide replies in a timely and transparent manner. With regard to any individual, legal person or NGO, anyone has a right to lodge a complaint to the responsible administrative institution or an appeal to the administrative court in environmental matters without any other specific conditions. In other words, a complaint may be lodged if any individual, legal person or NGO considers that an administrative decision or well-established practice, as well as an omission to act, violates the law protecting environment and nature, or can create threats of damage or damage to the environment. Citizen Engagement

5) Are there public-awareness raising initiatives in place so that citizens are aware of the possibility to alert or inform the authorities about facts likely to cause environmental damage, or which seem non-compliant with environmental law provisions, or which otherwise help the authorities to fulfil their responsibilities?

There are several campaigns to raise public awareness, especially against illegal fishing and illegal construction in coastal dunes. These campaigns have mostly been run by NGOs, e.g. WWF-Latvia, an anglers association and the Latvian green movement. More strategic and permanent information and

199 Law on Whistleblower Protection, https://likumi.lv/ta/id/302465-trauksmes-celsanas-likums

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awareness raising work have been implemented by Nature Conservation Agency by establishing Nature Education Centres in all regions, public events, media campaigns, publications etc… A special division is established within Nature Conservation Agency for this work. The latest information campaign was to introduce the mobile application Vides SOS200. Currently, it has had 5,000 downloads.

6) Do public authorities and make use of submissions of data on environmental issues by member of the public? (citizens science)201

There are several citizen science initiatives in Latvia. One of them is the public monitoring programme for nature objects developed by the Nature Conservation Agency202 with the support of the GEF/UNDP (Global Environment Facility/United Nations Development Programme) co-financed project ‘Biodiversity protection in North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve’ (2005-2009). Inhabitants were invited to obtain and submit information in questionnaires on different species (some rare, some common), agricultural activities, distribution of invasive species etc. in their property or neighbourhood. These public monitoring programme continues to this day. More information can be obtained from the Nature Conversation Agency203. Additionally, the Latvian Nature Fund created a special home page204 in 2008 where everyone is welcome to report on wild flora and fauna observations in Latvia. There is quite a large interest in both of these programmes from inhabitants. The Nature Conservation Agency of Latvia has created a geo-spatial database for gathering of all nature conservation related data called OZOLS205. Data obtained by citizen science initiatives and projects is added to this database and if correct and plausible used for decision making. Currently the main citizen science initiatives administrated by the Nature Conservation Agency is the monitoring of coastal birds and reporting on monumental trees. Accessibility and simplicity

7) Is it easy to file a complaint? In answering this question, the two dimensions should be addressed in relation to the scenarios previously mentioned.

In case of a nuisance from a waste facility or an industrial installation, complaints should be submitted to the State Environmental Service, but in the case of damage to a Natura 2000 site complaints should be submitted to the Nature Conservation Agency. For both institutions, anyone can find an e-mail address and the postal address where to send the complaint in the contact section of their webpages.

200 Vides SOS promotion video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo34hLfKeZg&feature=youtu.be 201 EC Staff Working Document SWD(2018) 10 final, Environmental Compliance Assurance — scope, concept and need for EU actions Accompanying the document EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/pdf/SWD_2018_10_F1_OTHER_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V5_P1_959220.pdf 202 Nature conservation Agency, Public monitoring, https://www.daba.gov.lv/public/lat/sabiedribas_lidzdaliba/sabiedriskais_monitorings/ 203 The Nature Conservation Agency, Public monitoring: https://www.daba.gov.lv/public/lat/sabiedribas_lidzdaliba/sabiedriskais_monitorings/#SabM_Latvija/ 204 http://dabasdati.lv/en/ 205 http://ozols.daba.gov.lv/pub/

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However, no information is provided on how to prepare the complaint. The application of Vides SOS provides information on which institutions to complain to about which topics206. Confidentiality

8) For the first dimension mentioned above (complaints about an environmental nuisance or environmental damage), is there a mechanism in place that ensures that information about the identity of the complainant is protected (e.g. not to be disclosed during the investigations aiming at verifying the complaint, and personal information not to be used during subsequent judicial proceedings?)

According to Article 3 of the Law on Submissions207, data regarding the submitter thereof (for a natural person - the given name and surname, as well as the address and, if necessary, other data which help to communicate with the submitter; for a legal person - the name and legal address) shall be indicated in the submission. Several state institutions (e.g. State police, State Plant Protection Service) have introduced a phone line for anonymous callers. However, environmental protection institutions do not have such a phone line.

Independence and accountability

9) First dimension: are the enforcement authorities trusted as being independent from political bias or private interests?

In Latvia, there is very low public trust in state institutions. A recent survey shows that only 19% of people trust in the current government and parliament208. 23.5% of the people trust the Ombudsman, but only 3.8% trust in justice209. 46% of the respondents in a public opinion survey agree that employees of the Latvian state administration generally perform their duties in good faith210.

10) For both dimensions: is there a periodic activity in reporting on the complaint-handling (e.g. percentage of complaints treated within a given timeframe, statistics on the outcome of complaints)?

In its annual reports, the State Environmental Service reports the number of complaints received, but does not give detailed information on their classification and outcomes. The annual reports of the Nature Conservation Agency do not give any information on the complaints received or dealt with211.

