National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Conven- Tion on Persistent Organic Pollutants

CZU 614.7:574 (094) R 46

National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Conven- tion on Persistent Organic Pollutants

First published 2004

Produced for the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the World Bank

Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources 9, Cosmonauþilor str., MD-2005, Chiºinãu Tel: (+ 373 22) 20-45-07 Fax: (+ 373 22) 22-68-58 e-mail: [email protected] Home page: www.moldova.md www.cim.moldova.md

Co-ordinated by the World Bank/GEF Project “Enabling Activities related to the implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Republic of Moldova”, tel/fax: (+ 373 22) 22-62-54, e-mail: [email protected], Web site: www.moldovapops.md

The project team: Andrei Isac, Project Manager; Ion Barbãrasã, Chief Technical Advisor; Elena Muntean, Assistant

The National Implementation Plan was developed based on the Article 7 of the Stockholm Convention, signed on May, 23, 2001 and entered into force on May, 17, 2004. According to the provisions of the Convention, each Party shall develop and endeavour to implement a plan for the implementation of its obligations under this Convention.

This publication it is composed of the full version of the National Implementation Plan, as of May 2004.

Publishing & Printing Enterprise ªtiinþa Academiei str., 3. MD 2028, Chiºinãu, Moldova Tel. (+373 22) 73-96-16 Fax (+373 22) 73-96-26 e-mail: [email protected]

Descrierea CIP a Camerei Naþionale a Cãrþii REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA. National implementation plan for the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants. – Ch. Î.E.P. ªtiinþa, 2004 (Combinatul Poligr.). – 80 p. ISBN 9975-67-446-1 614.7: 574 (094)

DECISION nr.1155 from 20 October 2004 Chisinau

on the approval of the National Strategy on the reduction and elimination of persistent organic pollutants and the National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants

In order to reduce and eliminate the impact of the persistent organic pollutants on the environment and human health, to implement the Stockholm Convention provisions and to create an efficient system of chemical safety, the Government DECIDES:

1. To approve:

The National Strategy on the reduction and elimination of the persistent organic pollutants, annex nr.1;

The National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants, annex nr.2.

2. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Health will collaborate with the international institutions and donor countries for obtaining technical assistance and financial support in order to harmonize the environmental protection and public health policies and for the achievement of the provisions of the mentioned Strategy and Plan.

3. The ministries, the departments, the public administration authorities and the involved institutions will undertake the necessary measures for the achievement of the planned actions and will present annually, according to the established procedure, to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources the information regarding the results of implementation of the nominated Strategy and Plan.

4. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources has been assigned co-ordnating and control functions for carrying out the Strategy and Plan, for information generalization and for annual presentation of the synthesized report to the Government.

Prime-minister of the Republic of Moldova VASILE TARLEV TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... 4 FOREWORD ...... 5 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ...... 6 SUMMARY ...... 7

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 12 2. COUNTRY PROFILE...... 15 2.1. General Issues...... 15 2.2. Environmental Overview ...... 16 2.3. Institutional Framework for Environmental Management...... 18 3. NIP PRINCIPLES AND DEVELOPMENT...... 19 4. ASSESSMENT OF THE POPs ISSUES IN THE COUNTRY...... 21 4.1. Existing POPs-related Legal and Regulatory Framework...... 21 4.2. Current POPs Management, Monitoring and Control ...... 23 4.3. Assessment of POPs Pesticides Issues ...... 24 4.4. Assessment of PCBs Issues...... 26 4.5. Assessment of DDT Issues...... 29 4.6. Assessment of Unintended POPs Releases (PCDD/PCDF, HCB and PCBs)...... 29 4.7. Requirements for Exemptions...... 31 4.8. Existing Monitoring Programs ...... 31 4.9. Economic Assessment...... 33 4.10. Impacts of POPs on Public Health and the Environment...... 35 4.11. Social Assessment and Activities of Non-Governmental Organizations ...... 36 5. STRATEGY...... 38 Country Strategy ...... 39 6. ACTION PLAN ...... 43 6.1. Priority Setting...... 43 6.2. Proposed Actions ...... 45 7. IMPLEMENTATION, EVALUATION AND UPDATING ...... 55

ANNEXES...... 59 Annex 1: Legal, Regulatory and Institutional Activities ...... 59 Annex 2: Capacity Building ...... 61 Annex 3: On-ground Remediation Measures...... 66 Annex 4: Public Awareness, Training and Education...... 69 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Government of the Republic of Moldova acknowledges the World Bank for its assistance in obtaining the GEF support for the Enabling Activities for the Implementation of the Stockholm Convention and for the full size Persistent Organic Pollutants Stockpiles Management Project. This publication is a result of a collaborative effort and was prepared during the implementation of the World Bank/GEF Project “Enabling Activities related to the implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Orga- nic Pollutants (POPs) in the Republic of Moldova” with the support of the Ministry of the Ecology and Natural Re- sources, international and national experts. We are most grateful to Rita Klees, Task Team Leader, ESSD, and Arcadie Capcelea, Environmental Consultant, the World Bank, for their support and encouraging that work. For their creativity and co-ordination of the entire preparatory process, we express our gratitude to Valeriu Mosanu, Ruslan Melian, Valentin Arion, Elena Bivol and Valentin Ciubotaru, national experts, and Viktor Simoncic (Slovenia), Andrei Barannik (United States) and Katarina Magulova (Slovak Republic), international experts.

That document was developed due to the contribution and support of all below listed persons:

The National Co-ordination Committee: Gheorghe Duca, Acad., Prof., President of AS Constantin Mihailescu, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Liudmila Marduhaeva, National Focal Point Lucreþia Ciurea, MOF Nicolae Danilov, MAFI Petru Groza, MOI Ilie Timofte, ME Ion ªalaru, MOH Ghenadie Primovici, MOTC Elena ªubina, MOE Ion Copãceanu, DOC Elena Pentilie, DOSM Pavel Vlad, AS Maria Gonþa, NGO Chimeco Elena Zubcov, NGO Ecotox

Representatives of institutions, NGOs and national experts:

Sergiu Covaliu Violeta Ivanov Mihai Iftodi Maria Nagornîi Tatiana Þugui Tatiana Pleºco Arcadie Zagorodniuc Larisa Gheorghiev Nicolae Opopol ªtefan Stasiev Alecu Reniþã Tamara Guvir Jana Tafi Alexandru Stratulat Viorica Gladchi Vlad Garaba Constantin Mogoreanu Victor Strãtilã Lidia Romanciuc Victor Cotruþã Pavel Zamfir Anatol Tãrîþã Gavril Gîlcã Marius Þãranu Ghenadie Sirodoev Mihail Coca Victoria Reºetnic Anna Cumanova Ion Comendant Alexandru Musteaþã

Special thanks go to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Environment Direc- torate, to Brendan Gillespie, Robert Visser and Angela Bularga, as well as to James Willis, UNEP Chemicals for their contribution and methodological support. FOREWORD

During the last decade the problem of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was placed on the environmental agenda of the Republic of Moldova as part of toxic substances and waste management programmes. Since 2001, after the signing of the Stockholm Convention, it was defined as a separate field of actions, which became a priority one among the main environmental issues of the country.

At the same time, sound management of persistent organic pollutants was considered an essential pre- condition for economic growth. The Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy of Moldova un- derlines the link between the environment, health and the impact of POPs, proposing special urgent measures in order to solve these problems.

In dealing with POPs, the country must follow a process that includes developing a clear understanding of the situation, setting priorities and establishing realistic objectives for actions. The Preparation of the Moldova National Implementation Plan (NIP) for the Stockholm Convention followed such a process uti- lizing a participatory approach whereby all interested partners in society (national and local government, economy, science, energy, agriculture, education, NGOs) had an active role in the decision-making and assumed their full share of responsibility for the NIP. Broad involvement was ensured through the free flow of information, participation in workshops and consultative meetings, consideration for the views of individuals and stackeholders groups, affirmation of the partnership principle, and awareness-raising campaigns.

To achieve maximal efficiency continued efforts have to be planned to integrate and update, as needed, NIP activities into relevant national (economic and environmental) and international environmental activities. The NIP will become an efficient tool in solving the POPs problems in the country and will lay the groundwork for an environmentally sound chemicals management system in the Republic of Moldova.

Despite the existing difficult economic situation, the Republic of Moldova is committed to fulfilling its obligation regarding POPs under the Stockholm Convention. This will require increased internal institutional and financial resources and the mobilization of international assistance. The World Bank, which financed preparation of the NIP, through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is currently assisting the Republic of Moldova in preparing a POPs Stockpile Management Project. Joint efforts such as this will be crucial to the success of the NIP in promoting a safe environment and protecting public health as part of the sustainable development of the country.

Constantin Mihailescu Edward Brown Minister of Ecology and Country Manager Natural Resources The World Bank Country Office, Moldova ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

Basel – The Basel Convention on the Control of MENR – Ministry of Ecology and Natural Re- Transboundary Movements of Hazardous sources Wastes and their Disposal MFA – Ministry of Foreign Affairs BAT – Best Available Techniques MIA – Ministry of Internal Affairs BEP – Best Available Practices MOD – Ministry of Defense CCM – Center for Chemicals Management MOE – Ministry of Economy CIS/NIS – Commonwealth of Independent MOH – Ministry of Health States/Newly Independent States MOI – Ministry of Industry CLRTAP (POPs) – Convention On Long-range MOJ – Ministry of Justice Transboundary Air Pollution, Protocol on Persis- tent Organic Pollutants MOTC – Ministry of Transport and Communica- tions CPM – Center for Preventive Medicine NEAP - National Environmental Action Plan DDE – Dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethilene NEHAP – National Environmental Health Action DDT – Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethan Plan DES – Department for Emergency Situations NGO – Non-governmental Organization DOC – Department of Customs NIP – National Implementation Plan EBRD – European Bank for Reconstruction and NIS – Newly Independent States Development OECD – Organization for Economic Co-opera- EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment tion and Development ESSD – Environmentally and Socially Sustain- PCBs – Polychlorinated Byphenils able Development PCDDs – Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins EU – European Union PCDFs – Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans FDI – Foreign Direct Investment PIU – Project Implementation Unit FSU – Former Soviet Union POPs – Persistent Organic Pollutants GDP – Gross Domestic Product ppb – parts per billion GEF – Global Environment Facility ppm – parts per million GRM – Government of the Republic of Moldova REC – Regional Environmental Center HCB – Hexachlorbenzene Rotterdam – The Rotterdam Convention on the HIPC – World Bank-IMF Heavily Indebted Poor Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Countries Initiative Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in Interna- HMS – Hydrometeorological Service tional Trade IBRD – International Bank for Reconstruction SEE – State Ecological Expertise and Development SEI – State Ecological Inspectorate IDA – International Development Association TACIS – Technical Assistance for the Common- IMF – International Monetary Fund wealth of Independent States (EU Programme) LRTAP – Convention on Long-range Trans- TBD – To-be-Determined boundary Air Pollution UNECE – United Nations Economic Commis- MAC – Maximum Allowable Concentration sion for Europe MAFI – Ministry of Agriculture and Food Indus- WHO – World Health Organization try MDL – Moldovan Leu (national currency) ME – Ministry of Energy MECTD – Ministry of Ecology, Construction and Territorial Development SUMMARY

he National Implementation Plan nizes the need to apply a precautionary, prevention (NIP) provides a policy framework and polluter pays approach in addressing POPs, and describes concrete interventions and implementing cost-effective measures to prevent en- T to reach the national objectives and vironmental degradation and negative societal, par- priorities regarding the management of Persistent ticularly health, impacts. In the NIP, POPs issues Organic Pollutants (POPs), and to meet the obliga- are regarded as a separate chemical management is- tions taken by the Republic of Moldova under the sue only to the extent needed to the fulfillment of Stockholm Convention. The NIP seeks to encour- specific obligations arising from the Stockholm age, facilitate and support national and local author- Convention; in all other relations, POPs activities ities in their efforts to collect and properly dispose have to be integrated in the overall strategy to proof POPs as well as to remediate or contain sources tect human health and the environment from the of POPs pollution. To this end, a wide range of risks resulting from exposure to toxic substances. tools is proposed, including regulatory, voluntary, The national environmental and sectoral policies, remedial, monitoring, enforcement, and research strategies and programs should be amended to re- tools. flect POPs priority elements, as well as other dan- The national policy regarding POPs, which is an gerous and toxic substances management issues. integral part of national environmental policy, is The NIP is consistent with the national sustain- driven by understanding that a comprehensive able development strategy and programs aiming at chemical safety management system needs to harmonizing economic, environmental and social be created in the Republic of Moldova. It recog- aspects of development. For example, environ-

Storage conditions. Obsolete pesticides warehouse, Gratiesti, Chisinau mun.

8 Barrels of obsolete pesticides in the warehouse, Pascani, Hincesti rayon mentally sound management of POPs pesticides Pursuant to the requirements of the Stockholm and other prohibited and unused agricultural Convention, the MENR and other stakeholders chemicals is considered helpful for marketing have identified the following strategic objectives: Moldovan organic agriculture products worldwide. Reduction of POPs releases from intentional The obligations under the Stockholm Conven- production and use (Article 3). tion are only a subset of broader international oblig- Prohibit production and use (except PCBs in ations of the Republic of Moldova. The links and equipment) and eliminate import and export of operational platform between the Stockholm Con- POPs chemicals listed in Annexes A and B by vention, the Aarhus Convention and its Protocol on 2005. POPs, the Basel Convention, the Rotterdam Con- Establish a schedule to phase out the use of vention and other relevant multilateral environ- PCBs in equipment according to Annex A, Part mental agreements ratified by the Republic of II (a) of the Convention and totally ban these Moldova should be established. PCBs by 2025. The process of NIP preparation followed the Implement systematic measures for reduction UNEP/World Bank “Guidance for Developing a of exposure and risk from use of PCB-contain- NIP for the Stockholm Convention”. The Ministry ing equipment according to the Annex A, part of Ecology and Natural Resources1 (MENR) as- II, b of the Convention. sumed the main responsibility for developing the Prohibit recovery for reuse in other equipment NIP, with an active participation of all stakeholders, of PCB-containing liquids according to the including governmental bodies, local communities, Stockholm Convention requirements (Annex A, consumer groups, the business sector, scientific part II, d) by amendments of legislation until community, NGOs, etc. A prior national inventory the 2010 and establish environmentally sound of POPs enabled a better setting of priorities and waste management of liquids and equipments national objectives in the field of POPs manage- contaminated by PCBs not later than 2028. ment.

1 The MENR is the successor of the Ministry of Ecology, Construction and Territorial Development (MECTD). The re- organization was undertaken in March 2004.

9 Identify the PCBs content in other than energy Finalize the strategy for identification of stock- equipment and articles and manage them ac- piles consisting of or containing chemicals listed cordingly by 2025. in Annexes A and B, and products containing Evaluate national options for specific exemp- POPs listed in Annexes A, B and C by 2006. tions according to the Stockholm convention re- Manage obsolete pesticides stockpiles and quirements by 2005. wastes in an environmentally sound manner, Establish a mechanism for the assessment of following international standards and guide- new pesticides and industrial chemicals (in ac- lines, according to the following scheme: (100% cordance with the POPs criteria) by 2007. of POPs pesticides contained stockpiles and Implement assessment of pesticides and indus- wastes by the year 2005, 25% of other stockpiles trial chemicals in use according to the POPs cri- containing obsolete pesticides by 2006, 50% – teria by 2010. by 2007, 75% – by 2008, and 100% – by 2009). Reduction or Elimination of Releases from Un- Establish a schedule for managing PCB-con- intentional Production (Article 5) taining stockpiles and wastes in an environmen- Further investigation of sources and current tally sound manner, starting since the comple- management options regarding releases of tion of the identification process, but not later chemicals listed in Annex C in order to prepare than 2007. relevant Action Plan by 2006. Establish a schedule for managing products con- Identify BAT and BEP for every particular in- taining POPs listed in Annexes A, B and C, dustry and sources by 2010, and introduce BAT starting since the completion of the identifica- and BEP for new sources since 2010. tion process, but not later than 2009. Promote measures to achieve release reduction Prohibit recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct since 2006. reuse and alternative use of POPs listed in An- Reduction or Elimination of Releases from nex A (except PCBs) by legal provision by 2005. Stockpiles and Wastes (Article 6) Prohibit recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct Finalize the collection of prohibited pesticides reuse and alternative use of PCBs by legal pro- at district deposits during 2004-2006. vision by 2006.

Entrance to the Vulcanesti Pesticides Landfill (2003)

10 Block of capacitors

Prohibit recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct islation (regulations, procedures, standards and reuse and alternative use of POPs listed in An- guidelines) shall clarify monitoring, reporting, nex C by legal provision by 2006. inspection, implementation, and enforcement Listing of Chemicals in Annexes A, B and C (Ar- responsibilities of all parties involved. An inte- ticle 8) grated environmental permitting should be de- Monitor POPs candidates use and impacts and veloped and provisions for BAT and BEP re- utilize internationally accepted experience and garding POPs sources (new and existing) ad- findings. dressed. The regulatory requirements should al- Research, Development and Monitoring (Article 11) so be transferred into practical and operational Develop environmental and health oriented guides, as well as introduced to the general pub- monitoring strategies and start step by step im- lic in simple and understandable terms. plementation since 2005, starting with priority Capacity Building: This category includes ac- areas, zones and concerns. tions related to the training of professionals and The NIP covers the period of five years and decision makers; improvement of POPs inven- foresees four categories of actions, as follows: tories; increasing the capabilities for hot-spots Legal, Regulatory and Institutional Activi- identification, reporting, monitoring and con- ties: Improving the legal and regulatory frame- trol, research and development; strengthening work is a prerequisite for effective POPs man- the national capacity for chemical risk as- agement in Moldova. This category of actions is sessment and risk management by promo- targeted at: (1) amending the current legislation, tion of international cooperation and techni- in order to make it consistent with the Stock- cal assistance. Coordination, compatibility and holm Convention, and incorporating provisions integration of monitoring, laboratory and com- for establishing a broader chemical safety ap- pliance control capabilities shall be enhanced to proach in the country; (2) drafting specific regu- improve POPs cycle information and data man- latory acts and supporting operational guide- agement, thus facilitating more effective and ef- lines and practical handbooks; (3) establishing ficient national programming, planning and de- an adequate institutional framework for co-ordi- cision-making. Adequate information manage- nation of POPs related activities. Secondary leg- ment should be promoted through a common

11 integrated computerized system of tracking reg- which is a strategic pathway for the solving of POPs ulated POPs, dangerous and toxic substances and other chemicals issues in Moldova. It is partic- and other chemicals throughout their life-cycle. ularly important to establish sustainable co-financ- On-ground Remediation Measures: These ing and contributing platforms between interna- include repackaging and centralisation of obso- tional, national, regional and local sources, govern- lete pesticides at the district storage facilities, ment and private funds. Incentives need to be pro- identification of the most appropriate solution vided to increase the share of local public and pri- for their final elimination, low-cost measures to vate sector financing. A phased increase in public minimise the impacts of abandoned storage fa- environmental expenditures in POPs shall be cilities, collecting old DDT stocks from rural planned parallel to overall economic recovery or, at households, and remediation measures at the least, ensure timely release and efficient execution pesticide dump in Ciºmichioi and the stockpiles of budgetary allocations for priority POPs issues. of out-of-use capacitors in Vulcãneºti and other The implementation of the Stockholm Conven- places. An extensive and POPs specific techni- tion will be coordinated in the Republic of Moldo- cal assistance program should be promoted by va by the National Committee for Environmental involving potential international financial Policy, established in July 2002, which brings to- sources and technology transfer options. gether senior officials from the key ministries. To Public Awareness, Training and Education: support activities of the National Committee in the The measures under this category refer to rais- field of chemical safety, the MENR should consid- ing public awareness and ensuring proper com- er bringing various related international Conven- munication on POPs-related issues, including tions’ focal points under one umbrella, transform- the incorporation of POPs issues in educational ing the existing POPs PIU into a separate legal en- programmes. The Communication Strategy, de- tity (Center for Chemicals Management - CCM) to veloped in the framework of the POPs Enabling coordinate and manage Moldovan international Activities Project, will be used as the main dri- obligations under the Basel, Stockholm, LRTAP ving engine to promote POPs awareness among and Aarhus Protocols (and potentially Rotterdam the general public, decision makers and effect- Convention,) thus gaining synergies and improving ed groups. and increasing efficiency, cost-effectiveness, trans- The MENR and the Stockholm Convention na- parency, accountability and cross-fertilization. tional focal point sought suggestions from relevant POPs-related obligations of various ministries and government agencies and it was unanimously ac- agencies require focusing, fine-tuning of authority knowledged that Moldova did not need exemp- and responsibilities, as well as better coordination tions as specified in Art. 4. At the same time, na- and proactive cooperation – the MENR shall be as- tional and sector-wide privatization being almost signed leading responsibility and given relevant completed, the majority of industrial and agricul- powers to ensure enforcement. The CCM should tural production is concentrated in the private sec- serve as an expertise, guidance and coordination tor. In this regard, MENR shall continue consulta- unit. tions with major private industrial and agricultural The NIP provides flexibility for implementa- producers, manufacturers’ and consumer association mechanisms and operational plans, and imple- tions, to seek whether some exemptions might be mentation agencies should have a sort of maneu- requested by the private sector. vering in order to reach established national goals Severe economic and financial constraints limit timely and efficiently, but strictly considering the the country’s capability to achieve expected level principles of safe and environmentally sound mea- of POPs release reduction. Therefore, one of the sures. The NIP will be periodically evaluated by country’s first priorities is joint implementation of means of established criteria and indicators, ana- nationally and internationally supported efforts, lyzed by stakeholders and revised if appropriated.

