Austrian Environmental Financing system

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Austrian Environmental Financing system

• Gottfried
• Lamers

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Austrian federal system of environmental support

• We have four sections in our funding system
• Water Management fund
• Recultivating of contaminated sites
• Environmental fund
• Joint implementation/Clean Development mechanism
  (own presentation)

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Water Management

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Water Management Fund

• Founded 1948
• Priority task Water supply of municipalities
• In the sixties additional waste water plants
• In the seventies turn over towards waste water
• In the eighties large plants in all major cities
• In the nineties small plants in rural areas
• Current budget 190 Mio.

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Tasks

• Waste water plants
• Sewer system
• Sludge treatment
• Water treatment by enterprises
• Water supply

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Environmental Fund

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Environmental Fund

• After the first ecological movements founded in
  1984
• Priority tasks air quality and hazardous waste
  of enterprises
• Due to the problem of acid rain the first large
  campaign was to reduce the SO2 emissions.
• In the nineties turn over to CO2 reduction

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Goals

• Money provided 1993 - 2005 501 M support for
  2.540 M investments
• Goals Concentration on the Kyoto protocol and
  CO2 reduction
• Increasing budget in the last 3 years for 2006
  80 M per year

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Tasks

• Renewable energy
• Energy from organic waste
• Energy saving
• Sustainable mobility and traffic projects
• Air quality
• Noise reduction
• Hazardous waste

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Beneficiaries

• Private companies (no municipalities)
• Competition rules of the EU
• Restrictions on the aid intensity, pay back
  conditions and eligible costs

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Aid intensity

• Different by tasks (renewable air)
• Eligible costs only the additional environmental
  investments
• Comparison with projects without additional
  environmental investments
• To take into account the amortization of the
  first 5 years
• Co financing possibilities
• General investment aid
• Regional aid
• EU structural funds

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Recultivation of contaminated sites

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Recultivating of contaminated sites

• Founded after a scandal in 1989
• Priority tasks immediate actions for groundwater
  protection
• System of detection of hazardous dump sites
• Priority list of the UBA

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Goals

• Budget Dependent from an earmarked income, in
  2005 21 M
• Goals Rehabilitation and protection of
  contaminated sites

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Tasks

• Protection against the outflow into the
  groundwater
• Disposal and reuse of the contaminated soil
• Analysis of the suspicious sites
• Precondition The contaminated site is examined
  by the UBA

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Beneficiaries

• Municipalities
• Enterprises
• Private owners
• Regions

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Aid intensity

• Competitive sector
• 15 25 of the investment costs
• 30 if better than requested
• 65 if the owner cannot be obliged
• Non competitive sector
• 65 for municipalities and regions
• 95 for contaminated sites of the war

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Money

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Funds raisings

• Water and waste water fund share of tax income
  dedicated as a percentage and fixed between
  federal and provincial level for several years
• Environmental fund Federal budget and casually
  co-financed by EU structural funds and provinces
• Contaminated sites fund earmarked levy on
  depositing and exporting waste

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Funds disbursement

• Water and waste water
• Until 1993 loans by the funds (interest rates 1
  - 3 )
• Since 1993 grants to loans and interest rates of
  loans (20 - 60 ) deriving from the account and
  from the funds
• Environment
• Until 2001 grants up to 30 of the total costs
• From 2002 grants up to 60 to the additional
  environmental costs
• Contaminated sites
• Grants to investments
• Since 1997 including some parts of operating
  costs

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Management

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Management of the funds until 1993

• Water fund was founded as a part of the ministry
  in the fifties
• Own legal entity in 1984, headed by the ministry
• Environmental fund founded 1986 as own legal
  entity
• Merging of the two funds in 1987
• New tasks as recultivation of old dumping sites
  (1989) or financing environmental actions abroad
  (1992)
• 1993 outsourcing of funds management

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Management of the funds since 1993

• All funds are managed by the Kommunalkredit
  Public Consulting (KPC) on behalf of the minister
• KPC is a daughter of the Kommunalkredit Austria
  GmbH (founded 2003)
• Kommunalkredit is a bank, specialised in communal
  financing
• Kommunalkredit took over the tasks and the staff
  of the Funds 1993
• Rights and duties of the KPC are laid down in a
  contract with the Ministry

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Project level

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Appraisal

• Applicant hands in the application to the
• Administration unit (KPC) reports (technical,
  economical, ecological) on projects to an
• Consulting body (interministerial committee)
  which gives advices to the
• Minister for approval.

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Administration

• Minister approves
• Administration unit (KPC) contract and payment,
• Beneficiary submits bills and reports on the
  fulfilment of the contract and the ecological
  success
• Administration unit (KPC) controls these reports
• Ministry controls the KPC

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Relation Ministry administration unit

• Contract
• Duties of the KPC
• Appraisal, management of the project
• Information
• EU Co financing
• Payment
• Control
• Rights of the KPC
• No double check of the projects
• payment