206 Vides SOS, http://www.videssos.lv/notifications 207 Law On Submissions, https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/164501-law-on-submissions 208 Public broadcasting of Latvia (2016), SKDS: Last year, confidence in the Saeima and the government grew, but declined in President, https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas/latvija/skds-pern-pieaugusi-iedzivotaju-uzticiba-saeimai-un-valdibai-bet-sarukusi-vejonim.a263195/ 209 Viksne, I. (2017), Public trusts the army, the police, but not the truth, http://nra.lv/latvija/197551-petijums-sabiedriba-uzticas-armijai-policijai-bet-ne-tiesai.htm 210 SKDS (2017) Valsts pārvaldes klientu apmierinātības pētījums - 2017 http://petijumi.mk.gov.lv/sites/default/files/title_file/petijums_Atskaite_VK_klienti_112017.pdf 211 Nature conservation Agency, Annual reports, https://www.daba.gov.lv/public/lat/publikacijas/gada_publiskie_parskati/

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11) For the second dimension, is there an ombudsman or similar body for environmental complaints, or an environmental section of a more broad-based ombudsman office? Does it provide annual reports on activity? What information is available on cases handled, including numbers, subject matter, and results of investigations?

There is no special ombudsman for environmental complaints, but a general Ombudsman institution212 set up in Latvia. One of the topics it deals with is the right to live in a clean environment213. The Ombudsman prepares annual reports214. In its 2017 report the Ombudsman devoted a special section to the right to live in a clean environment, specifically discussing degraded buildings, noise prevention, saw mills and dust pollution. These are specific environmental cases the Ombudsman dealt with during the year 2017. For each of the cases the Report describes the subject matter and the decision taken. The Ombudsman does not have the right to withdraw administrative decisions, but it has the following functions215: 1) to promote the protection of the human rights of a private individual; 2) to promote the compliance with the principles of equal treatment and prevention of any kind of discrimination; 3) to evaluate and promote the compliance with the principles of good administration in the State administration; 4) to discover deficiencies in the legislation and the application thereof regarding the issues related to the observance of human rights and the principle of good administration, as well as to promote the rectification of such deficiencies; 3.4.3 Environmental liability Legislation on environmental liability at EU level aims at ensuring that the “polluter pays” principle is applied in practice, by ensuring that economic operators are held liable for the environmental damage that they cause. Effective implementation should contribute to better integration of environmental risks into business decision-making.

1) or an environmental section of a more broad-based ombudsman office? Does it provide annual reports on activity? What information is available on cases handled, including numbers, subject matter, and results of investigations?

As noted above, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has a remit which covers the main environmental bodies (Defra and its agencies), and provides full information on cases handled. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Ombudsman fulfil similar functions.

3.4.4 Environmental liability

Legislation on environmental liability at EU level aims at ensuring that the “polluter pays” principle is applied in practice, by ensuring that economic operators are held liable for the environmental damage

212 Ombudsman of Latvia, http://www.tiesibsargs.lv/ 213 Ombudsman of Latvia, The right to live in a favorable environment, http://www.tiesibsargs.lv/lv/pages/cilvektiesibas/socialas-un-ekonomiskas-tiesibas/tiesibas-dzivot-labveliga-vide 214 Ombudsman of Latvia, Annual Reports, http://www.tiesibsargs.lv/lv/pages/petijumi-un-publikacijas/gadazinojumi/gada-zinojumi 215 Ombudsman Law, https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/133535-ombudsman-law

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that they cause216. Effective implementation should contribute to better integration of environmental risks into business decision-making. We have briefly summarised the main findings from a parallel research project217 in relation to each Member State on the basis of the document “Implementation of the ELD – Latvia – Country fiche 2019”. These documents are planned to be published through the ELD information system218 by mid-2019. A summary of the legal framework and administrative structures The legal system of Latvia is largely civil and is grounded on the principles laid out in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia and safeguarded by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia. The basis of environmental legislation in Latvia is the Law on Environmental Protection. Criminal liability of up to 20 years’ imprisonment can arise by applying the Criminal Code (Kriminallikums). Administrative liability may lead to imposing fines up to EUR 7,100 by applying the Administrative Violations Code219. Civil liability can arise to compensate for the damages to the persons or state. Latvia transposed the ELD by:

the Environmental Protection Law (Official Gazette 183, 15.11.2006);

Regulation on the criteria to be used when assessing the significance of the effect of damage to species or habitats subject to special protection measures (Noteikumi par kritērijiem, kurus izmanto, novērtējot īpaši aizsargājamām sugām vai īpaši aizsargājamiem biotopiem nodarītā kaitējuma ietekmes būtiskumu) (Official Gazette 54, 30.03.2007), Regulation No. 213, Record No. 21, section N 32;

Regulation on preventive and remedial measures and a procedure for the assessment of environmental damage and the calculation of the costs of preventive, urgent and remedial measures (Noteikumi par preventīvajiem un sanācijas pasākumiem un kārtību, kādā novērtējams kaitējums videi un aprēķināmas preventīvo, neatliekamo un sanācijas pasākumu izmaksas) (Official Gazette 78, 16.05.2007), Regulation No. 281, Minutes No. 25, section 31; and

Amendments to the Environmental Protection Law (e.g. Official Gazette 107, 05.07.2007, etc.).

Latvia has a register of ELD cases. The information on the number of ELD cases is available through the Environmental Information System covering all environmental issues beyond the ELD, but it does not contain information on the cost of measures related to cases of environmental damage. The Environmental Information System can be found on this web page, which is accessible to the public220. The State Environment Service, which consists of eight regional Environmental Boards and the Marine and Inland Waters Administration, is the relevant competent authority.