12 1. INTRODUCTION

ver the last 40 years awareness has from their sources. The realization of POPs’ health been growing globally about the and environmental threats led a number of coun- threats posed to human health and to tries to introduce policies and legislation to manage O the environment by the ever-increas- an increasing number of these chemicals. Due to ing emissions and discharges into the natural envi- POPs’ persistence and propensity to cross-border ronment of various toxic and hazardous substances. movement, states are also seeking multinational co- Mounting evidence of health and environmental operation to address the challenge. damage has focused the attention of the interna- The 1995 Global Programme of Action for the tional community on a category of substances re- Protection of Marine Environment from Land- ferred to as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs.) based Activities and the 1998 POPs Protocol to the Some of these are used as pesticides, while others UNECE Convention on Long-range Transbound- are industrial chemicals. They are also generated ary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) were responses to this unintentionally as byproducts of combustion and serious situation. The Basel Convention on the industrial processes. POPs possess toxic characteris- Control of Transboundary Movements of Haz- tics, are persistent, accumulate in the fatty tissues of most ardous Wastes and their Disposal was one of the living organisms, are prone to long-range transboundary first to address management of toxics, comple- transport and are likely to cause significant adverse hu- mented later primarily by the Rotterdam Conven- man health or environmental effects near to and distant tion on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Proce-

Storage place for different types of obsolete pesticides

13 dure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesti- The Convention also foresees identification and cides in International Trade. In addition, it was ac- safe management of stockpiles containing or con- knowledged that there was sufficient scientific evi- sisting of POPs. Waste containing, consisting of or dence for immediate international action regarding contaminated with POPs should be disposed of in 12 POPs. The Convention on Persistent Organic such a way that the POP content is destroyed or ir- Pollutants (The Stockholm or POPs Convention) reversibly transformed, so that it does not exhibit was adopted and opened for signature at the Con- POPs characteristics. Where this does not represent ference of Plenipotentiaries in Stockholm on May the environmentally preferable option or where the 22, 2001. The Convention will become legally POPs content is low, waste shall be otherwise dis- binding on May 17, 2004. posed of in an environmentally sound manner. Dis- The overall objective of the Stockholm Con- posal operations that may lead to recovery or re-use vention is to protect human health and the environ- of POPs are explicitly prohibited. With regard to ment from POPs2. It makes specific reference to shipment of wastes, relevant international rules, the precautionary principle as set forth in Principle standards and guidelines, such as stipulated in the 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and De- Basel Convention, are to be taken into account. velopment. The Stockholm Convention provides The POPs Convention requires the Parties subscribing Parties with basic objectives, principles to develop implementation plans to indicate and elements to be used in developing comprehen- how they will meet their obligations under the sive programs and control regimes with respect to Convention. The implementation plans are to be POPs. It is structured to address POPs that are a) transmitted to the Conference of the Parties within intentionally produced, such as pesticides and PCBs, two years of the Convention entering into force. In and b) produced and released unintentionally as the re- addition, the Convention sets forth a number of sult of human activity, including dioxins, furans, obligations that the Parties shall or are encouraged PCBs, and HCB. The nine chemicals currently list- to undertake, including designating a national focal ed in Annex A of the Convention are subject to a point, fostering information exchange, providing ban on production and use, except where there are technical assistance, promoting and facilitating generic or specific exemptions. In addition, pro- public awareness and participation, consultation duction and use of DDT, a pesticide still used in and education, stimulating research and monitor- many developing countries for malaria and other ing, and reporting “at periodic intervals.” The Re- diseases vector control, is severely restricted, as set public of Moldova signed the Stockholm Conven- forth in Annex B of the Convention. Import and tion on May 23, 2001 and ratified it on February 19, export of the ten intentionally produced POPs is al- 2004. lowed only for the purpose of environmentally Moldova has severe public health and environ- sound disposal under restricted conditions. mental problems linked to the intensive use of pes- Special provisions are included in the Stock- ticides in the past. The stockpiles of obsolete (in- holm Convention for those Parties, with regulatory cluding POPs) pesticides are a continuous threat to assessment schemes to review existing chemicals the health of thousands of people. The country has for POPs characteristics and to take regulatory mea- accumulated large amounts of PCB oils and PCB- sures with the aim of preventing the development, contaminated equipment in the energy sector, production and marketing of new substances with which present high risks to the environment and POPs characteristics. public health. At the same time, Moldova lacks Releases of unintentionally produced by-prod- credible evidence about the current releases, the ucts listed in Annex C are subject to continuous degree of environmental contamination and health minimization with, as objective, the ultimate elimi- impacts due to unintentionally produced POPs and nation where feasible. The most stringent control PCBs. The Government of Moldova acknowledges provision with regard to by-products is that Parties that elimination of POPs will serve the long-term shall promote and, in accordance with their action interests of public health, environment, and eco- plans, require the use of best available techniques nomic development of the country. (BAT) for new sources within major source cate- In 2001, the Government of Moldova requested gories. from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) fi-

2 The 12 chemicals listed in the Convention are: aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, DDT, hexachlorobenzene, PCBs, chlorinated dioxins and chlorinated furans.

14 General view of the Vulcanesti (Cismichioi) Pesticides Landfill nancial assistance for strengthening its capacity to group of national experts. From the very begin- fulfill the obligations arising from the POPs Con- ning, the NIP development was approached as a vention, including the development of a planning process with active participation of all stakeholders framework to identify priority activities. This assis- and based on the shared responsibility of the gov- tance has been provided in the framework of a ernmental bodies, local communities, consumer $410,000 GEF POPs grant - “Enabling activities groups, the business sector, scientific community, related to the implementation of the Stockholm NGOs, etc. Convention on POPs in the Republic of Moldova”. A preliminary national inventory of POPs was The National Implementation Plan (NIP) is one of undertaken in order to provide quantitative infor- the main outputs of this project. The goal of the mation for initiating development of an Action NIP is to provide a framework and management Plan. Gathered data allowed for setting priorities options and measures in order to meet the obliga- and determining the national objectives in the field tions taken by Moldova by joining the Stockholm of POPs minimization and elimination, a process in Convention and to reach the national objectives which national stakeholders were largely involved. and priorities regarding the POPs. On the basis of the discussed and agreed priorities The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Re- and objectives the National Implementation Plan sources3 (MENR) assumed the main responsibility was formulated for different areas of POPs. Small for developing the NIP as the state authority re- problem-oriented teams were set out, to tackle spe- sponsible for compliance and enforcement of na- cific issues related, for example, to persistent or- tional legal requirements and international obliga- ganic pesticides or PCBs or POPs monitoring and tions related to management of toxic and hazardous research. During their activity, members of the products and substances. It must be stressed that teams worked closely with counterparts in the ap- the NIP was developed as an interagency and propriate governmental or non-governmental sec- cross-sectoral document. The National Implemen- tors. Workshops were organized that brought to- tation Plan was prepared by a multi-disciplinary gether senior representatives of all of these sectors

3 The MENR is the successor of the Ministry of Ecology, Construction and Territorial Development (MECTD). The re- organization was undertaken in March 2004.

15 in order to discuss national strategies and options nation of agriculture land and foodstuffs with POPs for eliminating POPs. pesticides residues compromises the future options The NIP includes both regulatory and non-reg- for developing organic agriculture and undermines ulatory measures targeting POPs. It is obvious that the export potential of agriculture products. There- POPs are only a small part of the chemicals that fore, the sound management of POPs is not to be need control and monitoring in view of their possi- treated as an exclusively environmental issue. One ble impact on the environment and human health. of the major themes of the NIP is that improving Therefore, POPs issues are treated in the NIP as an environmental conditions by mitigating POPs-re- independent chemical management issue only to lated problems can help to stimulate economic the extent this is related to the direct fulfillment of growth and reduce poverty. The many links be- specific obligations arising from the Stockholm tween environmental management and poverty re- Convention. In all other relations, POPs activities duction provide the rationale for the systematic have to be integrated in the overall strategy to pro- mainstreaming of this nexus in the NIP priority ac- tect human health and the environment from the tivities. risks resulting from exposure to toxic substances. The NIP is structured as follows. Chapter 2 pro- At the same time, the NIP is consistent with the vides a very brief profile of the country, including national sustainable development strategy and pro- general social, economic, environmental and envi- grams aiming at harmonizing economic, environ- ronment management information. Chapter 3 in- mental and social aspects of development. The troduces the principles of the NIP development. Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy, An assessment of POPs-related issues in Moldova currently prepared by the Government, will deter- is presented in Chapter 4. The political statement mine the country development in the medium and country strategy in the field of POPs and term. In the context of the NIP, poverty and envi- chemical management are presented in Chapter 5, ronment are related through a complex web of rela- and the actions incorporated in the NIP follow in tionships. Environmental conditions have major ef- Chapter 6. Finally, Chapter 7 provides the frame- fects on the health, opportunities, and security of work for implementation, evaluation and updating poor people. A large part of the Moldovan popula- of the NIP. More detailed background information tion is actively involved in or directly depends on can be found in the NIP Background Paper and agriculture activities, which makes them suscepti- technical reports, which are provided on the pro- ble to impacts from obsolete pesticides. Contami- ject’s website4.

4 www.moldovapops.md.

16 2. COUNTRY PROFILE

2.1. General Issues Moldova became independent on August 27, 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Among he Republic of Moldova is a small, the Newly Independent States (NIS), Moldova has landlocked and densely populated been hardest of all hit in terms of economic down- country located in the South-Eastern turn. During the 1990s, the GDP was in continuous T part of Europe, bordering Romania decline reaching in 2000 a level of only 37% of its and Ukraine. The country has a population of 4.3 1990 value. The Moldovan economy has experi- million people, of which 0.7 million live in Trans- enced a severe economic downturn with dramatic nistria, Moldova’s most industrialized region. drops in real output, fiscal revenues and expendi- Transnistria is de facto (politically and institutional- tures, and poverty increase during the transition ly) separated from the rest of the country. Out of period. The share of the population with an income the total population, 54% are rural inhabitants, less than half of the subsistence minimum (207 lei) most of them involved in agriculture activities. The is about 53.4%. The increase in poverty has been prevalence of rural population has important social, associated with an increase in inequality. The rich- economic, political and environmental conse- est 20% of the population earn close to half of the quences. total income, 11 times more than the poorest 20%5. The country is relatively low-lying and hilly, Poverty in Moldova is prevalent in the countryside, with semi-arid steppe plains in the south covering where most of pesticides pollution and contamina- one third of the territory and fluvial terraces in the tion is located. The poorest quintile in Moldova is west and the east. Moldova is endowed with fertile composed by 35.8% of urban population and 64.2% black soils, covering about 70% of the territory. The of rural population. Revenues in rural areas are climate is temperate and continental. Precipitation mostly in-kind (71.5% of the total disposable in- is low (400-500 mm a year) and droughts are fre- come), with cash accounting for only 28.5 %. quent.

Nistru river at Rezina

5 See: Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, approved by the GRM on April 11, 2002.

17 Old house. Central Moldova

Despite good economic growth over the last tradictorily. Privatization resulted in land fragmen- three years, poverty continues to be a serious prob- tation, which, in turn, led to a significant reduction lem, with per capita income less than US$460, of agriculture output. The GRM intends to support which makes Moldova one of the poorest states in agriculture development through implementing as- Europe. More than a half of the population has a sistance programs for farmers; creating and provid- consumption level below the internationally com- ing support to farmer associations; and rural comparable absolute poverty line of US$2.15 per day, munity development. Introduction of organic farm- and a majority falls into the category of chronically ing practices may be the key to resolving the prob- poor6. The population has been severely affected lems in agriculture on a sustainable basis and would by the erosion of public health and education sys- increase the income of individual farmers. Food tems. processing is the largest Moldovan industrial sector; Moldova is one of the region’s most heavily in- it is a strategic engine for growth, accounting for debted countries with an external debt stock (ex- 68% of total industrial output, and a similar share of cluding energy arrears) of about 83 percent of GDP. total export. A variety of factors impedes development. The Moldovan industry is undergoing a deep crisis, country is highly dependent on capital flows from largely due to the long-lasting stagnation in invest- abroad. The economic climate is not attractive to ments. During the last decade, the share of indus- investors. High political risk, a shrinking labor trial output in the GDP has contracted and is force, and the small size of the Moldovan market presently similar to that of the agriculture sector. work together to keep them at bay. Increasing the share of industrial output is one of The abundance of fertile, mineral-rich soils and the major economic goals of the Moldovan Govern- the temperate climate predisposes the country to ment. agribusiness. Agriculture is a sector of crucial im- Moldova lacks fossil fuel resources. Hydropower portance for Moldova, employing about 27% of the resources are also scanty. The country has to rely population and supporting other economic activi- heavily on imports of energy resources (98% of the ties, as food and wine production. However, the re- total energy consume). Decreasing country’s de- form in agriculture has proceeded slowly and con-

6 Moldova: Public Economic Management Review, Report No. 25423-MD, Poverty Reduction and Economic Man- agement Unit, Europe and Central Asia Region, The World Bank, Washington, DC, February 20, 2003, p. 4

18 pendence upon energy resources from abroad is With the decline of industrial activity and ener- one of the Government objectives. gy use during recent years, air emissions of sulphur Moldova is a “gateway” between the former So- and nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and partic- viet Union countries and the West: trade-wise, lan- ulates from stationary sources have decreased7. At guage-wise and culturally. The country will be- the same time, the air quality in the main cities come increasingly important as a future border be- (Chisinau, Balti, Tiraspol) did not improve, mainly tween the EU and Eastern Europe, once Romania due to the increased number of (older) vehicles joins the EU. Road and rail transport are the two during the last years. The water quality of the main most important modes of transport. rivers (Nistru and Prut) is satisfactory. The quality of groundwater is a growing concern, and supply of safe drinking water to the population is one of the 2.2.Environmental Overview major national objectives. About 30% of lands under agricultural cultiva- tion suffer from some form of erosion, the estimat- Current environmental problems in the country ed annual loss of agricultural production being US$ are largely the result of past ineffective and ineffi- 45-55 million. Soil erosion and degradation is pro- cient management, as well as declining environ- gressing at a high rate and totaly eroded land has in- mental expenditures and investment. The severe creased by 45% over the last 20 years. Waste man- downturn of Moldovan economy, accompanied agement is rapidly becoming a major concern in with significant price rise in the last ten years, has Moldova. Domestic waste is deposited in numer- both positive and negative impacts on the environ- ous landfills, the majority of which are not properly ment. The former include a dramatic reduction in authorized and do not meet environmental and san- use of agrochemicals and pollution generated in in- itary requirements. There are no organized disposal dustry and energy sectors. The latter include dete- sites for hazardous and industrial waste. Most toxic riorating capital assets, declining or no investments industrial waste is stored at industrial sites while at all in waste minimization, abatement and clean awaiting a solution. technologies, inadequate institutional capacity, en- Natural ecosystems have been conserved on vironmental management, monitoring, control and less than 20% of Moldova’s territory; they are frag- enforcement. mented and highly degraded. Many protected

Landscape of the South of Moldova

7 Republic of Moldova State of the Environment Report 2002. MECTD & National Institute of Ecology, Chisinau, 2003, 116 p.

