A draft bill amending the act on biocomponents and liquid biofuels and some other acts was submitted to the Sejm. The project envisages the liquidation of the Low-Emission Transport Fund and taking over the function by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. Instead of FNT, so-called FNT’s long-term commitment under NFOŚ.
The Low Emission Transport Fund was created in June 2018, while introducing the so-called fuel emission fee. The fund, benefiting from 15 percent. part of the charge was to finance projects for clean transport.
As stated in the explanatory memorandum, the current system of disposing and managing FNT provides for operational cooperation of as many as three entities. The Minister of Climate makes the main decisions, tasks related to the day-to-day management of the Fund are carried out by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, and banking services are run by BGK. According to the justification of the project: changes, including the liquidation of FNT, aims to simplify, reduce bureaucracy and accelerate public funding for the development of low-carbon transport.
The draft law therefore eliminates FNT, and in its place creates a new long-term commitment of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, which – as the applicants emphasize – corresponds to the activities undertaken by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management to finance renewable energy and energy efficiency. The liquidation of FNT and the creation of a multi-annual commitment by FNT will allow the transfer of funds between both obligations, in order to ensure the most effective financing of environmental priority objectives – the applicants emphasize.
The project sets out new rules for the distribution of revenues from the issue fee. 95 percent it will constitute the income of the NFEPWM, including 80% – as it is now – revenue is a commitment of many years of “preventing emissions”, and in 15% FNT long-term commitment income. The remaining 5 percent is to constitute the revenue of the Fund for the development of public bus services.