216 Directive 2004/35/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on environmental

liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage, OJ L 143, 30.4.2004 217 Outcome of the Specific Contract “Support for the REFIT actions for the ELD – phase 2” (No 07.0203/2017/771706/SER/ENV.E.4) 218 Accessible through http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/liability/index.htm 219 Latvian Administrative Violations Code, https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/89648-latvian-administrative-violations-code 220 Meteo, http://www.meteo.lv

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Available information on incident and ELD cases Latvia has reported 13 confirmed environmental damage incidents (protected species and natural habitats - 7, land – 5, water - 4), falling under the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) regime221. One of these cases was submitted to a judicial review. The duration of remedial action in these cases on average was four months. Average remediation costs were EUR 37,919.222

Situation on financial security Aggregated data on ELD cases was largely unavailable as well as the number/type of financial security instruments available on the market for ELD liabilities and number of insurance instruments that cover liability under the ELD available on the market.

221 EC (2016), ELD Report and REFIT Evaluation 2016, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52016SC0121 222 ELD Report and REFIT Evaluation 2016, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52016SC0121, Support for the REFIT actions for the ELD – phase 2 (during 2018, requires updates), National ELD registries or other relevant data sources for environmental liability.

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3.5 Effectiveness and efficiency

This dimension covers a wide variety of issues, and is also relevant to a number of the other dimensions; in it, we look at how well resources (financial, material, and human) are used in delivering environmental objectives, including by considering mechanisms for ensuring that environmental issues are addressed in other areas of administration and policy.

3.5.1 Enabling financing and absorption of funds

Our questions under this theme look at the use of public funding mechanisms in the Member State, focussing first on the use of European Structural and Investment Funds for environmental objectives, but also considering whether Member States have introduced mechanisms to direct funds from environmental taxes and charges towards environmental delivery (it should be noted that there is not necessarily a ‘right’ approach here – for example, if environmental administrations are already well-funded from general tax resources, there may be less need for earmarking of funds in this way). In addition, we considered the progress the Member State had made in implementing Green Public Procurement, which can be an effective way of using the purchasing power of public authorities to encourage a shift in supply of sustainable goods and services.

1) How do public authorities encourage absorption of available funds for environmental investment (e.g. access to information about funding opportunities); in general, and (if possible) per each of the seven environmental areas?

The bulk of the funding supporting environmental protection is operated by The Administration of Latvian Environmental Protection Fund223. The aim of this fund is to promote sustainable economic development by integrating environmental protection in all sectors of the economy in order to ensure citizens' right to live in a clean environment in accordance with national environmental policy guidelines, as well as adequate measures for the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of ecosystems224. However, local municipalities are also encouraged to reinvest their income from natural resource tax revenues to invest in the environmental protection, e.g. Riga city municipality has established its own environmental fund225. Apart from these funds, there are also other funds for environmental protection available in Latvia, e.g. EU structural funds, Latvia-Switzerland cooperation programme, Latvian Environmental Investment Fund, and EEA grants. Information about EU structural funds project selection calls are distributed according to type of the call – if the selection call is restricted, every project applicant is informed individually. However, if the selection call is organised as an open call, the advertisement in the Official Gazette ‘Latvijas Vestnesis’ is published and seminars are organised. Information about calls are promoted on the relevant webpages of the responsible institutions. In addition to the direct support for environmental protection, the municipalities can receive EU funding for revitalisation of deprived areas. The aim of the revitalisation programme is to create environmentally friendly and environmentally sustainable territorial growth and to create new jobs in the regions. The EU funding for implementation of revitalisation projects is available through the restricted calls for proposals and the territories are selected according the priorities set out in the development programmes of municipalities.

223 The State Enterprise “Latvian Environmental Investment Fund”, https://www.lvafa.gov.lv/en 224 Latvian Environmental Protection Fund Law, https://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=124956 225 Riga environmental protection fund, http://mvd.riga.lv/par-mums/rigas-vides-aizsardzibas-fonds/

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The planning period of financial resources of the Latvian Environmental Protection Fund (LEPF) until 2017 was one year, but starting from 2018 the activities of the LEPF are planned for a period of 2 years, currently the planning period is 2018-2019. In the current programme period, the LEPF funding for project calls for proposals is about EUR 4.41 million in the following basic activities: 1) Protection of nature and biodiversity - 0.79 (20%); 2) Promotion of public environmental education - 0.92 (23%); 3) Support for the implementation of environmental protection policy 0.44 - (11%); 4) Local environmental protection initiatives to prevent environmental risks - 0.26 (6%); 5) Public water management (including Baltic Sea coast management) - 2.0 (45%).

2) Are there systems of earmarking of funds collected though fiscal and market based instruments to environmental protection in place?

Previously revenue from natural resource taxes as well as other taxes had their own special budgets where these revenues were used for earmarked purposes: e.g. environmental protection and education projects. According to the law on budget and financial management (approved on 24 March 1994) special budgets are part of the budget, which consists of earmarked revenue, revenue from paid services, transfers, foreign financial assistance, donations and gifts in cash or in kind, as well as expenses that are expected to be covered from these revenues or borrowing from the state budget. However, from 2004, special budgets were eliminated and all the tax revenues go into the central budget (some tax revenues from Natural resource taxes are divided between government and local municipalities). Currently, funding for Latvia’s Environmental protection fund is decided on an annual bases. As mentioned above, local municipalities are also encouraged to reinvest their income from natural resource tax revenues in environmental protection activities.