19 plant and animal species are under stress. Protected state of the environment in the country in front of areas occupy 1.96% of the territory, placing Moldo- the global community; (ii) the Parliament, responsi- va far behind most other European countries. ble for approving general environmental policy After gaining independence, Moldova experi- principles and adopting laws; and (iii) the Govern- enced a deterioration of the health status of its pop- ment, responsible for the implementation of nation- ulation. The key factors of this trend are collapsing al environmental policy. The Parliament has a Com- health services and the socioeconomic stress mission on Ecology and Natural Resources, and the brought about by difficult economic and social GRM has a Department of Agriculture and Environ- change for large segments of population during ment as well as a number of inter-ministerial ad hoc continuous transition. The current life expectancy and standing commissions created to address specific at birth (67.4 years in 2000) places Moldova behind environmental problems. most other European nations. The country contin- The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources ues to lag far behind the health status outcomes (MENR) is the central national duly environmental achieved in other European countries8. The burden authority and was designated the Stockholm Con- of chronic morbidity, caused by environmental pol- vention competent authority. The main govern- lution, affects the quality of life and brings signifi- mental bodies involved in chemicals management cant social and economic losses. One of the coun- issues are: Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of try’s strategic objectives is to preserve and improve Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI), Ministry of In- the quality of the environment as a factor for ensur- dustry (MOI), Ministry of Energy (ME), Ministry of ing the public health. Transport and Communications (MOTC), Ministry of Economy (MOE), Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Ministry of Defense (MD), Department of Customs 2.3.Institutional Framework for (DOC), Department of Standardization and Metrology and Department for Emergency Situations (DES). The Environmental Management local authorities have responsibilities for environmental protection and management in the limits of Over the past decade Moldova has worked to- their territory, ensuring compliance with applicable wards improving and shaping its own environmen- legislation and standards. The legislation stipulated tal institutional framework. To-date, together with a range of obligations for economic entities (e.g. to op- numerous policies and plans, 41 codes and laws, erate on the basis of environmental permits, pre- and about 60 regulations have been adopted. A vent pollution, manage toxic substances in environ- combination of command-and-control and market- mentally safe way, etc). based economic instruments is being used in the Since 1991, Moldova began to actively partici- country to ensure their implementation and en- pate in international, regional and bilateral environ- force compliance. mental cooperation, signing 17 and ratifying 16 in- The most important policy and strategic docu- ternational conventions, including the Basel Con- ments related to the chemicals issues are: the Na- vention on Transboundary Movements of Haz- tional Environmental Action Plan (1995), the Na- ardous Wastes and their Disposal; the Geneva Con- tional Program for Production and Domestic vention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollu- Wastes Management (2000), the Concept of Envi- tion; and the Aarhus Protocol to CLRTAP on Per- ronmental Policy of the Republic of Moldova sistent Organic Pollutants. Moldova signed the (2001), the National Environmental Health Action Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pol- Plan (2001), the Mid-term Strategy for Socio-Eco- lutants on May 21, 2001, and ratified it on February nomic Development of the Republic of Moldova to 19, 2004, thus demonstrating its continuous com- 2005 (2001), the National Program of Environmen- mitment to sustainable development and interna- tal Safety (2003) and the Concept of National Wa- tional cooperation in this field. MENR is the na- ter Policy (2003). tional Competent Authority for most of internation- The administrative system for environmental al environmental conventions and hosts all focal management and protection includes at the highest points for POPs (chemicals) related agreements. level: (i) the President, who is responsible for the

8 Moldova Health Policy Note: The Health Sector in Transition. Report No. 26676-MD, Human Development Sector Unit, Europe and Central Asia Region, The World Bank, Washington, DC, November 2003, p.5.

20 3. NIP PRINCIPLES AND DEVELOPMENT

he philosophy that guided NIP prepa- and it is consistent with the national sustainable ration was based on the understand- development strategy. The integration of POPs ing that the control and elimination of activities in the overall Moldova environmental T POPs has to be integrated into the policy is one of the conditions sine qua non to broader context of sound chemicals management. The achieve needed efficiency and to contribute to most efficient improvement in POPs could be the improving of the environmental situation in achieved in close connection with the fulfillment of general. other national needs and international obligations Integration of chemical management issues in other in this field. sectoral policies. POPs management is not to be POPs are only a small part of the chemicals that treated as an exclusively environmental issue. need control and monitoring in view of their possi- The NIP is a national document, adopted by ble impact on the environment and human health. the Government, where the obligations of all Therefore, POPs issues are treated in the NIP as an stakeholders are clearly defined. One of the ma- independent chemical management issue only to jor themes of the NIP is that improving environ- the extent this is related to the direct fulfillment of mental conditions by mitigating POPs-related specific obligations arising from the Stockholm problems can help to stimulate economic Convention. In all other relations, POPs activities growth and reduce poverty. The problem of have to be integrated in the overall strategy to pro- POPs has to be directly related to the economic tect human health and the environment from the activities also as a new business opportunity. effects of toxic substances. This means the estab- Sound management of pesticides can help the lishment of environmentally sound and integrated man- agricultural sector9 to promote Moldova’s organ- agement of chemicals, the institutionalization of precau- ic agriculture products worldwide. In this sense, tionary principle and integrated pollution and preven- introduction of POPs issues in national agricul- tion control in particular sectors. POPs monitoring ture policy could bring direct benefits to this has to be integrated in the national environmental sector. Likewise, the energy sector can benefit monitoring system; reporting on POPs has to be- from PCBs elimination by reducing occupation- come part of the general environmental reporting al health impacts, introducing PCB-free and procedure; public information, awareness and edu- modern energy saving equipment and optimiza- cation has to encompass, besides POPs, other tion of infrastructure. chemicals. Partnership and shared responsibility. Setting up It follows from the above that POPs NIP can realistic objectives and effectively reaching serve as a triggering policy instrument for develop- them is possible only within a partnership of all ing national programs for sound chemicals manage- beneficiaries (e.g., consumers, the general pub- ment. The general principles underlying the NIP lic) and stakeholders – the business sector, na- preparation are: tional and local authorities, local communities, Integration in the national development and environ- NGOs, and the international community. There mental policy. The NIP is not a stand-alone docu- is a wide range of interests in chemical management. It was developed as a part of the national ment and a broad base of involvement and sup- environmental policy (NIP POPs actions are port is required. Each part should assume its combined with other environmental actions) share of responsibility. Involvement of different

9 Agriculture is the most important economic sector in Moldova and the biggest employer. Introduction of organic farming practices may be the key to resolving the problems in agriculture on a sustainable basis and would increase the income of individual farmers. Convincing the international community that POPs and other chemicals are under control would increase the export opportunities for Moldovan organic agriculture products.

21 stakeholders in the project preparation was also particularly all potentially impacted individuals needed to estimate the national technical capa- have access to information about chemicals and bilities for solving POPs problems10. Agriculture the impacts they may have, and that use is un- and energy sectors are the most important stake- dertaken in that knowledge. holders, and have to be directly involved in solv- Use measurable indicators and assess performance. ing most of existing problems with obsolete pes- The NIP has to be subject to revisions and up- ticides and PCBs. dates on regular basis. This will be obviously Coordination with relevant national policy docu- linked to the performance evaluation process. ments and strategies (e.g. Economic Growth and The NIP will include a set of verifiable indica- Poverty Reduction Strategy, National Environ- tors, designated for this purpose. mental Action Plan, National Program for Pro- The elaboration of the NIP followed the step- duction and Domestic Wastes Management, wise approach as described in the UNEP/World Concept of Environmental Policy of the Repub- Bank “Guidance for Developing a NIP for the lic of Moldova, National Environmental Health Stockholm Convention” dated October 2003. A Action Plan, National Program of Environmen- preliminary inventory of POPs in Moldova was un- tal Safety, Concept of National Water Policy, dertaken in order to provide quantitative informa- Concept of Ecological Agriculture). tion for initiating development of an Action Plan. Coordination with and building on international ex- The inventory provided a better understanding of perience - relation to other Conventions (Rotter- the situation, which allowed the setting of priorities dam, Basel) and relevant international docu- and the determining of the national objectives in ments. Regional co-operation frameworks (e.g. the field of POPs minimization and elimination, a Transnational Monitoring Network under the process in which national stakeholders were largely International Commission for the Protection of involved. On the basis of the discussed and agreed the Danube River) will be used to resolve the priorities and objectives, the NIP was formulated POPs issues in Moldova. for different areas of POPs. Small problem-oriented Emphasize pollution prevention and low-cost solu- teams were set out, to tackle specific issues related, tions. Remediation of POPs impacts is very cost- for example, to persistent organic pesticides or ly. Prevention of their releases into the environ- PCBs or POPs monitoring and research. During ment through adequate management systems is their activity, members of the teams worked closely likely to bring benefits through saving efforts with counterparts in the appropriate governmental and money. In preventing future and remediat- or non-governmental sectors and businesses. Work- ing existing damages Moldova will seek to de- shops were organized that brought together senior velop affordable low-cost solutions. representatives of all of these sectors in order to Right to know and prior informed consent principles. discuss national strategies and options for eliminat- These establish the basis for ensuring that ing POPs. mechanisms exist for end-users, the public and

10 Significant resources will be necessary to solve the problems of, e.g., obsolete stockpiles or PCBs. To find low-cost solutions a close cooperation with the national business community and research institutions will be needed.

22 ASSESSMENT OF THE POPs ISSUES 4. IN THE COUNTRY

4.1. Existing POPs-related Legal age, transportation and use of hazardous and toxic and Regulatory Framework products and substances, as well as their import and export, in order to avoid, reduce or prevent their negative impacts on population and environment ver 25 legal and regulatory acts deal in The Law on Protection of Atmospheric Air, adopt- general terms with the full life-cycle ed on December 17, 1997, aims at preserving the of managing toxic and hazardous sub- purity of the air, improving its quality, preventing O stances and wastes, which, though not and reducing negative physical, chemical, biologi- naming specifically, cover POPs regulated by the cal, radioactive and other impacts, which may cause Stockholm Convention. adverse consequences to the environment and pop- The Law on Environmental Protection, adopted ulation. on June 16, 1993, established basic principles of en- The Law on Plant Protection stipulates that all vironmental protection, including the priority of plant protection chemical and biological substances environmental goals, mandatory environmental and means shall be certified, tested and registered. compliance, environmental liability, prohibition of Import and use of untested, uncertified and unreg- implementation of any programs and projects with- istered chemical and other means of plant protec- out a positive conclusion of the state ecological ex- tion is prohibited. pertise and concurrence by the population in the Certain elements of toxic and hazardous sub- area of impacts, payments for use of natural re- stances and wastes management are regulated by a sources and non-compliance, and use of collected number of other national laws, as follows: the Law funds for environmental mitigation and rehabilita- on the Safety of Dangerous Industrial Facilities, adopt- tion. ed on February 11, 2000; the Law on the Control of The Law on Sanitary-Epidemiological Well-being Strategic Goods Export, Re-Export, Import and Tran- of Population, adopted on June 16, 1993, seeks to sit, adopted on July 26, 2000; the Law on Licensing of ensure favorable environmental conditions to sup- Certain Types of Activities, adopted on July 30, 2001; port healthy life for citizens, including a variety of the Law on Civil Protection, adopted on November chemical safety measures. 9, 2001; the Law on Consumers Protection, adopted The Law on Ecological Expertise and Environmen- on March 13, 2003; the Law on Certification, adopted tal Impact Assessment, adopted on July 26, 1996, on October 28, 1999. seeks to prevent or minimize potential direct, indi- Current Moldovan legislation includes general rect or cumulative impacts of various activities on prohibitions and restrictions on production, use, the environment and to ensure environmental and storage, marketing and disposal of a broad variety social sustainability of planning, design and deci- of toxic, hazardous, flammable and volatile sub- sion-making processes. The state ecological exper- stances and waste, including POPs listed in the tise and EIA are mandatory obligations to some Convention. The main deficiency in the present le- chemical related issues. gal framework is that legislation does not specifical- The Law on Wastes from Industrial Production and ly mention POPs and only covers use of substances Consumption, adopted on October 9, 1997, aims at as plant protection products, not, e.g., biocidal or fostering efficient management of wastes in order industrial uses, and it does not regulate uninten- to reduce their amount, increase recycling and tional and by-product POPs. As the Convention has reuse, and prevent environmental pollution and both mandatory and aspiration stipulations, and is degradation. very broad in scope, in the sense that the control The Law on Regime for Hazardous Products and measures cover the whole cycle of POPs, from pro- Substances, adopted on July 3, 1997, establishes the duction to disposal, Moldovan legislation does not legal basis for activities related to production, stor- yet fully cover all these measures.

23 Numerous Moldovan laws require that individ- Current legislation does not define public and uals and judicial entities develop, introduce and private sector management responsibilities for use advanced environmentally clean technologies POPs during their life-cycle, from production to that: provide for energy and resources conservation disposal, as well as contaminated sites. and savings; ensure low- and no-wastes production; There is no framework for prohibition of pro- prevent emissions and discharges, and reduce im- duction and use of specific POPs chemicals to pacts on the environment and public health; imple- be added to the Convention in the future. ment highly efficient and effective process. Not all of the 12 POPs regulated by the Stock- Though the scope and application of these require- holm Convention have environmental standards. ments are similar in their spirit to the BAT described in Annex C to the Convention, Moldovan legislation does not mention BAT or BEP by name 4.2.Current POPs Management, and is less specific. The analysis of existing POPs-related legal and Monitoring and Control regulatory framework identified the following problems: In relation to POPs, MENR is responsible for Moldovan legislation does not specifically men- state legal monitoring, control and compliance en- tion POPs and only covers the use of substances forcement, particularly for production, storage, as plant protection products, not, e.g., biocidal transportation, use, neutralization, and burial of or industrial uses; it does not regulate uninten- toxic and hazardous products and substances and tional and by-product POPs and does not men- their wastes11. MENR has to concur to all Statutes, tion BAT or BEP. Lists and Registers on toxic and hazardous products and substances prepared and maintained by other ministries and agencies, as well as to sitting of specialized testing grounds for neutralization and burial of hazardous and toxic products, substances and their wastes. The MOH is responsible for establishing and maintaining the National Register of Potentially Toxic Chemical Substances and for listing new substances when necessary. It also amends the Statute on Proce- dures for the Use and Elimination of Hazardous Prod- ucts and Substances and their Wastes; issues conclusion regarding the Statute on Procedures for Transporting, Storing and Use of Phyto-Sanitary Means and Fertiliz- ers and the List of Chemical and Biological Means of Plants Protection and their Growth Stimulation. MAFI includes the State Service for Plants Protec- tion and the State Centre for Phyto-Sanitary Means and Fertilizers Certification, which has a designated certified laboratory. The State Register of Phyto-Sanitary Means and Fertilizers, approved by the interdepart- mental Council for phyto-sanitary means and fertilizers approval, is elaborated, maintained and updated through a joint effort of MAFI, MOH and MENR. DOC administers export and imports by ensuring compliance with restrictions established by MENR, MAFI, MOH, which furnish the department with lists of prohibited pesticides and chemicals in accordance with national legislation and in- Barrels with liquid obsolete pesticides, Comrat ternational obligations. DOC enforces these restric-

11 These functions are delegated to the State Ecological Inspectorate, which is a subdivision of MECTD.

24 General view of a block of capacitors, Orhei tions at the border, with MAFI and MENR helping Inadequate coordination and communication customs officers with specific technical issues. between environmental and sectoral agencies MOE is concerned about several aspects of en- on POPs–related matters, and their limited ca- vironmental and energy saving issues, but the prob- pabilities to incorporate environmental dimen- lem of PCBs is not specifically on their agenda. In- sions into national and sectoral economic devel- creased pressure from the unresolved problem of opment agenda PCB oils and power equipment (particularly old ca- Existing laws and plans suffer from being poorly pacitors) has driven the energy sector to seek solu- implemented and enforced, as a result of inade- tions. quate funding and inadequate administrative There is no established monitoring system on and judicial support. POPs in the country, although the MENR and the Ineffective communication with civil society MOH have monitoring programs comprising analy- and lack of meaningful public empowerment ses of organochlorinated pesticides, including Disconnection between assumed responsibili- DDT, in ground and surface waters, soils, drinking ties under POPs-related tasks and obligations water and foodstuffs. There is no information ex- and financial resources available to meet those change among institutions carrying out analyses of commitments to an acceptable degree POPs and no unified database. Inadequate laboratory facilities and coordina- It is recognized that existing national institu- tion between the monitoring, analytical and tional, organizational, technical, human and finan- control systems, managed by various ministries cial capabilities are very limited and inadequate for and agencies ensuring full implementation of a sound manage- Inadequate data and information management ment of chemicals, including those regulated under systems to handle diverse and multiple purpose the Stockholm and other related Conventions and databanks; lack of interconnection between sec- Protocols, without foreign technical and financial toral information systems relating to POPs man- assistance, agement, thus leading to poor information for The analysis of current POPs management, decision-making. monitoring and control identified the following problems related to Convention requirements:

25 New private pesticides and fertilizers warehouse

4.3.Assessment of POPs Pesti- the last 10-12 years (from 38,300 tons in 1984 to some 2,800 tons in 2000, as active ingredient). The cides Issues share of persistent OCPs also decreased, in favor of other pesticide groups. (Figure 1 and 2) The Republic of Moldova has never had and The absence in the past of controls on pesti- does not currently have pesticide producing enter- cides manufacture, imports, transportation, storage, prises or factories; all agrochemicals for plant pro- and use have resulted in the stockpiling of now tection permitted for use in the country have been banned and useless pesticides which constitute an and are imported from abroad. None of the POPs acute environmental problem/hazard. In order to pesticides is presently included in the register of find a solution for the ever-increasing amount of permitted substances for use in agriculture, forestry obsolete pesticides accumulated in the country, a and households. pesticide dump was built in 1978 on the territory The import/export of pesticides is a licensed ac- adjacent to Ciºmichioi village, in the South of tivity in Moldova. It is regulated by a number of Moldova. Over a period of ten years (1978-1988) acts developed by MENR, MAFI, and MOH, and 3,940 tons of pesticides were buried there, includ- enforced by DOC. POPs pesticides have reported- ing 654.1 tons of DDT12. ly not been subject to import/export during the last By the early 1990s, over 1,000 warehouses for decade. Nor do any data exist about possible illegal pesticide storage have been built in kolkhozes. entries of POPs pesticides, but this is not expected During 1991-2003 about 60% of these were de- to be a very large problem, due to lack of specific stroyed or dismantled, with only 20% of the re- demand from the farmers. maining ones maintaining a satisfactory condition. In the 1950-1990s an estimated total amount of Significant amounts of obsolete pesticides are 560,000 tons of pesticides were used in Moldova, stored in the open. The deteriorated packaging en- including 22,000 tons of persistent organochlorinat- hances the risk of harmful effect on people’s health ed compounds (OCPs). Pesticides use registered a and environment, some warehouses being situated peak in 1975-1985, but reduced dramatically over close to residential areas.

12 By now, this is the only option for old pesticides disposal, which has been applied in Moldova at national scale.

26 Figure 1. DISTRIBUTION OF PESTICIDES (by communes)

27 Figure 2. PESTICIDES DISTRIBUTION (on the administrative-territorial units)

28 Pesticides warehouse in Olanesti, Stefan-Voda

Storing POPs pesticides in inappropriate conditions for their final elimination. These decisions tions led to the contamination of adjacent lands. A have never been implemented. In November 2003, survey made by the State Ecological Inspectorate the MOD and DES started repackaging and trans- in 2002 in the Nistru River basin revealed a signifi- portation of obsolete pesticides in a few districts. At cant level of soil contamination with organochlori- the same time, it has to be stressed that no techni- nated pesticides, including DDT and HCH, cal solution for final elimination/disposal of obso- around most checked facilities. The concentrations lete pesticides has been selected so far on the basis of OCPs in soil regularly and significantly exceeded of an economical, financial, technical and environ- the MAC even at 200 m from the facilities. In sev- mental analysis. eral cases the contamination of surface waters near- Currently, the total amount of obsolete pesti- by occurred. cides in Moldova is approximately 5,650 tons, in- Since 1997, three Government decrees have cluding about 3,940 tons buried at the pesticide been taken aiming at the collection and centralized dump in Cismichioi and 1,712 tons stored in 344 storage of obsolete pesticides, while seeking solu- poorly equipped or unfitted facilities, which lack

Pesticides Dump. Interior vew

29 Lapusna pesticides warehouse. General view proper monitoring and security. Only 777 tons out The amount of obsolete pesticides stored in the of the latter amount are identified preparations, warehouses showed a steady decrease over the and among them POPs pesticides are represented years. Since 1995, the total amount of recorded pes- by 80 kg of heptachlor and 1,600 kg of toxaphene. ticides decreased by approximately 600 tons. It However, no information exists on what amount of would be very difficult to say whether these POP pesticides may be among the 935 tons of changes exist only on paper or they are real. It unidentified obsolete pesticides stored in facili- would not be totally unreasonable, however, to as- ties13. (Figures 1 and 2) sume that some amounts of stored pesticides are

Barrels with Toxaphene, Pascani, Hicesti rayon A barrel with Heptachlor. Gura Galbenei, Cimislia rayon

13 Tentative expert estimates suggest that Stockholm POPs may represent less than 20% of existing stock of obsolete pesticides.

