General Part of the Environmental Code Act (2011)

The Act establishes the general legal framework governing environmental protection, defining key legal concepts such as environmental nuisance, environmental risk, environmental threat, emissions, pollution, and contamination, and regulating their assessment and interpretation in administrative and regulatory contexts.
It sets out binding principles applicable to all environmental activities, including requirements to prevent and reduce environmental threats and risks, to apply precautionary measures, and to bear the costs associated with environmental damage and its prevention. It regulates duties of persons and operators, including obligations relating to the use of natural resources, selection and operation of installations, notification of environmental impacts, and measures to prevent or mitigate environmental nuisances.
The Act governs environmental rights and procedural guarantees, regulating access to environmental information, its collection, maintenance, disclosure and use, participation in decision-making processes, and the ability to challenge administrative decisions. It establishes obligations for public authorities to ensure availability of environmental information and defines the functioning of environmental information systems and databases.
It provides a regime for environmental protection permits, including conditions for activities such as emissions, water use, waste management and extraction of natural resources, and regulates procedures for granting, amending, suspending and revoking permits. The Act also establishes rules on supervision, enforcement and liability, including penalties for violations, and regulates public use of land and water bodies and related access rights.