3) What is the allocation of total funds for the theme ‘Environmental protection and resource efficiency‘ by each Member State compared to total allocations for each fund EAFRD, ERDF, CF, and EMFF for the 2014/2020 period?

Percentage of allocation of specific funds from the total allocation for the theme ‘Environment Protection and Resource Efficiency (EPRE).

Fund 2014-2020226

Total allocation EUR EPRE theme allocation EUR

% on EPRE theme allocation

EAFRD 1 531 595 209 283 322 574 18.50%

ERDF 2 825 002 899 431 879 669 15.29%

CF 1 587 546 708 223 692 235 14.09%

EMFF 182 761 739 30 133 156 16.49%

Total 6 126 906 555 969 027 633 15.82%

4) How is green public procurement supported in the assessed Member State?

226 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds, Country data, https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/countries

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Latvia has developed its green public procurement (GPP) support plan 2015-2017227, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 17 February 2015. The plan gives the characteristics of the present situation, including the main obstacles for application of GPP and action to be taken to overcome these obstacles. The objectives of the plan were to increase the share of GPP in procured goods and services. By the end of 2015, the target was 15% (in financial terms) from total procurements done by public and municipal authorities, in 2016 - 20% and 2017- 30%. Even if the targets of the plan are not reached this initiative should be considered to have had a positive effect as it resulted in the new Cabinet of Ministers regulation on GPP setting seven areas of procurement (office paper, printing equipment, computer hardware and information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, food and catering services, cleaning products and services, indoor lighting, street lighting and traffic signals), where GPP criteria should be used mandatorily. The MoEPRD holds several workshops every year to help procurement specialists discuss GPP implementation and its challenges. To provide additional assistance to the procurers and suppliers, as well as state authorities as regards practical application of the requirements, a help desk service has been established. To speed up the consultation process, the F.A.Q. chapter on the webpage of MoEPRD dedicated to the GPP has been created and updated. In 2018, there will be a special focus on the food and catering and construction sectors, where most of the questions have been. The Ministry has also developed a mobile application and online life cycle cost calculators for energy-using products and construction works228. 3.5.2 Administrative capacity (environmental inspectorates, police, customs, prosecution services

and audit bodies) It is difficult to make a direct comparison of the resources allocated to environmental administration, because of the different size of Member States, and the different approaches to organisation of environmental issues (including through regional and local devolution). Our questions provide contextual information on the numbers of staff employed in environmental administrations; whether one-stop shop mechanisms are used to make services more accessible and efficient; and whether customs or public prosecutor services have dedicated environmental units.

1) How many staff dealing with environmental matters are employed in public institutions? (Please identify the subject coverage of the institutions you identify, and role, e.g. policymaking, enforcement) What is their share in the overall public administration staff number?

Employment in the MoEPRD and its subsidiary institutions has been stable - a little bit above 900 people229, but in 2014 as part of the reform to decrease government MoEPRD experienced a significant cut in employment – by 14%. In 2014 the MoEPRD employed 322 persons but in 2016, 305. The second largest employer in environmental matters with 293 staff in 2016 was the State Environment

227 Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, (2015), Green Public Procurement Support Plan 2015-2017, http://www.varam.gov.lv/in_site/tools/download.php?file=files/text/Darb_jomas/ZPI//GPPSP_08_09_2015_en.pdf 228 Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Life Cycle Cost Calculators, http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/darbibas_veidi/zalais_publiskais_iepirkums/kalkulators/ 229 Baltic Institute of Social Sciences & O.D.A. (2015), Study on the future role of governance and its development, https://www.mk.gov.lv/sites/default/files/editor/biss_petijums_lv.pdf

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Service230. In all the institutions there is a large staff turnover as salaries in the public sector are lower than in the private. However, salaries in the MoEPRD are not among the lowest231.

2) Are environmental issues and services included in any One-Stop-Shop232 mechanisms in the assessed Member State?

The State Regional Development Agency (a subsidiary institution of the MoEPRD) has developed a One-stop-shop concept for Latvia233 (accepted by the Cabinet of Ministers on 9 August 2011). According to this Concept, all the ministries should include their services in the public portal234. As a part of this webpage, unified customer service centres of the state and local governments have been established235. Unfortunately, none of the environmental protection institutions are listed providing their services through this platform. However, submissions from Latvia.lv are accepted by all the regional offices of SES and NCA. Latvija.lv also has a separate section on EIA. Businesses can also submit their reports to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre and access several services such as pollution permits.

3) Do customs authorities have dedicated environmental units? The customs service in Latvia does not have a special unit dedicated to environmental issues. However, the Nature Conservation Agency provides training courses to the customs officers in all regions every year and carries out joint inspections to implement CITES convention. A Cooperation Agreement is signed between the two authorities to ensure effective information exchange and training.

4) Do public prosecution services have dedicated environmental units? Public prosecution services in Latvia do not have a dedicated environmental unit236, but training on environmental law is provided237.

3.5.3 Inter/cross-sectoral coordination

Integration of environmental considerations into broader government action can be a powerful mechanisms for improving outcomes. Our questions here looked at mechanisms for addressing the Sustainable Development Goals in the Member States, and at an independent thinktank’s assessment of environmental performance.