30 Residues of obsolete pesticides in the open air subject to illegal disposal, they are stolen, washed episodically exceeded the MAC. Traces of hep- out with the runoff or infiltrate into the groundwa- tachlor showed up only once. From the foodstuffs, ter, conducting to soil and water contamination. animal products were found to accumulate most: in No comprehensive assessment of the risks asso- 2002, DDT residuals were found in 4.5% of sam- ciated with POPs stockpiles, contaminated sites ples and HCH in 1.8% of samples. The contamina- and wastes has been made in Moldova so far. In tion level of crops was insignificant. many cases, the exact location and the environmen- The review of the findings of POPs pesticides tal state of contaminated sites has not been deter- assessment against the provisions of the Stockholm mined. On the other hand, no guidelines were de- Convention revealed the following problems: veloped providing criteria and procedures for such Large amounts of obsolete (including POPs) inventories and for assessing the risks posed by pesticides are stored in poorly equipped or un- such places, and no decontamination measures fitted storage facilities lacking proper monitor- have been elaborated at the national level. ing and security. During 1976-1990, soil samples showed pesti- There is no clear ownership and accountability cide contamination levels exceeding the maximum for the obsolete pesticides issue, related to allowable concentration (MAC) from five times in stockpile and contaminated sites management. the Southern zone to 50 times in the Central zone. There is evidence of some amounts of POPs pes- A research by the Institute for Experimental Mete- ticides (especially DDT) stored in private house- orology of the State Committee for Meteorology of holds and used by farmers in an uncontrolled way. the former Soviet Union showed that in 1979-1985 POPs pesticides are still identifiable in the envi- about 60% of soil samples were polluted with DDT ronment (including soil, surface and ground wa- exceeding the MAC, in spite of the fact that DDT ter and foodstuffs), despite the ban on their use was prohibited in 1970. imposed long time ago. Since 1989, due to reduction in pesticide appli- Large areas around former and existing storage cation, investigations showed an anticipated de- facilities are contaminated with POPs pesticides. crease of pesticides-related pressure both in annual Tracking, reporting and enforcement systems and perennial crops. During 1990-1995, the region- associated with imports and exports of POPs al Centers of Preventive Medicine of the MOH pesticides have to be improved. have analyzed the contents of 28 pesticides’ residu- The Government is aware of and committed to als in 10 agricultural crops and foodstuffs. Pesticide solve the problem of obsolete pesticides but residuals were found in 56.4% of tomato samples lacks capacity for doing it. and in 40 % of grape samples, but they never ex- No regulations, standards and/or guidelines ceeded the MAC. This downward trend has contin- were developed covering contaminated sites as- ued in the last years. The percentage of samples in- sessment procedures, remediation criteria, fu- vestigated during 1995-2002 showing traces of ture site use restrictions and site monitoring. DDT and HCH has decreased every year and only

31 4.4.Assessment of PCBs Issues number of capacitor batteries located at 20 electrical substations throughout the country is almost PCBs14 have never been produced in the Re- 20,000, containing a total amount of 365 tons of public of Moldova, all of them being imported. Ap- trichlorobyphenil. Most of the capacitors are con- parently, no control of the quality of dielectric oils centrated at the Vulcanesti substation in the south exists at national borders related to the concentra- of Moldova. Over 12,000 batteries are kept at the tions of PCBs. Their utilization in some sectors has substation including many out-of-use capacitors, 56 been discontinued or prohibited in the 1980s. kg each, containing 19 kg of PCB oil. Thus, a total However, PCBs continue to be used in power in- amount of 230 tons of trichlorobyphenil and 670 stallations and other types of equipment. The ma- tons of PCB-contaminated equipment is stored jor sources of environmental pollution with poly- there. chlorinated biphenyls in Moldova are the emissions The capacitors represent a significant hazard to from the energy sector and industry. The main the environment. Most of them have been in opera- pathways of environmental pollution are the PCB tion for more than 30 years. There is no check for oil oil spills and leaks from electric equipment, heat spillages from the capacitors. Old batteries are stored exchangers and hydraulic systems, evaporation in open metal containers, some of them are leaking. from different technical installations, and dis- They represent a real threat for the health of people charges of industrial liquid waste. living in the vicinity of the substation. Complaints It is estimated that most of PCBs in Moldova are from the local population about nuisance (unpleas- concentrated in the electricity sector. This sector ant odours, eyes irritation) are not unusual. has to be primarily targeted to solve the problem of At present, there are no possibilities for disposal PCBs in Moldova. The preliminary inventory iden- of old capacitors in the country. After the break-up tified that about 30,000 tons of dielectric oils are of the USSR the former procedures for disposal of used in electrical power installations, including ap- capacitor oils have been abandoned. Apparently, no proximately 23,300 tons in high voltage transform- legal requirements exist for disposing of the equip- ers, 5,400 tons in circuit breakers and 400 tons in ment contaminated with PCBs. capacitors. (Figure 3) From the total amount, 95-97 Regulations (dating from the Soviet period) % is in the equipment that belongs to power supply concerning the handling of dielectric oils are in entities (producers, transporters, and distributors) place. However, even the personnel in the energy and 3-5% in the consumers’ electrical installations. sector is poorly informed (and only in relation to ca- The losses of dielectric oils in the energy sector are pacitors) about the PCB risks. The electric installa- estimated at 9-10 tons per year. tions are not labeled accordingly. The power entities keep no records about the The degree of uncertainty related to the PCB type of oil currently or previously filled in equip- problem in Moldova is quite high. No monitoring ment. Thus, no direct evidence exists at this mo- of PCBs and PCB-containing materials is being ment on whether the dielectric oil is or is not PCB- done in the country. There is no reliable system- contaminated. A few selected analyses executed by atized information on leakage accidents and conse- Fichtner (Germany) in 1999, in transformers from quences of PCBs pollution of the environment, or the transport division of the power system, and by other negative impacts of PCBs. Almost nothing is Union Fenosa (Spain) in 2003, in 30 transformers known about the amount of PCBs in the electric from power distribution companies, did not provide equipment being used and the out-of-use installa- proof of any PCB presence (however, this is not tions; the PCB releases to the environment during considered to be a representative sample and does last decades; their content in the environment; not allow any generalization). PCB-contaminated sites; or the exposure of the In contrast to transformer oil, the capacitors population to PCBs and their environmental risks. used in Moldova probably contain PCB, and most Lack of information concerning non-energy likely this would be trichlorobyphenil. The total sector PCB applications does not allow any perti-

14 The polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of hydrocarbons that have largely been used along the 20th cen- tury in the energy sector and industry. PCBs have been manufactured primarily for use as dielectric fluids in power installations (especially transformers and capacitors). They also had a number of industrial applications, in hydraulic equipment, as plasticizers, lubricants, etc. Starting with the 1960s, scientific evidence accumulated showing that these substances are quasi indestructible, highly bioaccumulative and toxic. Consequently, in the 1970-1980s production and marketing of PCBs became forbidden in all industrialized countries.

32 Power transformer in operation “Moldelectrica”, Orhei nent conclusions in this field. The preliminary in- surface treatment for textiles; plasticizers; sealants; ventory provided no information on the matter. The fluorescent lamp ballasts and other consumer goods. sectors/industries where a certain amount of PCBs The review of the findings of PCBs assessment could be presently used in Moldova are as follows: against the provisions of the Stockholm Conven- hydraulic fluids; lubricating oils; adhesives; paints; tion revealed the following problems:

Capacitor batteries in blocks

33 Figure 3. VOLUME OF OIL IN ENERGY INSTALATIONS (potentialy contaminated with PCB)

34 Currently there are no specific legal require- stantly decreased. The results of the long-term ments as regards PCBs import/export, storage, monitoring of DDT residues in soil show a clear labelling, transport, and no operational guide- downward trend after the peak was reached in the lines were developed for these fields. 1980s. The same tendency has been recorded in the There appears to be no clear ownership and ac- surface waters. According to investigations by HMS, countability of PCB issues for activities under the the maximum concentrations of DDT residuals de- authority of Ministries other than the MENR. tected in surface waters decreased from 8-10 ppb in Compliance with the Convention will require the 1980s to 0.0-0.01 ppb in 2002. problem definition; setting and maintaining in- Concerning DDT stockpiles, a reported amount ventories; design and implementation of reme- of 654.1 tons is buried at the Cismichioi pesticide dial measures dump. The investigations carried out in 1999 in the There are very few data on PCB oils in use or framework of the Tacis project „Selected Actions for awaiting destruction or disposal; PCB-contain- the Protection of the Danube River Basin” showed ing or contaminated equipment and other that surface soils within and adjacent to the site are wastes, stockpiles and contaminates sites; PCB contaminated with residues of DDT and its metabo- containing products or other (non-energy) lites. The study reported strong evidence that pesti- equipment. cide residues from the dump are being mobilized Options for appropriate destruction or disposal through exposure of contaminated surface soils and of PCBs have not been explored in Moldova. by leaching from the dump into groundwater. Environmental authorities do not appear to have Due to the fact that DDT has been prohibited a clear focus for environmental control of PCBs. over 30 years ago and its imports have stopped in the Regular PCBs monitoring does not exist and yearly 1970s, all shipment and contractual informa- laboratory capacity is insufficient. tion has been lost, thus making desk assessment im- PCB awareness level of decision makers appears possible. At the same time, according to some ex- to be very low. perts, DDT might still be used in some rural house- No surveys of stockpiles, wastes and sites conta- holds, which do not possess knowledge of the com- minated by PCBs were conducted to determine position of obsolete stock they might have preserved. to which extent such sites present a threat to the The review of the findings of DDT assessment environment and human health in the near and against the provisions of the Stockholm Convention longer term. revealed a number of problems similar to those applying to other POPs pesticides described under item 4.3. 4.5.Assessment of DDT Issues 4.6.Assessment of Unintended 15 DDT has never been produced in Moldova. Its POPs Releases (PCDD/ use was forbidden in 1970; currently DDT is not PCDF, HCB and PCBs) listed in the official register of permitted substances for use in agriculture, forestry and household. Illegal import of DDT is unlikely, since: (1) it could not be No comprehensive study to identify the releas- legally used; and (2) DDT is no longer seen as an es of PCDD, PCDF, PCBs and HCB has been ever essential pesticide, since a number of effective al- conducted in the Republic of Moldova. ternative pesticides are in use. Over the last decade, The UNEP Standardised Toolkit for Identification DDT concentrations in the environment have con- and Quantification of Dioxin and Furan16 Releases was

15 Four POPs substances to be controlled via the Stockholm Convention are produced unintentionally as by-products or trace contaminants. These are: polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs); polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs); polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and, hexachlorobenzene (HCB). Two of them, namely PCBs and HCB, have also been produced for specific purposes (PCBs as dielectric fluids etc. and HCB as a seed fungicide). 16 Dioxins and furans are amongst the most toxic substances known to man, and normally they are not intentionally produced. They are usually generated and subsequently released through a number of anthropogenic and natural activities. Anthropogenic sources include a broad range of industrial and combustion sources. PCDDs and PCDFs have been detected in effluents from municipal effluents, waste incinerators, cement kilns, steel plants, wood combustion etc.

35 Storage conditions. Sacks with obsolete pesticides. used to make a preliminary inventory of these substances HCB releases in Moldova were assessed at 0.025 kg, and in Moldova. Various sources released 42.6 g TEQ of the main emission source was cement production (99%). PCDD/PCDF into atmosphere, water and land in 2001. In 2001, releases were estimated at 1.0 kg. The main emis- According to the inventory, 47.6% of total PCDD/PCDF sion source was secondary aluminum production (99%). releases resulted from wastewater; 35.9% from power Significant uncertainties regarding quantification generation and heating, 6.6% from uncontrolled combus- of releases of un-intended and by-products POPs tion processes (fires/burning of biomass). must be stressed. These are due to the lack of reliable Over the period of 1990-2001 total PCDD/ PCDF and continuous monitoring, analytical methods and releases to the atmosphere, water and land decreased equipment, both in the public and private sectors. by 83.8% (from 263.1 g TEQ to 42.6 g TEQ). At the The National Program for Environmental Safety same time, it can be foreseen that national economic asks for developing and implementing emission lim- recovery could bring a significant increase of it values for unintentional POPs. However, due to PCDD/PCDF releases. Therefore appropriate mea- lack of capacity (equipment) to monitor and analyze sures have to be taken to identify the hot spots and to such emissions, this task looks unrealizable in the target limited available resources at prevention and near future. Besides, there appears to be a regulatory limitation of emissions from priority sources. gap with respect to responsibilities for managing re- Emissions of PCBs (as unwanted by-products17) leases (especially PCBs) from industry. There are no in Moldova amounted to 16.24 kg/year in 1990. existing inventories of industrial plants or factories The main emission sources were heavy-duty vehi- known to release HCBs, PCBs, dioxins or furans. cles, buses and lime production. During the last Many surveys will be required to garner a clear and decade PCBs releases declined sharply (up to 2.10 precise definition of the problem. This will also like- kg/year in 2001). ly require the establishment of consultative mecha- There are no data available on current and his- nisms and partnerships and the cooperation of many toric emission levels of HCB18 in Moldova. In 1990,

17 PCB can be classified under two source categories: as deliberately used industrial products (discussed above) and as unintentional products. PCBs are a common contaminant in emissions from combustion sources. At low combustion temperatures and inadequate combustion chamber residence time, PCBs are volatilized and released to the local environment where they condense and contaminate the surrounding area. 18 HCB was originally used as a fungicidal seed treatment. As a fungicide, it is not allowed for use in Moldova, and re- portedly it was not extensively used in the past. HCB sources also include: emissions from incineration; leachate from hazardous waste dumps; emissions from various industrial sources; effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants and long-range transport and deposition.

36 Ministries. This activity is a prerequisite to develop- production is concentrated in the private sector. In ing an implementation plan to achieve compliance. this regard, MENR shall continue consultations The review of the findings of unintended POPs with major private industrial and agricultural pro- assessment against the provisions of the Stockholm ducers, manufacturers’ and consumer associations Convention revealed the following problems: to seek whether some exemptions might be re- There appears to be a regulatory gap with requested by the private sector. spect to responsibilities for managing releases from industry. There are no existing inventories of industrial 4.8.Existing Monitoring Programs plants or factories known to release HCBs, PCBs, dioxins or furans. There are no data on process-related releases Several laboratories, centers, institutions and from the industry sector, medical incinerators, departments are involved in monitoring activities and/or sewage treatment plant discharges. regarding pesticides (including POPs) in Moldova. Currently there are no emission limit values for The State Ecological Inspectorate (SEI) is in charge of unintentional POPs. compliance monitoring and pollution control. The Lack of capacity to monitor releases of uninten- main focus of the SEI is analysis of pollutants in tional POPs. discharges and in the environment in the vicinity of pollution sources. The Inspectorate has six certified laboratories (one central and five regional) with 4.7.Requirements for Exemptions skilled staff. However, an evaluation of laboratory capabilities undertaken in 2002 in the framework of the World Bank Environmental Compliance and The MENR and the Stockholm Convention na- Enforcement Capacity Building Project revealed tional focal point sought suggestions from relevant that the analytical instrumentation in all laborato- government agencies and it was unanimously ac- ries is extremely obsolete and none of them is knowledged that Moldova did not need exemp- equipped for adequate analyses of organic microp- tions as specified in Art. 4. At the same time, with ollutants (which include the POPs) in water, air and national and sector-wide privatization almost com- soil samples. Since the laboratories do not partici- pleted, the majority of industrial and agricultural pate in the national/international inter-laboratory

Power Plant Nr.2, Chisinau

37 comparisons, the quality assurance/quality control other CPM laboratories in the country are also issues are of concern19. A modern gas chromato- quite well equipped and staffed. graph with FID and ECD detectors was recently Several other institutions have the technical ca- supplied to the central laboratory in Chisinau in the pacity for POPs pesticides analyses (e.g. the Center framework of the mentioned project, increasing its for Agrochemical Service of the MAFI, the Insti- capability for high-precision measurements of tute of Geophysics and Geography of the Academy POPs pesticides and PCBs. In 2002-2003, the SEI of Sciences), but these are not regular and depend undertook a survey of old pesticides storehouses upon demand from interested clients. Private en- and investigated the level of contamination of adja- terprises and farmers do not have technical capabil- cent areas with organochlorinated pesticides, in- ity of analyzing POPs, in particular pesticides, and cluding DDT, in the Nistru River basin. they usually contract certified laboratories for doing The State Hydrometeorological Service (HMS) that. Currently, the industries and the energy sector monitors background air, water and soil quality to do not have the obligation of self-monitoring in re- assist in the formulation of pollution control mea- spect of specific pollutants like PCBs or PCDD/ sures. It has certified laboratories for water and soil PCDF, since those are usually not listed in environ- analyses, which regularly participate in international mental permit requirements and, on the other quality assurance and quality control schemes. The hand, no national environmental quality standards HMS is running programs of pesticide monitoring have been established for some of them. in soil and water. The most comprehensive program Coordination and exchange of information involved the investigation of DDT and DDE among the monitoring agencies is sporadic and is residues in soil since 1979. The results showed a usually the result of the individual initiative of tech- clear downward trend after the peak was reached in nical experts within those institutions. Despite sev- the 1980s. The same tendency has been recorded in eral signed agreements (e.g. the Agreement on coop- the surface waters. The HMS has a comprehensive eration between the MECTD and the MOH signed network of sampling stations covering all major wa- in 2000), currently there are no operational channels ter courses and water bodies and monitoring a range of information exchange between the parties. This of some 35 parameters, including DDT and other generates duplication of efforts, on the one side, in- pesticides. Water quality reports are sent regularly formation gaps, on the other side, and does not allow to national authorities and also to the Secretariat of relevant information to be used in decision-making. the Danube Protection Convention. At the same The Government attempts to integrate existing time, air monitoring is deficient due to a lack of sectoral monitoring frameworks and to canalize equipment for measuring POPs pesticides. gathered information into the decision-making The Ministry of Health is responsible for moni- process so far resulted in setting different “nation- toring in relation to human health. The MOH has al” monitoring systems, which basically involve the an extensive network of regional laboratories in the same institutions (CPMs, HMS, SEI, MAFI) and Centers for Preventive Medicine (CPMs) carrying suffer from the same overlapping. Besides, pro- out a significant number of analyses of foodstuffs, posed systems often remain on paper only, since agriculture soils, air, drinking water and surface wa- their implementation is hindered by lack of funds20. ters for pesticides residues. It is also responsible for In conclusion, currently only investigations over occupational health issues related to pesticides use. DDT and its metabolites are regularly carried out The National Center for Preventive Medicine in in Moldova. Other pesticides included in the POPs Chisinau has a fully equipped laboratory with list of the Stockholm Convention (aldrin, dieldrin, trained staff, capable of carrying out sophisticated chlordane, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphen, analyses. The laboratory has national certification and hexachlorobenzene) are not monitored at na- and its results are mutually recognized by the tional scale. A significant amount of data on POPs health authorities of Russia and Ukraine. Several pesticide exists within the country, but appears

19 Upgrading Compliance Monitoring Capabilities of the State Ecological Inspectorate. Final Report. June 2002. Envi- ronmental Compliance and Enforcement Capacity Building Project, The World Bank. 20 See, for example: GRM Decision No. 477 of 19.05.2000 on the approval of the Regulation on the national network of laboratory observation and control over the pollution of the environment with radioactive, toxic and bacteriological substances; and GRM Decision No. 717 of 07.06.2002 on the approval of the Concept of organization and functioning of social-hygienic monitoring in the Republic of Moldova and the Regulation on the social-hygienic monitoring in the Republic of Moldova.