230 State Environmental Service, Reports on the results of the testing of category A equipment, http://www.vvd.gov.lv/public/fs/CKFinderJava/files/VVD_pub_2016_saskanots_18_07_2017.pdf 231 Salaries of employees in public administration: https://www.mk.gov.lv/sites/default/files/editor/vp_nodarbinato_atalgojums.jpg 232 COM SWP Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT): State of Play and Outlook, see page 70 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52015SC0110&qid=1524233774605&from=EN 233 State Regional Development Agency, Approved One Stop Shop concept, http://www.vraa.gov.lv/lv/news/article.php?id=23649 234 Latvija, www.latvija.lv 235 Public Administration Services Portal, https://www.latvija.lv/pakalpojumucentri 236 Prosecution Office, http://www.prokuratura.gov.lv/media/newsfiles/Struktura.pdf 237 Cabinet of Ministers (2014), Guidelines for strengthening the human resources capacity and developing competences of the staff of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies 2014-2020, http://tap.mk.gov.lv/doc/2014_05/TMPam_060514_ESF_tiesas.436.doc

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1) Is there a mechanism for integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into public policy making? What funds does the government allocate to the fulfilment of the SDG’s (or other relevant horizontal objectives)?

The leading institution responsible for national development planning, coordination and integration of SDGs into the national planning system in Latvia is the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre (CSCC). CSCC operates under direct authority of the Prime Minister and is responsible for the development and monitoring of the highest national development planning documents: National Development Plan of Latvia for 2014-2020 (NDP2020) and the Sustainable Development Strategy of Latvia until 2030 (Latvia 2030), as well as implementation of national development planning documents in relation to the EU. CSCC, in cooperation with experts from line ministries, mapped the SDGs with the highest national level development planning documents and sectoral level policy documents. A mapping was done of 169 SDG targets towards goals and target indicators in Latvia 2030, the National NDP2020 and corresponding sectoral policies. This mapping exercise revealed the position of the SDGs and their targets in Latvia’s policy hierarchy and provided insight into policy coherence and coverage. Ministries are encouraged to use mapping of indicators in the mid-term evaluation process of sectoral policy documents (ongoing in 2017 and 2018) and, in cooperation with the public, to ensure the inclusion of SDGs in future policy implementation. Additionally, the Sustainable Development Committee of the National Parliament (Saeima) also contributes to the mainstreaming of SDGs into the national planning system and public policies by viewing the Cabinet of Ministers’ progress reports on implementation of Latvija2030 and NDP2020, by scrutinising unsustainable development trends, and also by offering recommendations for necessary improvements in related policies. However, no additional funds have been specifically allocated for the implementation of SDGs. With regard to the implementation of SDGs at a national level, it is important to take into account the available budgetary resources, focusing on the engagement of civil society and NGOs with an aim to increase the role of society in the implementation of the SDGs.

2) Did the Member State submit a report on the implementation of SDGs? Latvia participated in the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development, which took place on 9-18 July, 2018 at the UN headquarters in New York, and presented its Voluntary National Review (VNR), which outlines Latvia’s progress in attaining the SDGs and addressing the sustainable development challenges for post 2020. The Review, agreed by stakeholders in a participatory process and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, sets the baseline for all 17 SDGs. It serves as a useful reference and measurement tool for all stakeholders and public institutions as they further integrate the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development both in Latvia and globally.238

3) What is country’s score in Environmental Performance Index 2018? Latvia ranked second in the 2012 Environmental Performance Index. However, after changes in the methodology, Latvia has significantly dropped in the ranking. In the 2018 Environmental Performance

238 Voluntary National Review 2018 – Latvia: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=30022&nr=595&menu=3170

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Index Latvia’s score is 66.12 and ranks 37 out of 180239. The poorest performance is in the section of the tree cover loss, which is the result of intensive forestry.

4) Did the Member State adopt an overarching environmental strategy or action plan in accordance with the 7th Environment Action Programme (EAP)240? If not please inform on the reasons? Are there relevant environmental indicators developed?

The MoEPRD drafts a multi-annual environmental policy plan. The latest Environmental Policy Guidelines cover the period from 2014 to 2020241 (approved by Cabinet Order No. 130 of 26 March 2014). Their overarching objective is to ensure the inhabitants with a possibility of living in a clean and well-arranged environment, implementing activities oriented towards sustainable development, preserving the environmental quality and biological diversity, ensuring sustainable development of natural resources, as well as public participation in decision-making and awareness of the environmental condition. They also included specific indicators to measure the progress.

3.5.4 Integrated assessment and planning tools

Early consideration of a full range of environmental issues in decision-making can improve outcomes. We looked at how well Member States made use of mechanisms such as Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment; and at whether the Member State integrated environmental issues into regulatory impact assessments.

1) What is the role of EIA/SEA in environmental policy/decision making in the assessed country? To what extent is the EIA procedure streamlined with other permitting and assessment requirements, and is this done through a joint procedure, a coordinated procedure, or a combination?

The results of EIAs, especially the implementation of the solutions included in EIA reports and the conditions set by SEB are linked with further permitting process. Article 22, section 2 of the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment stipulates, that if a decision is made to accept the intended activity after EIA, the intended activity shall be carried out in accordance with the conditions defined by SEB in the Opinion on EIA report. Article 22, section 2 stipulates that the initiator is liable for implementation of the solutions included in the EIA report, especially those that are envisaged in order to avoid, prevent or reduce and, if possible, offset likely significant adverse effects on the environment. The EIA procedure is streamlined with other permitting and assessment requirements. EIA is done in a joint procedure with the appropriate assessment on the territory of natural sensitivity of European significance (NATURA 2000)242. Relevant information available and obtained through other assessments, for example SEA or risk assessments pursuant to Union legislation such as Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament, are taken into account when preparing EIA Report.243

239 Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (2018), 2018 Environmental Performance Index, Yale University, p. 4, https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/downloads/epi2018policymakerssummaryv01.pdf 240 EU 7th Environment Action Programme: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/action-programme/ 241 Environmental Policy Guidelines for 2014-2020: http://polsis.mk.gov.lv/documents/4711 242 Article 41 of the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment. 243 Article 7, Article 13.10, Article 10 and 18 of the Annex II of the Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No 18 (13/01/2015), available: https://likumi.lv/ta/id/271684-kartiba-kada-noverte-paredzetas-darbibas-ietekmi-uz-vidi-un-akcepte-paredzeto-darbibu.

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Latvia notified the European Commission of seven national implementation measures of the EIA directive244 and two measures implementing the SEA directive245. The new EU rules on EIA and SEA (2014/52/EU) have been implemented since 2015. These changes in the legislation allow for better protection of public interests and have simplified access to justice246. However, one of the problems of EIAs and SEAs identified by the NGOs is that in Latvia no alternative scenarios (only 0 alternatives) are assessed.

2) How do the relevant authorities cooperate? According to the Article 3, Section 2 of the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment247 impact assessment shall be performed on the basis of the information provided by the initiator and the information which has been obtained from the concerned State authorities and local governments, as well as during the participation process of the public including from the proposals submitted by the public. However, high quality information is not always available and developers of the EIA should be limited either to the publicly available information or conduct research, investigations or inventories, make tests (for example, soil sample analysis) themselves according to the requirements of EIA Programme (issued by SEB). The relevant authorities cooperate in EIAs through consultations. In the early stages of EIAs (after the initial public hearing) the competent authority (SEB) issues an impact assessment programme which includes the requirements and provisions for the required research and organisational measures for EIA248. In the EIA Programme SEB also specifies the institutions and organisations, with which consultations shall be necessary or to which the report shall be submitted, prior to submitting the prepared report to the SEB for the provision of an opinion249.

3) Does the Member State require regulatory impact assessments, or similar analysis, to be produced when new policies are introduced; and is there a standard cross-Government format or guidance on the content of regulatory impact assessments?

Regulatory impact assessments, essential for effective policy evaluation, in Latvia are being strengthened. The requirement to carry out regulatory impact assessments is set out in Latvian legislation. The primary document is Instruction of Cabinet of Ministers No. 19 ‘The Order of initial Impact Assessment of draft legislation’ (15 December 2009)250 which lists all the areas of impact to be considered (including the impact on the environment). The State School of Administration has

244 Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, OJ L 124, 25.4.2014 245 Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment, OJ L 197, 21.7.2001 246 Miere, S. (2012), Personas tiesības vērsties tiesā kā būtisks detālplānojumu tiesiskuma kontroles elements. In: Inovāciju juridiskais nodrošinājums: Latvijas Universitātes 70. konferences rakstu krājums. Rīga: LU Akadēmiskais apgāds, p103-116, https://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/bitstream/handle/7/2801/Juristu-krajums-70-konf.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=103 247 Law On Environmental Impact Assessment, https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/51522-on-environmental-impact-assessment 248 Article 16, section 1 of the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment. 249 Article 31 of the Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No 18 (13/01/2015), available: https://likumi.lv/ta/id/271684-kartiba-kada-noverte-paredzetas-darbibas-ietekmi-uz-vidi-un-akcepte-paredzeto-darbibu 250 Procedure for assessing the initial impact of a draft law, https://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=203061

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produced a Manual for Impact Assessment and also provides a two-day IA training programme for civil servants. However, the scope of investigation is often restricted to financial, budgetary, and administrative costs. Procedures can often be fast-tracked by ministries and there are no specific sustainability checks. Moreover, there is no threshold test for the preparation of more in-depth analyses of legislative and policy proposals with significant economic, social or environmental impacts. Such a test would help the public administration to prioritise resources better and to conduct more robust in-depth assessments of those proposed policies and laws that are likely to have the greatest costs and benefits for the economy251.

4) Are environmental issues addressed in impact assessments for policies in other sectors, for example transport, energy, agriculture?

Environmental impacts assessments are performed only for the strategic planning documents falling under the SEA regulation. However, according to the Cabinet Instruction252, environmental impacts should also be assessed for the sectoral legal acts. Nevertheless, regulatory impact assessments are usually done by the institution developing the legal proposal and other institutions tend to ignore environmental impacts.

5) Is there a centrally available website providing information on regulatory impact assessments, and is it easily accessible?253

Since 2012, draft regulatory documents have been published on a governmental website254 so as to give all interested stakeholders an opportunity to review and comment on the potential legislation. Each of the ministries publishes their drafts on their own webpages. Each of the draft legal acts have annotation, which should also include the results from the environmental impact assessment. 3.5.5 Flexibility/adaptability Our final set of questions looked at whether environmental administrations showed openness to new approaches, and to external challenge. In particular, we looked at mechanisms for consultation with civil society organisations; responsiveness to external feedback; and openness to the use of digital services for interaction with the public and with organisations subject to environmental legislation.

1) To what extent do environmental administrations adopt and use electronic services, and enable the public or regulated entities to interact with them online?