38 Destroyed storehouse, Lapusna, Hincesti rayon fragmented, making future reporting obligations 4.9.Economic Assessment more difficult than necessary. Analyses of PCBs are sporadic, since no pressure Moldovan economic development is crucially is made on the energy sector and industries by the dependent on the environment and natural re- environmental authorities as regards self-monitor- sources. At the same time, however, economic ing, reporting on PCBs and PCB-contaminated growth (development) is accompanied by signifi- equipment, etc. cant adverse environmental and social impacts and At present, there are no Government inventories consequences. There is no denying that POPs air, of industrial plants or factories known to release water and soil pollution (and food contamination) dioxins or furans. The very few analyses of dioxins leads to serious negative impacts on health and var- and furans in Moldovan environment were done for ious economic goods and services. The socio-eco- scientific purposes and by NGOs, and the samples nomic costs resulting from environmental and nat- have been analyzed in western laboratories. ural resources damage and degradation are real and The assessment of existing POPs monitoring hard-felt, particularly by the poor. Most of the peo- programs revealed the following problems: ple in Moldova work on land and are directly de- From the POPs list of the Stockholm Conven- pendent on natural resources for food, shelter and tion only DDT and its metabolites are regularly employment, i.e. their short-term and long-term monitored at national scale. Data on other POPs welfare is inextricably dependent on and tied to the are fragmentary and scattered among different quality and productivity of natural systems. institutions. During NIP preparation, an attempt was under- Coordination and exchange of information taken to make an economic evaluation of POPs-re- among the monitoring agencies is sporadic. Cur- lated environmental and health impacts (costs) and rently there are no operational channels of infor- benefits resulting from implementing various miti- mation exchange between the parties. gatory and management alternatives. Due to lack of The general laboratory capacity is insufficient, reliable environmental monitoring, epidemiological especially for PCBs and unintended POPs. and population data, and its time and spatial di- Quality assurance/quality control issues are of con- mensions, it was difficult to establish and quantify cern, since the equipment in many laboratories is direct doze-response and other relationships be- obsolete, training of staff is episodic and inter-lab- tween individual POPs and measurable environ- oratory comparison exercises are not undertaken. mental and health effects. Currently in Moldova Data handling and analysis procedures are defi- market prices and the market place do not ade- cient, preventing the possibility to use gathered quately capture and reflect the full value to the so- monitoring information for decision-making. ciety and the private sector of the full spectrum of Currently, the industries and the energy sector potentially POPs-associated impacts and conse- do not have self-monitoring obligations con- quences, as well as of undertaking precautionary, cerning specific pollutants like PCBs or mitigatory, prevention and rehabilitation actions or PCDD/PCDF. using particular resources, so-called “externalities”.

39 Furthermore, internationally acceptable economic lete stocks controlled storage, land-filling or de- evaluation methodologies are not used in Moldova, struction, the total cost was tentatively estimated to and necessary monitoring and research data and in- range US$2-8 million, spread over a period 4-6 formation is lacking. years, i.e. annual costs topping US$1.3-2 million21. As necessary information and data were not In addition, it is anticipated that there will be an readily available, a “benefit transfer” approach was impact in terms of increased administrative burden, used where estimates obtained in other but similar due to the managing of various project activities, context were used to estimate the range of costs certain notification and reporting obligations, etc. under various alternative options to manage and ad- Thus it is evident that, during the life-time of NIP dress problems associated with the POPs regulated implementation, annual benefits from implement- by the Stockholm Convention. Economic evalua- ing POPs mitigation activities, at least for POPs tion of POPs-related environmental damage was pesticides and PCBs, will significantly exceed pro- based on the inventory data, using standard jects costs by US$5.6-8.9 million. The total costs Moldovan methodologies and approved national have to be weighted against the benefits. The NIP norms for natural resources use charges and envi- contributes to elimination of the most harmful sub- ronmental pollution payments. Total environmen- stances of global concern. tal damage from POPs was estimated to be about MDL 96.6 million in 2001 (about US$7.2 million.) Total POPs-related health (damage) costs were es- 4.10. Impacts of POPs on Public timated, using international comparable health effects data, to be about MDL 78.8 million (about Health and the Environment US$5.8 million.) Cost-benefit analysis looked at “no project” sce- Among the pesticides that have been used in nario, i.e. when no POPs mitigatory measures are Moldova in the past, the organochlorinated pesti- undertaken. In this case, total (environmental and cides (OCPs), which include all the pesticides list- health) POPs associated (damage) costs would be ed in the POPs Convention, are thought to pose about MDL 175.4 million (US$13 million.) “With the biggest health and environmental risks due to project” scenario, i.e. total POPs mitigation bene- their toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation po- fits, was not attempted to be evaluated at this stage, tential. In the 1990s, their use in Moldova almost as it was impossible to precisely estimate the total ceased. However, their intensive use in the past, cost of all proposed alternatives to address there their persistence in the environment and the relat- types of regulated POPs. ed health risks still make of them a health and en- At the same time, an attempt was made, using vironmental issue. internationally available estimates of various tech- The intense use of OCPs in the past, which rea- niques, to estimate costs of mitigating PCB-related ched a peak in the 1970s, caused pesticides accu- problems related to clean-up and destruction of mulation in and contamination of soil and crops. about 14000 obsolete capacitors and 26000 various Presently it is well-known that some OCPs can per- transformers, waste oils, etc. It was concluded that sist in the soil for 10-20 years and more. This ex- the total cost for a 6-12 years long clean-up and de- plains why DDT is still detectable in the Moldovan struction of PCB contaminated equipment, assets environment, despite the fact that it was banned in and oils will be about US$34 million, i.e. about 1970 and was not used in significant amounts since US$2.8-5.6 millions annually, provided PCB mitiga- then. tion equipment and technologies have been pro- Poor enforcement of specific rules and working cured and installed in Moldova. Obviously, the total instructions related to pesticides storage, trans- cost may be lower or higher in cases when PCB mit- portation, preparation, use, etc., as well as insuffi- igation will utilize leased equipment and/or on the cient awareness of the population on the health territory of third countries, which already have nec- risks associated with pesticides, leaded to multiple essary facilities. Depending on the selected method violations of the regulations on handling toxic sub- for mitigating pesticides-related pollution and obso- stances, including uncontrolled pesticide use on

21 Due to uncertainty regarding the final selection of the most cost-effective and politically feasible mitigation option, a “benefit transfer approach” was used, where the estimates obtained in other but similar contexts were used to come up with a cost-range for various internationally available clean-up and destruction technologies.

40 Access to obsolete pesticides is denied. Warehouse in Pascani, Hincesti rayon the individual plots of farmers. This led to occupational disturbances in women, as well as increased tional health problems for many people directly in- frequency of masculine sterility, the incidence of volved in pesticides handling. This also con- both being related to the level of pesticides use. tributed to the pesticides entering the environment Epidemiological studies also revealed a correla- and circulating in the food chains. In the 1980s, the tion between the level of OCPs use in previous frequency of detected pesticide residuals (includ- years and the morbidity through chronic hepatitis ing DDT and HCH) in Moldovan foodstuffs was and liver cirrhosis in the investigated areas of pretty high, ranging from 5.6% (1984) to 19.8% Moldova. Research findings identified a strong pos- (1990). The most contaminated were fruits, canned itive correlation between the general level of pesti- goods, dairy products and meat. The contamination cides use and infant mortality. The demonstrated frequency decreased during the last decade, but chronic effects on children and teenagers related to still data from 2000 indicated that pesticide residu- pesticides application included immune system als were present in 3.1% out of about 12,000 ana- disruptions, as well as physical and mental retarda- lyzed samples of food crops. tion. The comprehensive estimation of health sta- Investigations undertaken in Moldova by health tus revealed an evident general worsening of chil- authorities in the peak period of pesticide applica- dren’s and teenagers’ health indices in areas with tion denoted a significant exposure of humans to high level of pesticides application. OCPs. HCH and DDT were identified in the It is considered that as a result of excessive use breast milk of women living in villages where sig- of pesticides in Moldova during the last decades, nificant amounts of these pesticides were applied22. the health status of at least two generations was af- The vast majority of breast milk samples (between fected. The burden of morbidity resulted from the 87% and 96% in different villages) have been acute and chronic effects of exposure to organic proved to be contaminated. The concentrations of chemicals is significant in Moldova and has impor- pesticides in body fluids showed a clear correlation tant social and economic costs. Prevention of fur- with the level of pesticide application in the fields. ther exposure of the population to POPs pesticides The toxic effects of OCPs on exposed people in- is one of the public health imperatives. cluded reproductive dysfunctions and other func-

22 Volneanschi A., Romanciuc P. Hygienic evaluation of the content of organochlorinated pesticides in breast milk (Rom.) Proceedings of the III Congress of hygienists, microbiologists, epidemiologists and parazitologists of the Re- public of Moldova, Chisinau, 1992. P. 68-70.

41 Starting with the land reform in the mid 1990s, the number of large pesticide users (agriculture farms) was in a continuous decline. Consequently, the number of people professionally exposed to pesticides at the work place also dropped from 34,700 persons in 1993 to 8,800 in 2002. This does not mean, however, that the total number of exposed people decreased in the same proportion, since many peasants continue to apply pesticides on their individual plots in smaller amounts and under less controlled conditions. This might in fact have increased the risks of pesticide use, instead of decreasing them. The assessment of impacts of POPs on population and the environment revealed: Lack of comprehensive and reliable environmental monitoring and epidemiological data, making it difficult to establish and quantify direct doze-response and other relationships between individual POPs and measurable environmental and health effects.

4.11. Social Assessment and Ac- tivities of Non-Governmental Organizations Free access to obsolete pesticides

donors. Local experts and NGOs were used as in- Country-driven Rapid Social Assessment (RSA) termediaries between the government, affected was used during NIP preparation to: identify stake- communities and local civil society; they also car- holders; increase stakeholders’ ownership; clarify ried out the RSA. and prioritize POPs-related social issues (poverty, Both the GRM and the Parliament seek to find age, ethnicity, gender) and project objectives and practical solutions to or at least mitigate immediate goals; define responsibilities and build broad-based adverse environmental and health impacts of dilap- commitment to the project outcomes. RSA provid- idated (and leaking) pesticide storage facilities, ed a means for achieving and securing public in- scattered all over the country. Three GRM resolu- volvement and participation. It also sought to an- tions were approved to this effect, outlining various swer key POPs NIP-related questions and thereby alternatives to collecting and sitting obsolete pesti- improve decision-making, and helped address a va- cide storage facilities. None of these decisions were riety of social factors that would be critical to NIP implemented, due to lack of funding and opposi- implementation success. RSA is an on-going tion of local population, which was not informed of process that should take place throughout the NIP and engaged in decision-making. The Parliament cycle. conducted a special session on obsolete pesticides The range of stakeholders that were consulted and had a number of special hearings and meetings during POPs NIP design included: the GRM, with local populations (these have been repeatedly MENR, acting as the executing agency, other min- covered by national TV and media). istries and local administrations; the Parliament and At the same time, it is also quite obvious that its relevant standing commissions and deputies; se- POPs problems are not on the top of the national lected public and private enterprises, and owners of agenda, due to severe financial constraints, limited relevant assets; Academia; affected local communi- and inconsistent commitment of the political elite, ties and NGOs representing their interests; the and due to inadequate understanding of the inter- World Bank, GEF and international and bilateral relationships between POPs pollution and public

42 health and poverty elimination. While MENR and mation environmental dissemination, communica- MOH seem to consistently and proactively champi- tion and education, distrust of and even hostility to- on complete and final resolution of POPs (pesti- wards public authorities, fear of prosecution and re- cide) related problems, other agencies do not see luctance, due to censure, of local population to ar- the resolution of POPs problems as one of the ticulate their concerns. Most vulnerable and poor building blocks in achieving national sustainable groups of population are mainly concerned with development and poverty elimination, including their daily survival and showed almost total indif- assuring sustainable food production, reliable qual- ference towards POPs (chemical) pollution and its ity water supply, sanitation and waste management, impacts on their health. Mass media was cited as and fostering public health. the primary sources of POPs-related information, Few stakeholders are aware of POPs-related while environmental and local authorities and problems (e.g., only 3% of survey respondents were NGOs were ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively.24 aware of POPs23), seriously concerned with various There are over 2000 NGOs registered in Moldo- negative environmental and health impacts, and va – over 50% of them exist only on paper, the re- see POPs mitigation and elimination as a priority. maining ones have 1-2 members, and only 20-30 Others, while appreciating the seriousness of po- NGOs are rather actively involved in environmen- tential problems, do not place comprehensive tal and social activities, increasingly with the tech- POPs mitigation and management among the daily nical and financial assistance from the Regional En- life priorities. Awareness of PCB/dioxin/furan-relat- vironmental Center (REC). It is acknowledged that ed environmental and health problems is almost most NGOs do not have technical capabilities to non-existent and does not come even close to the generate their own environmental research and in- top of public or private priorities. formation gathering, and are using data available Poor POPs awareness and ignorance of various from public agencies and academia. Many NGOs groups, like farmers, enterprise employees, chil- shape their activities to match the priorities of in- dren, or students is related to: lack of institutional- ternational donors rather than build on and address ized communication channels and experienced and concerns of local communities. credible PR staff, ineffectiveness of existing infor-

23 Bivol, Elena and Ciubotaru, Valentin, Report on the Survey on Main Public Concerns Regarding POPs in the Re- public of Moldova, Chiºinãu, 2003, p.4. 24 Renita, Alecu, Victoria Resetnic and Victor Stratila, Report on the Survey on Main Public Concerns Regarding POPs in the Republic of Moldova, Ecological Movement of Moldova, Chisinau 2003, p.5.

43 5. STRATEGY

he overall country society is deeply sound management of toxic, persistent, harmful and rightly concerned about harmful and bio-accumulative substances in all spheres of chemical substances, including POPs human society. Minimization and final elimination T entering, staying in and destroying of POPs related pressures and impacts to the natur- their environment. POPs and other chemicals in al and human environment is an integral part of na- air, water, soil and sediment can end up in the food tional environmental policy. It is considered that chain, upon which all living beings, including hu- environmentally sound management of chemicals, mans, depend for their existence. The national pol- if being adequately set up and functioning, is an icy regarding POPs chemicals is driven by under- important element contributing to the well-being standing that a national chemical safety manage- of the country, society sustainable development ment system needs to be created for applying a and poverty alleviation. Adequate solving of POPs precautionary, prevention and polluter pays ap- pesticides problems, as well as sound management proach in identifying chemicals pressures and im- of other prohibited and unused agricultural chemi- pacts, in assessing remediation options and in im- cals, is considered to be helpful for the promotion plementing cost-effective measures to prevent en- of Moldovan ecologically clean agricultural prod- vironmental degradation and negative societal, par- ucts world wide. ticularly health, impacts. The national policy is calling for phased ap- The range of POPs chemicals concerns, high- proach and well developed implementation plans lighted by the Stockholm Convention, is consid- for the solving of significant treats related to wide ered as country priority for the time being, and spectrum of chemicals’ harms and dangers. should serve as a triggering mechanism for the The policy has two key management objectives: modernization of the current national chemicals Remediation and virtual elimination from the management system towards an environmentally environment of POPs that result predominantly

Urgent remediation needed.

44 from human activity and that are persistent and tions of Moldova, which may be defined as “en- bio-accumulative; and vironmentally sound and integrated manage- Management of other toxic substances and ment of chemicals”. The links and operational chemicals, throughout their entire life cycles, to platform between the Stockholm Convention, avoid, prevent or minimize their release into the the Aarhus Protocol, the Basel Convention, the environment. Rotterdam Convention and other relevant inter- The policy recognizes the need to apply a pre- national conventions should be established. cautionary, prevention and polluter pays approach in The national environmental and sectoral poli- identifying POPs and implementing cost-effective cies, strategies and programs should be modern- measures to prevent environmental degradation and ized and must reflect POPs priority elements, as negative societal, particularly health, impacts. well as other dangerous and toxic substances Currently, the overall national policy goal is management issues. The flexibility mecha- minimize POPs related treats to the environment nisms shall be built-in to allow timely and effi- and public health by means of better management cient adjustment and updating when warranted. options, which should serve as an example, skele- The policies, strategies and programs shall pro- ton and operational model for further widening and vide prioritization of action, based on cost-bene- development of chemical safety management sys- fit analysis and potential threat of POPs to hu- tem in Moldova. man health, welfare and the environment.

Legislation Country Strategy Existing regulatory gaps have to be filled-in and legislation has to be amended to ensure cross- sectoral and media consistency and timely trans- The country strategy for the establishing of na- position of international obligations. The legis- tion-wide chemical safety management system and lation shall address some specific POPs issues, the solving of POPs priority problems is based on which are not currently covered by existing le- the policy stipulations and includes integrated gal and regulatory framework, both at the na- strategies in the following spheres: tional and sectoral levels. Implementation regulations, procedures, stan- Policy dards and guidelines shall be drafted in an inte- Obligations under the Stockholm Convention grated manner, clarifying monitoring, reporting, are only a subset of broader international obliga- control, implementation and enforcement re-

Clean-up of warehouses is planned.

45 Destroyed warehouse: looking for low cost sollutions.

sponsibilities of the respective ministries and for the general public in simple and understand- agencies, and creating a unified and integrated able mode. computerized system of tracking regulated The number of regulated polluting substances POPs, dangerous & toxic substances and other should be limited to these: with the highest chemicals throughout their life cycle. threat to human health, regulated under applic- The revision of the environmental standards re- able international obligations, and that can be lated to the management of hazardous chemi- effectively monitored with the limited technical cals will focus not only on numerical values, but capacity and human resources available. on a broad reform encompassing the principles An integrated environmental permitting should and the legal basis for standards setting. The be developed, consistent with the applicable provision and stipulations from legal and regula- EU requirements. Provisions for BAT and BEP, tory acts should be also transferred to the practi- regarding POPs sources (new and existing) cal and operational guides, as well as presented should be clearly addressed in legislation.

Example of guarded pesticides and fertilizers storehouse. Chisinau mun.