251 OECD (2015) OECD Economic Surveys - LATVIA 252 Cabinet instruction on Procedure for assessing the initial impact of a draft law: https://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=203061 253 A useful source is the Member State fiches at Annex 1 of RPA and EPRD (2015) ”Study on the potential of impact assessments to support environmental goals in the context of the European Semester”, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/green_semester/pdf/IA%20Study%20Final%20Report.pdf. For OECD country Member States, an indicator of evaluation of new policies can be found in Koźluk, T (2014) “The Indicators Of The Economic Burdens Of Environmental Policy Design – Results From The OECD Questionnaire”, http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=ECO/WKP(2014)74&docLanguage=En 254 www.polsis.mk.gov.lv

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In a comparative overview of public administration characteristics and performance in the EU-28 the overall digitalisation and service delivery capacity and performance of Latvia was ranked at 3/5255. Latvia scores average on the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index showing that around 30% of individuals aged 16-74 are using e-governance tools256. In order to improve services for people and entrepreneurs as well as assist participation in decision-making processes, in addition to the present services, more opportunities are created to receive services electronically. The Ministry of the Environment and Regional Development in Latvia is also the one responsible for the development of e-governance257. The Ministry of the Environment and Regional Development and its subsidiary institutions all have developed electronic services, which could be categorised into three groups:

Informative - e-services, whereby citizens can obtain on-line information with which the citizen has an obligation or right of access to information. For example, online databases of the Nature Conservation Agency and Latvia’s Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre;

Transactions - e-services that replace the on-site administrative procedure. A service that initiates and/or implements the institutional action for the adoption of a decision on a person or group of persons (e.g. issuing a license, granting a benefit, etc.). For example, companies can submit their reports to the State Environmental Service and Latvia’s Environment, Geology and Meteorology Center on-line;

Participation - e-services, which allow a citizen to be directly involved in the work of a state or local government, e.g. the opportunity to get acquainted with draft laws in their preparation, express their opinions, Vides SOS allows to submit on-line complains).

2) What is the score of the assessed Member State in Digital Public Services, according to Commission research?

For Digital Public Services, Latvia has a score of 0.51/1 based on Europe's Digital Progress Report 2017, this is lower than the EU28 average (0.55/1). Latvia has a high level of service digitalisation over the past few years, with eighth place in e-government, which is well above the EU average, and illustrating excellent scores with regard to online availability of cross-border services according to eGovernment Benchmark 2017258. Latvia has managed to make public services widely available online, in a mobile-friendly manner and with a strong focus on citizen and business users – Latvia has implemented more than 500 government digital services and has made considerable progress in their user penetrations. At the same time their public organisations are transparent on service delivery, organisational operations and personal data processing, and equip users with smart key enabling technologies (such as eIDs and digital post solutions).

255 Hammerschmid, G., Thijs, N. (2017), A Comparative Overview of Public Administration Characteristics and Performance in EU28, report prepared for DG EMPL of the European Commission, p. 48, graph 29, http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8072 256 Hammerschmid, G., Thijs, N. (2017), A Comparative Overview of Public Administration Characteristics and Performance in EU28, report prepared for DG EMPL of the European Commission, pp. 47-48. http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8072 257 Ministry of Environment and Regional Development, E-Governance, http://www.varam.gov.lv/eng/darbibas_veidi/e_gov/ 258 eGovernment Benchmark 2017: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/new-study-egovernment-services-europe-improving-cross-border-availability-services

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3) How responsive are the environmental administrations to external feedback259 (e.g. from the European Commission and civil society)?

We have not been able to identify specific published information which could inform an assessment of the responsiveness of the environmental administrations to external feedback; however, based on the judgement of NGOs we consulted with, the responsiveness of the environmental administrations to external feedback is high in Latvia. However, this judgment is made based on fragmented information. The MoEPRD and other subsidiary institutions seem to be responding to the letters of environmental NGOs and public in due time and answering substantively, not just formally. According to SGI Network260 Latvia has adapted domestic government structures to fulfil the requirements of EU membership, revising policy-planning and decision-making processes. During the 2013 – 2015 period, Latvia adapted its domestic structures to comply with the demands of the 2015 EU presidency. Beginning in 2014, Latvia began adapting to the requirements associated with OECD membership. In 2016, Latvia joined the OECD. In order to ensure efficient decision-making and meet the obligations of IMF and EU loan agreements, Latvia created a reform-management group for coordination on major policy reforms. In 2012, this included changes to the biofuels support system, reforms in the civil service’s human-resources management, tax-policy changes and reforms in the management of state enterprises. The group proved to be a useful forum for the consolidation of support across sectors for major policy changes and structural reforms. The inclusion of non-governmental actors in the group serves to facilitate support for upcoming policy changes. Although the reform management group was considered successful, at the time of writing it had not met since 2013.

4) Do government bodies dealing with the environment have clearly established mechanisms for consultation with relevant civil society organisations?

The main mechanism for civil society consultation in Latvia since 2003 is Environmental Consultative Council261 consisting of 20 annually elected environmental NGO representatives. The Council meets monthly (more frequently if needed) to discuss relevant environmental developments, but also related sectoral topics, e.g. energy, agriculture, forestry policies. The Council regularly gives its opinion on these legislative and policy proposals as well as delegating its representatives in different working groups set up by ministries. Environmental NGOs are also frequently involved in the different working groups set up by the MoEPRD262, e.g. River Basin Consultative Councils and Consultative Councils on Specially Protected Nature Territories.