46 Obsolete pesticides before repackaging.

Administrative Management Environmental audits should include POPs con- To support activities of implementation of the cerns and should be used more extensively and Stockholm Convention and of other internation- consistently to review performance, collect data al conventions in that field, the MENR should and develop mitigatory plans for various eco- consider the possibility of creating a Center for nomic entities, as well as identify and assign en- Chemicals Management (CCM) to coordinate vironmental liabilities. and manage Moldovan international obligations Improve DOC system for POPs import, export under the Basel, Stockholm, and Aarhus Proto- and transit tracking and reporting, monitoring, col to LRTAP and potentially the Rotterdam control and enforcement, including computer- Convention, thus attracting the investments ized and integrated information and data man- and technologies for the implementation of the agement and sharing, particularly regarding la- international treaties and for the NIP, and gain- beling and compliance with licenses’ and per- ing synergies, as well as improving and increas- mits’ stipulations on quantities and consistency ing efficiency, cost-effectiveness, transparency, of brand names/chemical compositions. accountability and cross-fertilization. POPs-related obligations of various ministries Financial Mechanisms and agencies require focusing, fine-tuning of au- Explore opportunities for POPs-related invest- thority and responsibilities, as well as better co- ments and technical assistance, as well as for uti- ordination and proactive cooperation – the lization of existing projects financed by interna- MENR shall be assigned lead responsibility and tional and bilateral financial institutions in vari- given relevant powers to ensure enforcement. ous sectors, like agriculture, energy, and trans- A possibility of creating a centralized computer- port. Implementation of joint nationally and in- ized system – a unified databank (integrating internationally supported efforts is a strategic formation and data from various registers, lists, pathway for solving POPs and other chemicals sectoral monitoring systems of different hierar- issues in Moldova. chy), based on upgraded centralized monitoring Plan a phased increase in public environmental and laboratory capabilities and complemented expenditures parallel to overall economic recov- by focused training of selected staff, should be ery, or, at least, ensure timely release and effi- explored. cient execution of budgetary allocations for pri- Coordination, compatibility and integration of ority POPs issues. It is important to establish monitoring, laboratory and control capabilities sustainable co-financing and contributing plat- shall be enhanced, in order to improve POPs cy- forms between national, regional and local cle information and data management and facil- sources, government and private ones, national itate more effective and efficient national pro- and international financial flows. gramming, planning and decision-making.

47 Provide incentives to increase the share of local the priority health and environmental threats public and private sector financing in the man- posed by POPs chemicals, by means of afford- agement of local, enterprise and site-specific able and cost-efficient measures. POPs and other priority chemicals related envi- The NIP should provide flexibility for imple- ronmental problems. mentation mechanisms and operational plans, Streamline environment-related taxation and im- and implementation agencies should have a sort prove collection, expand economic incentives, in- of maneuvering, in order to reach established crease fines for POPs and other chemicals pollu- national goals timely and efficiently, but strictly tion, as well as for non-compliance to reflect the considering the principles of safe and environ- scarcity of natural resources and significance of mentally sound measures. environmental and health impacts; these should The NIP should be periodically evaluated by be timely indexed to reflect inflation rates. means of established criteria and indicators, ana- To support implementation of Stockholm Con- lyzed by stakeholders and revised if appropriated. vention related activities, GRM and MENR The strategic objectives pursuant to the re- should increase annual allocations from the na- quirements of the Stockholm Convention are: tional and local sources, including environmental non-budgetary funds. Reduction of POPs Releases from Intentional Production and Use (Article 3) Human Resources Prohibit production and use (except PCBs in Strengthen and improve chemicals safety skill- equipment) and eliminate import and export of mix of the MENR, MAFI, MOH, MOE, MOD, POPs chemicals listed in Annexes A and B, by DOC and related agencies’ systems with well- the amending of legislation with clearly formu- trained environmental professionals, including lated provisions according to Stockholm Con- senior managers, technical and media experts, vention requirements until 2005. economists and lawyers. Establish a schedule for the elimination of the Ensure integrated development of country reuse of PCBs in equipment, according to Stock- sources at various levels (national, regional, lo- holm Convention priorities (Annex A, part II, a) cal), including all players (governmental agen- after a clear assessment of PCBs content in cies, public authorities, private sector, general equipment. Final elimination is scheduled by public) in decision making, sharing of responsi- 2025. bilities, training and educational programs. Implement step by step measures for reduction Increase the role of local public authorities, proof exposure and risk from use of PCB-contain- viding managerial skills and financial authority ing equipment, according to the priorities stipu- for POPs and other harmful chemicals combat- lated by the Stockholm Convention (Annex A, ing efforts. part II, b) after assessment of PCBs content in Seek negotiating bilateral (twinning) agree- equipment. ments with the respective environmental agen- Prohibit recovery for reuse in other equipment cies for technology, know-how transfer and of PCB-containing liquids, according to the training. Stockholm Convention requirements (Annex A, Acknowledging that meeting the Stockholm part II, d) by amendments of legislation until Convention requirements is an important step to- 2010, and establish environmentally sound wards ensuring the overall national chemical safety, waste management of liquids and equipments the strategic approaches of Moldova in this field contaminated by PCBs not later than 2028. can be formulated as follows: Identify PCBs content in other articles and Step by step approach, followed by good plan- manage them accordingly by 2025. ning and definitive agreements between stake- Evaluate national options for specific exemp- holders, beneficiaries and financial agencies is a tions according to the Stockholm convention re- prerequisite for the implementation of Stock- quirements until 2005. holm Convention requirements. The NIP is a Establish a mechanism for assessment of new basis for relevant actions and negotiations with pesticides and industrial chemicals (in accor- international financial institutes. dance with POPs criteria) by 2007. Specific implementation actions included in the NIP should be focused on eliminating/reducing

48 Implement assessment of pesticides and indus- Prohibit recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct trial chemicals in use according to the POPs cri- reuse and alternative use of POPs listed in An- teria until 2010. nex C by legal provision since 2006.

Register of Specific Exemptions (Article 4) Listing of Chemicals in Annexes A, B and C Follow up all requirements stipulated in the (Article 8) Stockholm Convention, since the moment Monitor POPs candidates use and impacts and when the Register will be officially established. utilize internationally accepted experience and findings. Reduction or Elimination of Releases from Un- Strengthen national capacity for chemical risk intentional Production (Article 5) assessment and risk management by promotion Further investigation of sources and current of international cooperation and technical assis- management options regarding releases of tance. chemicals listed in Annex C in order to prepare relevant Action Plan by 2006. Information Exchange (Article 9) Identify BAT and BEP for particular industry Develop Communication Strategy and establish and sources by 2010 and introduce BAT and information exchange links to be implemented BEP for new sources since 2010. by MENR. Promote measures to achieve releases reduction since 2006. Public Information, Awareness and Education (Article 10) Reduction or Elimination of Releases from Facilitate and promote awareness and under- Stockpiles and Wastes (Article 6) standing of POPs information to the public, de- Finalize collection of prohibited pesticides at cision makers and other effected groups, basing district deposits during 2004-2006. on the Communication Strategy. Finalize the strategy for the identification of stockpiles consisting or containing chemicals Research, Development listed in Annexes A and B and products contain- and Monitoring (Article 11) ing POPs listed in Annexes A, B and C by 2006. Research and development strategy will have to Manage obsolete pesticides stockpiles and be targeted and phased, showing a high degree wastes in an environmentally sound manner fol- of flexibility, in order to be easily adapted as lowing international standards and guidelines, new data will be gathered. according to the following scheme: (100% of Develop environmental and health oriented POPs pesticides contained stockpiles and wastes monitoring strategies and start step by step im- since 2005, 25% of other stockpiles containing plementation since 2005, beginning with the obsolete pesticides since 2006, 50% - since 2007, priority areas, zones and concerns. 75 % - since 2008, and 100% - since 2009). To establish a schedule for the managing of Technical Assistance (Article 12) PCB-containing stockpiles and wastes in an en- Promote extensive and POPs specific Technical vironmentally sound manner, starting since the Assistance Program by accelerating the negotia- completion of the identification process, but not tion process with the international community, later than 2007. and involve potential international financial To establish a schedule for the managing of sources and technology transfer options. products containing POPs listed in Annexes A, B and C, starting since the completion of the Financial Sources and Mechanisms (Article 13) identification process, but not later than 2009. Promote POPs related Investment Program by Prohibit recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct accelerating the negotiation process with the in- reuse and alternative use of POPs listed in the ternational community, and involve potential in- Annex A (except PCBs) by legal provision since ternational financial sources. 2005. Prohibit recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct reuse and alternative use of PCBs by legal provision since 2006.

49 6. ACTION PLAN

he goal of the NIP is to ensure compliance with the national obligations under the Stockholm Convention and T to reduce and eliminate risks to human health, the environment and national development from past, current and future exposure to POPs. The NIP seeks to encourage, facilitate and support, to the possible extent, national and local authorities in their efforts to collect and properly dispose POPs, as well as to remediate or contain sources of POPs pollution. Moldova has developed this NIP and intends to use the full range of tools to prevent, reduce and eliminate releases and stockpiles of 12 POPs. These tools include international, regulatory, pro- grammatic, voluntary, remedial, compliance monitoring and assistance, enforcement, and research tools. GRM will continuously analyze POPs pollutant sources and reduction options as bases for grouping pollutants, activities, and sectors to maxi- mize efficiencies in achieving reductions. GRM will coordinate integration and sequence actions within and across national action plans, and will seek to leverage these actions on international and industry-sector bases. Repackaging measures will prevent releases.

The roof of the pesticides warehouse need to be repared.

50 Site remediation measures as part of planned actions.

6.1.Priority Setting holders (international community, central and local governments, NGO and the general public, busi- The determination of NIP priorities included nesses); and (iv) affordability & availability (tech- the following steps: defining the process and nology, infrastructure, staff, financial perspective). methodology, selecting the ranking criteria, con- The list of Stockholm Convention requirements sulting NGOs and stakeholders, validating identi- was assessed against the selected criteria, and five fied priorities, and transferring priority areas to the priority areas and respective NIP objectives, impor- NIP objectives. A wide spectrum of stakeholders tant for Moldova in a short-term perspective, were participated in discussions on which problems are identified: most critical and what measures would be most appropriate for the implementation of the Stockholm 1. Manage stockpiles (pesticides and PCBs) Convention and NIP development. and wastes (all chemicals under Convention) in The following groups of criteria were selected a safe, efficient and environmentally sound man- to be used for ranking POPs priorities: (i) direct ner, in order to reduce or eliminate releases. benefits to the public and environmental health, as To improve legal and regulatory framework for well as economic and social benefits; (ii) magnitude management of obsolete pesticides, supported of the problem at different levels (international, na- by the development and introducing of manage- tional, local); (iii) perception by different stake- ment guidelines and practices.

Luck of sound stockpiles management.

51 To foresee incentives for rural communities To improve institutional framework and techni- showing the best results in managing pesticide cal capacity for monitoring the POPs and moni- stockpiles. tor priority sources/major releases. To clearly delimitate responsibilities of all stake- To monitor release reduction as an indicator of holders for enforcement of legal requirements. NIP implementation. To propose low-cost urgent measures for reduc- The NIP will focus on short-term and urgent tion of releases at the existing stockpiles (pesti- measures, while other Stockholm Convention re- cides and PCBs), to re-assess and improve na- quirements will be considered in a medium- and tional capacities for safe collection, transporta- longer-term perspective after evaluating the imple- tion and storage of obsolete pesticides and im- mentation results and updating the document. plement re-packaging and centralisation fol- Given the financial constraints, favorable envi- lowed by the safe disposal of obsolete pesticides ronmental living conditions in the country should be achieved by implementing actions that will 2. Develop and implement strategy for identifi- bring maximum social, economic and environmen- cation of POPs-containing stockpiles, wastes tal benefits for the given levels of expenditures. and products/articles Considering this criterion, the NIP gives the high- To improve POPs pesticides stockpiles and wastes est priority to measures that mitigate the direct inventory in respect of risk assessment issues. negative impacts on environmental health and hu- To improve PCBs stockpiles and wastes inven- man well-being. The NIP focuses primarily on the tory in respect of clear identification of PCBs most affordable, low-cost activities, associated with content and hot-spot identification. actions for creation of sustainability, public involvement, and at the interest of the international com- 3. Develop strategy for identifying and remedia- munity and government. tion of contaminated sites Severe economic and financial constraints limit To strengthen national capacities for environ- the country’s capability to achieve the expected lev- mental monitoring and research of POPs con- el of POPs release reduction. Therefore, one of the tent in the natural surroundings (soil, water, liv- country’s first priorities is commitment of sufficient ing organisms). international financial resources, specifically for To develop guidelines for contaminated site technical assistance and for resolving urgent prob- identification, including rapid assessment of lems posing significant threats to public health and sites, environmental risk identification, sam- the environment. Thus, an important focus of de- pling and analytical methodologies. veloping a policy framework should be finding new To implement a pilot identification of contami- means and schemes for resource mobilisation and nated sites, test identification guidelines, and, if the financing of environmental expenditures, as successful, create conditions for country-wide well as addressing to other barriers for NIP imple- replication mentation (lack of incentives for resource saving To assess feasibility, local acceptability and af- and environmental improvements, related to macro- fordability of remediation options. economic difficulties, weak environmental regulations and enforcement, the insufficient technical ca- 4. Promote and facilitate public information, pacity of public institutions, deficiencies in informa- awareness, education tion sharing and disclosure, and public outreach). To ensure public information, develop specific The intention of this NIP is to make the whole education and awareness programs, set up of the GRM’s efforts on POPs pollutants more than mechanisms for public participation, maintain the sum of its parts. NIP will derive from stronger training efforts, involve industry and users, es- multi-media coordination among national and sec- tablish adequate information dissemination toral programs, and through the significant involve- mechanisms. ment of stakeholders. Creation of institutional structure(s) capable to sustain such an approach is a 5. Encourage/undertake research, development clear current priority. and monitoring To prepare realistic and needs oriented research, development and monitoring programs,

52 6.2.Proposed Actions provement of POPs inventories, increasing the capabilities for hot-spots identification, reporting, The NIP foresees a number of measures to be monitoring and control, research and development. undertaken in the short-term, presented in the table below. A more detailed description is provid- 3. On-ground Remediation Measures ed in Annexes 1-4. The proposed actions can be These include the repackaging and centralisa- grouped in 4 categories, as follows: tion of obsolete pesticides at the district storage facilities, the identification of the most appropriated 1. Legal, Regulatory and Institutional Activities solution for their final elimination, low-cost mea- These actions are targeted at amending the cur- sures to minimise impacts from abandoned storage rent legislation specifically related to the Stock- facilities, collecting old DDT stocks from the rural holm Convention and incorporating provisions for households, and remediation measures at the pesti- establishing a broader chemical safety approach in cide dump in Cismichioi and the stockpiles of out- the country. They also include drafting specific reg- of-use capacitors in Vulcanesti and other places. ulatory acts and supporting operational guidelines and practical handbooks. An important element is 4. Public Awareness, Training and Education the creation of adequate institutional arrangements The measures responding to the most urgent for the co-ordination of POPs related activities needs refer to raising public awareness and ensure country-wide and the dissemination of experience proper communication on POPs-related issues, and gained for overall chemical safety aspects. incorporation of POPs issues in educational programmes. 2. Capacity Building This category includes actions related to the training of professionals and decision makers, im-

Table of Actions

Poten- Lead and tial Problem Proposed Implement- Time- Cost,* Objectives Status Sources Area Action ing Agen- frame US$ of Fi- cies nancing

Legal, Regulatory and Institutional Activities

1. Modifi- Provide a legal basis for Revision of existing legal acts; MENR, 2005 Pro- 75,000 GRM, in- cation of POPs chemical management identification of gaps; recom- MOH, MAFI, posal terna- legal under the Stockholm Con- mendations for amendments; ME, DOC tional frame- vention requirements and set stakeholders consultations. donors work up an overall chemical safety system

2. Admin- Establish a platform for high Amendment of the statute of MERN, other 2005 Pro- 50,000 GRM, in- istrative political commitment, further the National Committee on En- relevant posal terna- set-up chemical safety policy devel- vironmental Policy; study tour ministries, tional opment, coordination and su- public bod- donors pervision of POPs related ac- ies, acade- tivities. mia, NGOs

53 Poten- Lead and tial Problem Proposed Implement- Time- Cost,* Objectives Status Sources Area Action ing Agen- frame US$ of Fi- cies nancing Coordinate and manage Nomination of the National Fo- MENR 2004- Pro- 600,000 Interna- Moldovan international oblig- cal Point for the Stockholm 2009 posal tional ations under the Basel, Convention within the MERN, donors, Stockholm, LRTAP and exchange of information ac- GRM Aarhus Protocol (and poten- cording to the provisions of the tially the Rotterdam Conven- Convention and the initial action) and to manage the NIP tions of the Parties. implementation. Develop the project and create the Center for Chemicals Man- agement (CCM); establish consulting support to CCM; improve the skills and managerial capacity of CCM staff; develop terms of reference and scope of its work for the implementation of the Basel, Stockholm, LR- TAP and Aarhus Protocol; detailed design and tuning of NIP activities Improve data management Establish an information sys- MERN, to- 2005- Pro- 350,000 Interna- and reporting in the field of tem, procure hardware and gether with 2009 posal tional chemicals. software, train staff; set up sta- line min- donors, tistical and reporting proce- istries, AS, GRM dures (identification of informa- DSS tion sources, setting reporting formats and information channels); establish PRTR 3. Develop- Transfer the POPs related le- Draft regulations; stakeholders MENR, 2004- Pro- 75,000 GRM, in- ment of re- gal provisions into practical consultations MOH, MAFI, 2006 posal terna- gulatory and management tools. ME, DOC tional mecha- donors nisms

4. Drafting Support the legal and regula- Needs assessment; develop- MENR, 2004- Pro- 150,000 Interna- of guide- tory framework by opera- ment of guidelines; consulta- MOH, MAFI, 2006 posal tional lines and tional guides tions with operations staff ME, DOC, donors, hand- AS GRM books

Capacity Building 5. Increa- Upgrade the capacity of local Design training curricula, train- MENR, 2004, Pro- 60,000 GRM se capaci- authorities for safe and envi- ing courses for 32 districts’ and MOH, MAFI 2006, posal ty for bet- ronmentally sound manage- villages’ authorities (to be re- 2008 ter mana- ment of stockpiles peated every 2 years), supply (to be gement of equipment repea- prohibited ted pesticides every 2 years)

Facilitate implementation of Preparation of environmental MENR, 2004- Pro- 30,000 GRM repackaging and transporta- operational handbook for MAFI, MOH, 2005 posal tion in an environmentally repackaging and transportation MOD, DES sound manner

Train MOD and DES for envi- Design training curricula, train- MOD, DES 2004- Pro- 35,000 GRM ronmentally safe and efficient ing of trainers, training of MOD 2005 posal repackaging and transporta- and DES staff tion

54 Poten- Lead and tial Problem Proposed Implement- Time- Cost,* Objectives Status Sources Area Action ing Agen- frame US$ of Fi- cies nancing Improve planning and co-or- Implementation of rapid feasibil- MOD, DES, 2005 Under 100,000 GRM, in- dination of repackaging and ity study for 32 districts, prepa- MENR, prepa- terna- transportation procedures at ration of 32 District Repackag- MAFI, MOH, ration tional district level ing Plans, consultations with local authori- by NA- donors, stakeholders and local authorities TO Ecologi- ties cal Fund Evaluate environmental, so- Conducting an Environmental MENR, Pro- 75K- Interna- cial and economic impacts of Impact Assessment at national MOH, posal 100K, tional repackaging and transporta- scale and in one typical district MAFI2005 includ- donors, tion activities (as a pilot activity) ing GRM technical assis- tance