259 The Recommendations for Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspections (RMCEI) which make use of a feedback mechanism to trigger considerations for improvements in order to meet the goals of the legislation http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32001H0331 260 Sustainable Governance Indicators, http://www.sgi-network.org/2017/Governance/Executive_Capacity/Adaptability/Domestic_Adaptability 261 Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Environmental consultancy board, http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/lidzd/pad/vkp/ 262 Councils and commissions of MoEPRD: http://www.varam.gov.lv/lat/lidzd/pad/?doc=737

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4 New or planned governance initiatives, outlook

4.1 New or planned environmental governance initiatives

Latvia is planning further digitisation of services, in response both to the rapid increase in e-Government use in the population and development of national e-governance strategy. It is also planned to improve access to spatial data and services, identify and document all spatial datasets required for the implementation of environmental law, and make the data and documentation at least accessible ‘as is’ to other public authorities and the public through the digital services foreseen in the INSPIRE Directive. There are plans to better inform the public about compliance promotion, monitoring and enforcement by, at least ensuring availability of detailed online information to farmers about how to comply with obligations on nitrates and nature, providing more online information on inspection plans and reports on industrial inspections, publishing information on outcomes of enforcement action and of the follow-up to detected cross-compliance breaches on nitrates and nature. The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia adopted on 11 October 2018 a Law on Whistleblower Protection263 (Open Government Partnership Initiative), which will enter into force on 1 May 2019. The Law on Whistleblowing will guarantee a high level of protection for whistleblowers who report breaches of national and EU law and as well report on any activity or omission to act which might cause harmful and adverse effects on the public and its interests. The Law on Whistleblowing will establish safe channels for reporting both within an organisation and to public authorities. It will also protect whistleblowers against dismissal, demotion and other forms of retaliation.

4.2 Outlook Further digitalisation of the services is foreseen in Latvia. The MoEPRD is also discussing some of the institutional reforms to improve the capacity and performance of its subsidiary institutions. Despite the combination of broad standing rules and low costs, there have been few environmental cases in Latvia. This is a result of set of circumstances, e.g. weak civil society and the fact that for the person without legal education or experience it is not easy to fill in all the necessary documentation to submit a case before the court (this is demonstrated e.g. with the fact that NGO proposals to the Constitutional Court are dismissed due to lack of legal arguments). Civil society should be strengthened by building its capacity to increase public participation, public trust, and access to justice. Some of the environmental institutions, e.g. the State Environmental Service lack capacity and staff to do their work. Therefore it is necessary to identify priority tasks - develop ways to ensure there are resources available to ensure the most important tasks are prioritised and carried out. It is also important to maintain competency of the environmental institutions. This could include the development of training by internal members of staff rather than external parties or the development of simple e-training packages.

Navigation and the search option for access to the environmental information, as well as the availability of the high quality and easy to understand environmental information should be significantly improved in Latvia. There is also limited data interpretation available for easy use and understanding.

263 Law on Whistleblower Protection: https://likumi.lv/ta/id/302465-trauksmes-celsanas-likums

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Measures should be also taken to improve:

development and distribution of environmental information to the wider public;

environmental impact assessment of legal acts;

information on the webpage of the MoEPRD and its subsidiary institutions on where and how to complain about the mismanagement of the environmental authorities;

interpretation of environmental information, e.g. environmental indicator reports, better visualisation and diversification of information media (video, infographics etc.).

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5 Good practice

Participation Good practice 1: Public to initiate legal proposals The Second National Action Plan of Latvia264 on the Open Government Partnership Initiative includes several good practice examples, e.g. “Mana balss”, which allows public to initiate legal proposals to be submitted to the Parliament and the development of a draft law on protection of whistle blowers. Access to justice Good practice 2: Very broad access to justice in environmental cases (actio popularis) Latvia grants the public, notably individuals and NGOs, a very broad access to justice in environmental cases (actio popularis). It has well-developed legislation on access to information and public participation, e.g. all the draft planning documents and legal acts are available for comment. The Mobile application “VidesSOS265” is a good private initiative making submission of environmental complaints easier for the general public. Compliance Assurance Good practice 3: Simple easy to use risk assessment tool The State Environmental Service (SES) has developed a risk assessment tool with simple easy to collect samples for evaluation criteria. This tool helps them to prioritise which sites to inspect in the current year and which sites to leave in subsequent years. SES also work collaboratively with many other regulatory agencies and academia. This helps to reduce the administrative burden, with sharing of intelligence leading to better environmental outcomes and solutions to technical problems. Effectiveness & Efficiency Good practice 4: Electronic services to interact with society The MoEPRD and its subsidiary institutions have all developed electronic services to interact with society. The State Regional Development Agency (a subsidiary institution of the MoEPRD) has developed a One-stop-shop concept for Latvia. According to this Concept, all the ministries should include their services in the public portal266, with more and more environmental services consequently being made available online. Good practice 5: Formal cooperation agreements to fight environmental crime In Latvia, formal cooperation agreements to effectively fight environmental crime, exchange information and ensure training have been signed by the Nature Conservation Agency and the Municipal Police of Riga, the Customs Board and the State Environmental Service.

Good practice 6: Complaint handling through social media A lot of complaints are submitted via social media. The Nature Conservation Agency has both Facebook and Twitter accounts, while the State Environmental Service operates only a Facebook account. Both institutions actively respond to the questions and complaints submitted. All complaints and questions are treated as standard applications, which have to be answered within 30 days.

264 Open Government Partnership Initiative (2016), Second National Action Plan Of Latvia, https://www.mk.gov.lv/sites/default/files/editor/ogp_2_plans_aktualizets_05.12.2016_eng_clean.pdf 265 Vides SOS, http://www.videssos.lv/notifications 266 www.latvija.lv

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