6. In- Familiarize technical and Preparation of the training man- ME, all ener- 2005- Pro- 100,000 Interna- crease ca- managerial staff with sam- ual, specification of sampling/ gy enterpris- 2006 posal tional pacity of pling, identification and label- analytical kits, training courses es, major en- donors, energy ing procedures, and reporting for all energy enterprises, ergy con- GRM, sector for requirements preparation of a practical hand- sumers energy PCBs book (PCBs identification, label- enter- identifica- ing, equipment hot-spot as- prises tion in sessment and safety manage- power ment, reporting), consultation equip- with stakeholders ment Increase preparedness for Preparation and coordination of ME, all ener- 2005 Propo- 30,000 Interna- PCBs identification reconnaissance inventory plans gy enterpris- sal tional for all energy enterprises, pur- es, major donors, chasing and distribution of sam- energy con- GRM, pling/analytical kits sumers energy enterprises 7. Invento- Identify PCBs presence in Sampling and assessment of ME, all ener- 2005- Pro- 150,000 Energy ry of power equipment PCBs presence on-site (by sim- gy enterpris- 2006 posal enter- PCBs in plified kits), labeling, hot-spot es prises, electrical (risk) assessment, reporting GRM, in- power terna- equip- tional ment donors

Identify PCBs concentration Planning, sampling, analysis ME, all ener- 2005- Pro- costs will Energy in power equipment (laboratory control), reporting gy enterpris- 2007 posal depend enter- es on the re- prises, sults of re- GRM connais- sance inventory

8. Widen- Increase the knowledge Preparation of check-lists and MENR, MOI, 2006- Pro- 100,000 GRM, ing of about PCBs concerns at na- instructions for self-identification MOH, MAFI, 2007 posal interna- PCBs in- tional scale of PCBs in equipment, prod- AS tional ventory to ucts, articles; familiarization of a donors other than wide spectrum of agencies with energy inventory needs; analysis of re- sectors sponses; preparation of a national screening plan for further hot-spot detailed assessment

55 Poten- Lead and tial Problem Proposed Implement- Time- Cost,* Objectives Status Sources Area Action ing Agen- frame US$ of Fi- cies nancing 9. Increas- Tailor POPs monitoring at na- Formulate monitoring strategies MENR, 2005- Pro- 150,000 Interna- ing of tional scale tailored for different groups of MOH, MAFI, 2006 posal tional POPs POPs, sources and media; de- ME, AS donors, monitor- sign monitoring programs and GRM ing na- sampling requirements; define tional ca- laboratories’ responsibilities, pacities create a platform for data exchange. Upgrade instrumentation of Identification of laboratories’ MENR, MOH 2005- Pro- 700,000 Interna- laboratories for POPs moni- needs, specification and pur- 2009 posal tional toring chasing of equipment, supplies, donors, reagents and standards, setting GRM QA/QC procedures and training the staff

10. Capac- Increase knowledge about Preparation of questionnaire, MENR, AS 2005- Pro- 50,000 GRM, in- ity build- unintended POPs sources at analysis of replies, estimation of 2006 posal terna- ing for un- national scale emissions, risk evaluation, tional intended sources prioritization donors POPs

Investigate the extent of pol- Selection of a pilot area and de- MENR 2006 Pro- 100,000 Interna- lution by unintended POPs in sign of the sampling program, posal tional a pilot (priority) area sampling and analysis (in EU donors, laboratory), interpretation of re- GRM sults and formulating recommendations 11. BAT Increase the knowledge in Formulate courses curricula, MENR, AS 2006 Pro- 100,000 Interna- and BEP using BAT and BEP technol- implement seminars, study tour, and other posal tional knowl- ogy for POPs management formulate and discuss options partners donors edge and formulate affordable op- for Moldova transfer tions for Moldova

12. Devel- Identify, characterize and ad- Develop strategies for reduction MENR, MOI 2005- Pro- 50,000 GRM, in- oping an dress the release of uninten- of unintended POPs releases 2006 posal terna- action plan ded POPs and facilitate im- and promotion of BAT and BEP tional address- plementation of practical technologies donors ing the is- measures that can achieve a sue of un- significant level of release re- intended duction and source elimina- POPs tion 13. Increa- Develop appropriate tools for Preparation of methodology for MENR, 2005 Pro- 100,000 Interna- sing pre- identification of contaminated risk assessment, formulation of MOH, AS, posal tional paredness sites contaminated sites criteria, con- MAFI, ME donors, for conta- sultations with stakeholders GRM minated sites management

Preliminary mapping of cont- Preparation of contaminated MENR, 2005- Pro- 150,000 GRM, in- aminated sites sites assessment plan; collec- MOH, MAFI, 2007 posal terna- tion of relevant information; ME, local au- tional consultations with local authori- thorities donors, ties, population, businesses; local au- description/mapping of sites thorities identified; incipient analytical works

56 Poten- Lead and tial Problem Proposed Implement- Time- Cost,* Objectives Status Sources Area Action ing Agen- frame US$ of Fi- cies nancing Know-how transfer of low- Preparation of know-how trans- MENR, 2005- Pro- 100,000 Interna- cost remediation options for fer program, conducting of MOH, MAFI, 2007 posal tional contaminated sites seminars, study tour, low-cost ME donors remediation measures development 14. Pro- Increase awareness and Organize international/regional AS, MENR 2004- Pro- 100,000 Interna- motion of stimulate the scientific com- conferences, include POPs re- 2009 posa tional research munity in needs oriented research in GRM programs donors, and deve- search and development; fa- Development of non-pollution AS, MENR 2005- 200,000 GRM lopment cilitate cooperation schemes technologies 2009 Investigation and quantifica- Determination of POPs concen- MH, MENR 2006- Pro- 250,000 GRM, tion of POPs impacts on the trations in environment com- 2009 posal Ecologi- environment and public partments, including migration cal Fund health and transformation. Epidemio- logical studies on vulnerable and exposed population groups

Remediation measures

15. Repa- Provision of UN accepted Detailed needs assessment, MAFI, MOD, 2004- imple- To be de- Interna- ckaging packaging materials, protec- specification, purchasing, deliv- DES, MOH, 2006 ment- termined tional and cen- tion clothes, equipment, ex- ery MENR ed by after RFS donors, tralization press analytical kits MAFI (task 5) GRM, of obso- (finan- Ecologi- lete pesti- ced by cal Fund cides GRM and the Eco- logical Fund)

Preparation of district de- Selection of district deposits, Local (dis- 2004- Partly Can not GRM, posits for concentration of preparation of rehabilitation trict) author- 2005 imple- be deter- Ecologi- obsolete pesticides plans, approval of selected dis- ities, MENR, ment- mined be- cal Fund trict deposits by environmental MOH, MAFI ed fore reha- and health authorities, small re- bilita-tion habilitation, commissioning plans are prepared

Implement repackaging and Repackaging and centralization MOD, DES, 2004- Partly Can not GRM, in- centralization of pesticides in of obsolete dry and liquid pesti- MENR, 2006 imple- be deter- terna- an environmentally sound cides, and contaminated pack- MOH, MAFI ment- mined be- tional manner aging materials at 32 districts ed by fore RFS donors deposits MOD (task 5) and DES

16. Low- Reduce impacts to humans Preparation of low-cost urgent Local au- 2004- Pro- Can not Local, cost, com- and local environment remediation plans for the aban- thorities, 2006 posal be deter- GRM, munity doned pesticides deposits, ap- MOH, mined be- Ecologi- based ur- proval and coordination of MENR, MAFI fore reme- cal Fund gent ac- plans, fencing, safety/precau- diation tions for tion symbols installation, block- plans are aban- ing of doors and windows prepared doned deposits

57 Poten- Lead and tial Problem Proposed Implement- Time- Cost,* Objectives Status Sources Area Action ing Agen- frame US$ of Fi- cies nancing Implement incentive mecha- Selection of the “best” rural MENR 2005- Pro- 25,000 for GRM, nisms so that 32 rural com- community per district, prepara- 2006 posal implemen- Ecologi- munities are ready to imple- tion of grant proposals tation of cal Fund ment other chemical safety village projects competi- tion, total grant amount is 75,000

17. Re- Collect old persistent pesti- Selection of implementation MAFI, local 2005- Pro- 200,000, Interna- move old cides (including DDT) stored agency, training and provision authorities 2009 posal including tional DDT in the private households, of equipment for selected im- training, donors, stocks and transport them to the dis- plementation agency, negotia- equip- Ecologi- from trict deposits tions with commercial compa- ment, site cal Fund, house- nies, activities at village level visits GRM holds 18. Asses- Finalize assessment and in- Feasibility study, investment MENR, 2005- Pro- 150,000 Interna- sment of vestment project preparation project preparation, negotia- MOH, MAFI 2006 posal tional final solu- for the final solution regard- tions with donors donors, tion for ing obsolete pesticides stock- GRM obsolete piles pesticides and abandoned stockpiles Finalize assessment and in- Feasibility study, investment MOH, 2005- Pro- 150,000 Interna- vestment project preparation project preparation, negotia- MENR, Local 2006 posal tional for the final solution regard- tions with donors authorities, donors, ing abandoned and out-of- MOH GRM use deposits (buildings, ruins)

19. Reme- Ensure safe storage of Fencing of territory, renovation MAFI, AS, 2005- Pro- To be de- Interna- diation of dumped pesticides of drainage and run-off collection MENR, 2009 posal termined tional Cismichioi systems, covering of the site MOH, Local after addi- donors, pesticide with a new protection layer, rou- authorities tional in- GRM, dump tine monitoring of soil and water vestigation Local

20. (op- Finalize assessment and in- Feasibility study, investment MOE, MENR, 2004- Pro- 150,000 Interna- tion1) Fea- vestment project preparation project preparation, negotia- MOH 2006 posal tional sibility for the final solution regard- tions with donors donors, study for ing out-of-use capacitors re- GRM Vulcanesti mediation measures stock of out-of-use capacitors

20. (option Ensure environmentally Hiring of a foreign company for ME 2005- Pro- 1200,000 Interna- 2) Reme- sound remediation of out-of- full elimination of electrical ca- 2006 posal tional diation use electrical capacitors pacitors shipping abroad donors, measures GRM for Vul- canesti stock of out-of-use capacitors

58 Poten- Lead and tial Problem Proposed Implement- Time- Cost,* Objectives Status Sources Area Action ing Agen- frame US$ of Fi- cies nancing 21. Coun- Ensure environmentally Centralization of abandoned MOE, MENR, 2005- Pro- Can not Interna- try-wide sound remediation of PCB- equipment, provision of safety MOH 2008 posal be deter- tional handling contaminated, damaged, containers, identification of mined at donors, of PCB- leaking and risky power technology for PCBs and PCB- this mo- GRM contami- equipment contaminated equipment elimi- ment nated and nation damaged equipment Public awareness, training and education 22. Im- Ensure effective communica- 10 short-term courses per year, MENR, REC, 2005- Pro- 100,000 Interna- prove- tion on POPs related issues manual, establishment of a NGO 2009 posal tional ment of and provision of communica- communication framework, donors, communi- tion knowledge and skills for adaptation of existing communi- GRM, cation decision makers, profession- cation channels for POPs is- Ecologi- als and public sues, development of commu- cal fund nication procedures 23. Build- POPs participatory process 2 interdisciplinary meetings/ fo- MENR, REC, 2005- Pro- 600,000 Interna- ing up is effective rums per year, 5 group meetings NGO 2009 posal tional participa- and seminars on exposure risks donors, tory per year, development of proces- GRM, process ses and procedures for participa- Ecologi- tory solution of POPs problems cal fund 24. Ex- National society is aware Development and dissemina- MENR, REC, 2005- Pro- 300,000 Interna- change of about POPs issues, risks, tion of POPs- related informa- MOH, ME, 2009 posal tional informa- consequences and mitigation tion in mass media and acces- NGO, AS donors, tion at measures required sible publications, including vi- GRM, country sual publicity (at least 10 events Ecologi- and inter- per year), one interactive dialog cal fund national per year, one POPs caravan levels per year, preparation of one agricultural and industrial non- POPs „oasis” for demonstration each year, participation at international forums 25. Train- Wide range of POPs players Organizing 5 training seminars MENR, REC, 2005- Pro- 150,000 Interna- ing of are trained in environmental per year for various target MOH, NGO 2009 posal tional general sound management and groups, one Olympiad for differ- donors, public chemical safety issues ent age groups in POPs alter- GRM, natives every year, develop- Ecologi- ment and introduction of train- cal fund ing packages in POPs for current and future (students) public servants, family doctors, business managers and developers 26. Educa- Education programs include Development and dissemina- Ministry of 2005- Pro- 150,000 Interna- tion POPs issues and chemical tion of educational packages for Education, 2009 posal tional safety elements specific groups (local and cen- MENR, NGO donors, tral authorities, pupils, students, GRM vulnerable groups, etc.) Ecologi- cal Fund Note: The co-financing or contribution of the Government, National Ecological Fund or other internal sources will be indicated during the development or negotiation of the projects

* The costs were estimated within the WB/GEF Project. This column was excluded from the final version of the document, approved by the Government.

59 IMPLEMENTATION, EVALUATION AND 7. UPDATING

he NIP is an operational document The NIP will complement on-going national ac- providing a framework for the imple- tivities in this area, specifically activities conducted mentation of the Stockholm Conven- by the MENR, MAFI, MOD and DES for the col- T tion in Moldova. The current NIP is lecting and safe storage of obsolete pesticides, as only a first step in meeting the obligations arising well as the MOE activities on PCBs detailed inven- from the Stockholm Convention and is oriented tory and safe storage. It will build synergy with oth- mainly to the short-term current POPs priorities, er IDA projects, and particularly with Rural Invest- covering a five-year implementation period. The ment and Services Project 2, whichwill focus also NIP implementation is based on the following. on improved pest management for crops; and Ener- The NIP has been developed through an exten- gy II project, which includes several activities with sive stakeholder consultation process and passed all regard to identification and safe storage of PCBs in national co-ordination procedures. Involving all energy sector. The NIP might also be linked with stakeholders in NIP implementation is one of the the World Bank-supported Moldova Trade and pre-conditions for obtaining the expected results. Customs project, particularly in supporting devel- Clear sharing of responsibilities and tasks is a key opment of DOC capabilities related to monitor element of the NIP implementation, and this will POPs import/export, transportation, identification call for a close inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral and reporting activities. coordination and cooperation. Some of NIP actions will be very costly. Ade- The overall operational coordination of NIP im- quate support from national and international plementation will be the responsibility of the sources is therefore a crucial pre-condition for suc- MENR. The supervision and evaluation of the NIP cessful NIP implementation, for both technical as- implementation will be effected by the National sistance and investments. Committee for Environmental Policy, which will de- The GRM seeks technical assistance in the fol- cide on its revision or updating, if necessary. The lowing areas: Committee will ensure an effective and efficient in- Improvement, increasing coherence and harmo- ter-ministerial coordination and cooperation and will nization of national and international POPs-re- promote the incorporation of the NIP requirements lated legal framework, and designing of innova- into other national strategies, policies and plans. tive financial mechanisms (e.g. “debt-for-na- The MENR will create the Center for Chemi- ture-swaps,” HIPC25, etc.); cals Management (CCM), thus bringing various re- Support for implementing the NIP, evaluating and lated international Conventions’ focal points under reporting on the NIP and related Conventions and one umbrella. The CCM will act as the executive Protocols progress, and coordinating with relevant body to deal with day-to-day activities in this field MFI and bilaterally financed projects; and coordinate and manage Moldovan international Establishment of a national information system obligations under the Basel, Stockholm, LRTAP (a database of comprehensive, accurate and reg- and Aarhus Protocol (and potentially Rotterdam ularly updated aggregated information on POPs, Convention), thus gaining synergies and improving similar to OECD “Pollutant Release and Trans- and increasing efficiency, cost-effectiveness, transfer Register”26), and increasing capacity of CCM parency, accountability and cross-fertilization. for data management and presentation.

25 World Bank-IMF Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative (Moldova is also eligible to borrow from IMF under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility.) 26 On May 21, 2003 Moldova signed the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers to the 1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmen- tal Matters, ratified by Moldova on August 9, 1999.

60 Strengthening environmental and health monitoring, including analytical and reporting capabilities. Support to the energy sector in PCBs identification in power equipment and further PCBs elimination measures. Training of professional staff. Support in identification, management and remediation of contaminated sites. Feasibility studies for planned on-ground measures. Designing and implementing public training and awareness programs, based on the “community-right-to-know and participate”. International financial support for implementation of on-ground remediation measures will be needed for: Providing of UN-accepted repackaging materials for obsolete pesticides. Precaution and rehabilitation measures for Ciºmichioi pesticides dump; Elimination of obsolete pesticides; Elimination of PCB oils, PCB-contaminated equipment (e.g. capacitors) and wastes; Each barrel with obsolete pesticides must be inventoried. Contaminated sites remediation. GRM launched discussions with IFIs and bilat- units of the individual projects will be responsible eral donors (GEF, France, Sweden, UK, USA, Den- for their monitoring and for reporting. mark, Turkey, EU, NATO, etc.) regarding invest- The goal of evaluation indicators is to assess ment and technical assistance. how NIP activities effect the direction of change in Evaluation of implementation progress is an im- environmental quality and to measure the magni- portant component of the NIP. In will allow for as- tude of that change. While most NIP indicators will sessing whether and to what extent the NIP objec- allow quantitative evaluation of the implementa- tives are being met and what are the NIP compo- tion process and impacts of various activities, many nents in need of updating. Performance evaluation indicators will seek to measure qualitative aspects, will be done in a transparent way, through a partici- e.g., monitoring of the evolution of public attitudes patory process, involving all stakeholders. Their re- towards POPs problems being addressed through sults will be made available to the general public. opinion polls and surveys. Furthermore, as the NIP The NIP includes a set of evaluation criteria al- seek to address many institutional issues, which are lowing the assessment of the implementation as much about quality as they are about quantity, progress, efficiency and problems. The MENR will both numerical indicators and qualitative assess- be responsible for collecting relevant information, ment will be employed. The range of verifiable in- evaluating the performance indicators, assessing dicators of the NIP implementation may include, the implementation needs, progress and troubles. but not necessarily be limited to, the following: The MENR will periodically report on its findings National legal and regulatory framework to the Conference of Pariecs and the National amended to meet requirements of the Stock- Committee on Environmental Policy. Reporting holm Convention; procedures should be developed and all involved Specific guidelines/handbooks supporting legal parties should be trained accordingly. and regulatory framework developed; Ministries and other state bodies will be respon- POPs information system established and fully sible for NIP monitoring and evaluation within operational; their sectors. The results shall be part of the deci- PRTR established; sion-making process. Local authorities will have No. of trained specialists; monitoring and evaluation responsibilities in the Amount (% from total) of obsolete pesticides re- areas of their jurisdiction. The implementation packed and transported to new storage places;

61 Short-term actions will be focused on “Moldelectrica” stations.

No. (% from total) of conserved old pesticides No. of compliance checks by SEI at energy en- depots awaiting decontamination; terprises; Amount of obsolete pesticides collected from Elimination of old capacitors from the Vul- private households; canesti electric station implemented; Cismichioi pesticide dump remediation mea- No. (% from total) of out-of-use capacitors sures implemented; stored under controlled conditions; No. (% from total) of energy equipment No. of sites investigated for POPs contamination; checked for PCBs content and labeled; No. of public awareness, information and education activities; No. of environmental samples for POPs analysis; No. of epidemiological studies undertaken; No. of organizations participating in information exchange and reporting. The verification of indicators will be done through assessment of reports provided by the MENR. The evaluation results: (i) will provide for updating the NIP, as well as chemical safety policies and strategies; and (ii) will bring more transparency into policy development in this field. They will be disseminated to the public authorities (at various levels), private sector, external donors, mass media and the general public. This will be done through the annual State of the Environment Re- ports and the MENR website. It has to be stated that the NIP is not a rigid document and will be subject to revisions and updating on regular basis, e.g. every 5 years. Obvious- ly, this will be linked to the performance evaluation process. The main responsibility for NIP performance evaluation and updating lies with the Na- tional Committee on Environmental Policy and Safe storage of capacitors will prevent releases. MENR.

62 ANNEXES

Annex 1: Legal, Regulatory and define responsibilities, specifically prohibit pro- Institutional Activities duction and use of POPs chemicals and regulate their export/import, as well as provide a legal basis for reduction/elimination of releases from These include actions for the modernisation of unintentional production. The legal provisions current legislation specifically related to the Stock- should also cover POPs contaminated site man- holm Convention and incorporation of provisions agement issues, define responsibility for POPs for establishing a broader chemical safety approach contaminated sites, incorporate POPs monitor- in the country. It also includes the drafting of spe- ing and reporting, regulate assessment of new cific regulatory acts and the supporting of opera- chemicals meeting POPs criteria, promote BAT tional guidelines/handbooks for practical applica- and BEP for new and existing sources, as well as tion. The important element is the creation of ade- requirements for modified materials, products quate institutional arrangements for the co-ordina- and processes. The objective is to provide a le- tion of POPs related activities country-wide, and gal basis for POPs chemical management under further dissemination of the experience gained for the Stockholm Convention requirements and to overall chemical safety aspects. set up an overall chemical safety system in Moldova. The leading agency is MENR, which TASK 1. Modification of legal framework should work closely with other stakeholders The national legislation should contain legal (MOH, MAFI, MOE, DOC, etc.). The experts provisions for the administration of the chemical should revise existing legal acts, identify rele- safety management system in Moldova, clearly vant gaps and propose modification of legal doc-

Legal provosions will define responsability for POPs contaminated sites.

63 Developed Guidelines will cover remediation measures for the destroyed warehouses.

uments accordingly. The results should be dis- synergies and improve and increase efficiency, cussed with the stakeholders and relevant cost-effectiveness, transparency, accountability amendments should be agreed. The planned and cross-fertilization. The proposed CCM duration of the project is 12 months. should take management responsibility for im- TASK 2. Administration set-up plementing ongoing programs and assume day- The administration system should create the to-day responsibility for implementing the platform for high political commitment, further POPs NIP. The capacity of the CCM should be chemical safety policy development, better greatly enhanced, if it is assisted, during the first management of chemical safety issues and co- few years, by an international environmental ordination of POPs related activities, evaluation consulting company with relevant expertise. of results obtained, fine-tuning of Action Plan, To be effective in management issues, the and reporting, as well as for further planning of CCM should be supported by a relevant infor- measures required by the Stockholm Conven- mation system. The objective is to create a cen- tion. The implementation of the Stockholm tral information unit for POPs chemicals, to be Convention requirements will be coordinated further enlarged for other chemical safety is- by the National Committee for Environmental sues. It is required to (i) design the information Policy, created in July 2002, which brings to- system, including database and GIS applica- gether senior officials from the key ministries. tions, (ii) install required hardware and software To support activities of the National Committee and train the staff for operation, and (iii) test the for Environmental Policy in the field of chemi- information system performance. cal safety, the GRM and MENR will consider to Establishing a national reporting framework and bring various related international Conventions’ procedures will first require the amendment of focal points under one umbrella, transforming relevant legislation. Then an Instruction for the existing POPs PIU into a separate legal enti- POPs Statistical and Informational Reports ty (Center for Chemicals Management - CCM), should be created to transfer the legal provisions in order to coordinate and manage Moldovan in- into a more practical document. A set of specific ternational obligations under the Basel, Stock- reporting sheets and formats should be pre- holm, LRTAP and Aarhus Protocol (and poten- pared. The sources of information should be tially the Rotterdam Convention). This will gain identified and delivery formats should be pro-

64 posed. The responsible agency is CCM, in association with other interested parties. The CCM should be the key recipient of statistical data and should be capable to process and evaluate the data obtained, and to maintain the information system. The to-be-created informational system would serve as a basis for setting-up the Pollution Releases and Transfer Register. The GRM will ensure that annual statistical data from relevant agencies (MAFI, DOC, etc), are furnished to the CCM on a regular basis.

TASK 3. Development of regulatory mechanisms The new legal provisions should be sustained by specific regulations. The objective is to transfer the POPs related legal provisions into practical and management tools. Regulations should cover at least the following issues: (1) management of district storage facilities for obsolete pesticides and wastes; (2) management of abandoned storehouses and contaminated sites; (3) import/export and transboundary transportation of obsolete pesticides and PCBs; (4) proce- Leakages of oil from the transformer dures for assessment of new pesticides and pesticides currently in use against POPs criteria; (5) management of PCB-contaminated power regulation on statistical reporting on POPs pes- equipment; (6) instruction for storage and man- ticides and PCBs wastes, products, installations agement of PCBs wastes; (7) recommendations and PCB-contaminated sites; (6) instruction for for safe usage of PCBs materials; (8) instruction

Most of the out-of-use transformers were produced in the ex-USSR

65 for field and laboratory identification of PCBs TASK 5. Increasing national capacity for better content in dielectric oils and other materials; (9) management of prohibited pesticides, including guide on performing PCBs inventory and hot POPs spot identification; (10) instruction for trans- The managerial capacity of local authorities portation of oils, equipment and other PCB-con- should be upgraded. For this purposes country- taminated materials; (11) instruction for disposal wide training should be organised for district of PCB-contaminated oils and PCB-contaminat- and local rural authorities regarding safe and ef- ed power equipment; (12) instruction for retro- ficient management of obsolete pesticides filling the power equipment; (13) instruction for stockpiles. Training will involve primarily au- labelling PCB-containing equipment; (14) regu- thorities from the settlements where temporary lation on POPs management control. The lead- storage of obsolete pesticides is foreseen. Train- ing implementation agency is MENR, in part- ing curricula should include stockpiles manage- nership with MOE, MAFI, DOC, MOH. Ex- ment options, related risks and their minimisa- perts in environmental sciences, chemistry, tion, building relations with the local public, re- health, risk assessment and legislation will draft porting and other issues. Training should be or- relevant regulations and discuss findings with ganised under the MENR umbrella. The activi- stakeholders. The duration of the project is 2-3 ty may take 4 months, including the preparation years and should be phased in, starting with pri- phase, and should be repeated every 2 years. ority regulations needs. The MOD and DES are responsible for the repackaging and concentration of obsolete pes- TASK 4: Drafting of practical guidelines and ticides at the selected district deposits. To im- handbooks for POPs chemicals management prove their capabilities to implement these The improved legal framework will provide the tasks in an environmentally sound and safe general frame for POPs management in Moldo- manner, a specific operational handbook de- va, and regulations will establish relevant rules scribing all required procedures (planning, pre- and procedures. To be efficient, the legal acts liminary assessment of storage facilities, prepa- and regulations should be clearly understood by ration of re-packaging/transportation schedule, the involved parties and should be supported by preparing of MOD and DES staff for field relevant operational and methodological guides. works, procedures for express identification of Several operational handbooks and guidelines unknown substances, labelling, packaging in- are to be produced, describing methods, man- structions, loading, transportation and re-load- agement options and operational aspects in rele- ing procedures, registration, log-booking and vant areas of the POPs chemical management. work commissioning) should be produced by a The activity is foreseen for the next 2-3 years, team of national experts. The leading agency is after completion of legal and regulatory amend- MENR, with partners from MOD, DES, MAFI ments. The needs for specific guidelines and and MOH. This activity is a top priority, as handbooks would be assessed and a detailed MOD and DES already started re-packaging in plan would be prepared. The responsible a few districts. The duration of the project is 1-2 agency is MENR in close co-operation with rel- months. International expertise may be re- evant parties. quired in the final stage to revise the handbook for ensuring that all internationally accepted safety and environmental protection elements Annex 2: Capacity Building are incorporated. After drafting the handbook, training of MOD and DES staff will be required, in order to en- It includes prioritised actions related to training sure that all operation elements are in place, of professionals and decision makers, widening and staff is prepared and understands all require- deepening of inventories for POPs chemicals, hot- ments. The training should include also a spot identification, reporting, capacity building ele- “training of trainers” component, so that MOD ments for monitoring and control, further studies and DES officers may replicate training courses and methodology development. with new recruits if necessary. The leading agencies are MOD and DES. The total duration

66 PCBs identification in transformers – a task at national scale.

of training courses is about 1 month, including sessment. Both documents should consider dif- preparation of training materials. ferent alternatives in respect to their environ- In parallel with the above mentioned projects, a ment, health, social and economic impacts. The Rapid Feasibility Study for each district is ur- total duration is 3 months. The responsible min- gently needed. The study should be finalised istry is MENR, with assistance from MOH and by the preparation of a District Re-packaging MAFI. International expertise is highly re- Plan, which includes following elements: shar- quired, as well as external financial support. It ing of responsibilities between parties involved, will be an advantage if the RFS and EIA pro- timetable for re-packaging and order of trans- jects will be linked under the NATO umbrella. portation, assessment of needs for packaging material, personal protection equipment, ex- TASK 6. Increasing the national capacity of the press analytical kits, etc. The responsible energy sector for identification of PCBs in agency is MOD, in co-ordination with DES, equipment MENR, MAFI and MOH. Activities can be fi- The training for the energy sector on PCBs nanced from the NATO project, which is cur- identification in power equipment has to be im- rently in the pre-feasibility phase. The total du- plemented at national scale. The responsible ration is 3 months. agency is MOE. The objective is to train man- In parallel with the Rapid Feasibility Study, the agerial and technical staff from all energy enter- Environmental Impact Assessment for repack- prises (private and public) in uniform sampling aging and centralising of obsolete pesticides and analytical procedures, registration of data, should be started. Two inter-related documents labelling, hot spot identification and reporting. will have to be produced. The first one should The duration of the activity is 4 months. Tech- treat the process of repackaging and centralising nical assistance will be sought for this activity. It at national scale and should mainly follow the should include: international and local expertise methodology for Strategic Environmental As- for the preparation of a training manual and the sessment. The second document should be pro- training schedule, identification and specifica- duced in more detail (as a demonstration for one tion of sampling/analytical equipment afford- typical district). It should follow the methodolo- able for Moldova (both for rapid reconnaissance gy of full Environmental Impact and Risk As- and analytical PCBs identification), provision of

67 Detailed inventory of PCBs in transformers.

sampling and simplified field kits for training Each energy enterprise should allocate required purposes, practical training courses for different funds for the preparation of the testing-plan and types of equipment (transformers, capacitors, cover equipment-purchasing expenses. The du- circuit breakers, etc.), demonstration of la- ration is about 12 months. belling procedures and development of reporting sheets. One of the project outputs is to pre- TASK 7. Inventory of PCBs content in power pare and distribute among energy enterprises a equipment in the energy sector practical handbook for first identification, la- Following the new legal provisions and regula- belling, equipment risk assessment, safety man- tions and supported by practical handbooks, agement of equipment in use and PCBs report- trained staff and delivered equipment, the re- ing in power equipment. sponsible persons from each energy enterprise The next step is the preparation of an inventory should implement a reconnaissance assessment plan for each energy enterprise and the purchas- (by simplified kits) of PCBs content in owned ing of the required number of sampling/analyti- equipment, and label it accordingly. The costs cal kits. All energy enterprises should prepare a of sampling, analytical determination, produc- plan for testing the inventory by simple analyti- tion and installation of required labels and re- cal kits, indicating the time-schedule, the num- porting should be covered by electrical compa- ber of sampling points, the testing equipment nies. Each electrical enterprise should report to needs, and the reporting schedule. The plans the MOE on a yearly basis and submit updated should be co-ordinated by the MOE. The MOE plans for the next year. The report should also will be responsible for the purchasing of the re- contain information on the risks identified for quired amount of sampling/analytical kits and each installation, hot-spot assessment and de- its distribution to the energy enterprises. It will scription of safety management options applied lead to a reduction of the unit price, uniformity or planned. The MOE should provide the data of methods and better co-ordination of actions.

68 to be introduced in the central POPs database. tion, and humans). The objective is to draft in- The total duration of the project can be 2 years. ter-related monitoring networks, define the Having the preliminary information obtained af- sampling schedule and formulate responsibili- ter the first inventory phase, the electrical com- ties for national laboratories (SEI, MOH, Hy- panies should carefully determine the PCBs drometeorological Service) as well as create a concentrations by analytical methods. Each en- platform for data management and exchange. ergy company should prepare a plan, including The monitoring system should be tested (e.g., the time-frame, the identification of laboratory in pilot regions) and modified if required. The for analytical control, and the reporting schedule. duration of activity is about 12 months. The plan should be co-ordinated with the MOE, The laboratories of SEI, MOH and Hydromete- which has the overall responsibility for invento- orological Service need upgrading of their in- ry. The costs should be covered by the electric strumentation for POPs detection in different enterprises. The costs and duration will entirely media. Besides, the SEI, as environmental en- depend on the results of the first phase of PCBs forcement agency, needs to be strengthened in assessment. The time necessary to accomplish view of PCBs controls in equipment. The objec- the task may be roughly assessed at 2 years. The tive is increasing the analytical capacities of MOE should collect reports and ensure the sup- three laboratories to fulfil country responsibili- ply of data to the central POPs database. ties and obligations under the Stockholm Con- vention. The Technical Assistance would in- TASK 8. Widening the PCBs inventory to other clude: identification of equipment needs, speci- economic sectors, products and articles fication of instruments for sampling and analy- A number of potential PCBs sources (out of the sis, provision of methodology, standards, sup- energy sector) should be inventoried for the plies, setting up QA/QC procedures, as well as purposes of PCBs identification under the lead- the training of staff. The leading agency is ership of MENR. The following actions are MENR, in coordination with MOH. The dura- planned: (1) preparation of check-lists for PCBs tion is estimated as 24 months. source owners regarding self-identification of equipment, products and articles potentially TASK 10. Capacity building element for unin- containing PCBs. (2) preparation of a reporting tended POPs release sources outline for the description of the technical/man- A further widening of unintended POPs sources agement status of equipment, products and arti- inventory would be required. The objective is cles and associated potential risks for human to provide better understanding of current and health and environment, (3) distribution of projected releases of unintended POPs for par- check-lists and outlines for report to various en- ticular sources under the following categories: terprises and agencies with clear instructions, power generation, heating facilities, waste incin- (4) analysis of responses and (5) preparation of a eration, and uncontrolled waste combustion. nation-wide screening plan for further imple- The responsible agency is MENR, which mentation. The screening plan should pay spe- should prepare a questionnaire and distribute it cial attention to the reported damaged and leak- among relevant enterprises, agencies and enti- ing equipment, presence of equipment in areas ties. On the basis of replies the current and pro- associated with food and feed production/projected emissions should be calculated, the risk cessing and in populated areas (schools, hospi- preliminarily evaluated, priorities established tals). The project should be implemented by and information introduced into the database MENR during 2004-2008. and mapped. The time frame for the project is 6 months. TASK 9. Increasing POPs monitoring capacity A analytical investigation of PCDD/PCDF con- of environmental and health authorities tent in the priority environment compartments The specific monitoring strategies should be of Moldova is required for a better understand- tailored for POPs groups (as pesticides, PCBs, ing of pollution treats and severity of the prob- PCDD/PCDF), for different purposes (e.g., lem. The objective is to investigate the contami- source, ambient and impacts monitoring) and nation of environment components (air, water, for various media and components (water, soil, soil and wastes, in the vicinity of one or two pri- sediments, biota, agricultural and food produc- ority sources. The duration of the project is 8-12

69 months. The responsible agency is MENR. In- methodology for risk assessment of contaminat- ternational technical assistance is essential. An ed sites should be prepared, including aspects of international expert, supported by local monitor- land use, access of population and animals to the ing staff, should develop the monitoring strategy site, spreading of pollution to other natural me- and design the sampling program. Local special- dia, toxicity and environmental fate of different ists have to be trained in sampling. Collected POPs. The duration of the project is 6 months. samples should be transported to a selected EU The responsible agency is MENR. Internation- laboratory for analysis. A local laboratory manag- al know-how and knowledge transfer is an im- er and 1-2 specialists have to be trained at the portant element for project implementation. EU laboratory premises. International financial Preliminary data collection regarding potential assistance is necessary to cover project expenses. contaminated sites should be started, based on available information. The areas potentially TASK 11. BAT and BEP knowledge transfer contaminated by POPs are expected to include Currently the knowledge on BAT and BEP is territories nearby pesticides storage facilities, limited in the country, specifically at the level of places for pesticides solutions preparation, businesses. The NIP is proposing to organise places where significant PCBs leakage had oc- BAT and BEP knowledge transfer for a broad curred, known places of POPs pesticides and range of stakeholders and interested parties. PCBs operational failures, etc. A relevant infor- The objective is to increase the knowledge of mation should be collected by the SEI in con- environmental authorities and industry in using sultation with local authorities, population, and BAT and BEP for POPs management. A num- businesses, and should be presented on maps ber of specific courses for a range of local stake- with site description. A limited number of holders should be implemented, associated with analyses is foreseen as well. The general respon- a study tour to a country having experience in sibility lies within the MENR. this field. The responsible agency is MENR, Currently, there is no experience in the country with relevant partners. The planned duration of for wide application of remediation measures the project is 6-12 months. International assis- specified for POPs contaminated sites. As a first tance is the key to the project success. A foreign step to increase specific knowledge, the study of consultant company should be hired to organise various options implicated in other countries is the courses and the study tour, as well as to for- proposed. An international expert should pre- mulate BAT and BEP options for Moldova. pare a review of available options and conduct basic training for local experts, decision makers TASK 12. Developing an action plan addressing and the public, and organise a study tour. As a re- the issue of unintended POPs sult, low-cost mitigation measures, specifically The objective of the project is to identify, charac- designated for POPs pesticides, PCBs and diox- terize and address the release of unintended in/furans, should be developed with the partici- POPs and facilitate implementation of practical pation of local experts. The duration of the pro- measures that can achieve a significant level of ject is 6 months under supervision from MENR. release reduction and source elimination. The re- Funding from international sources is requested. sults of the wider inventory of unintended POPs will allow the developing of strategies for reduc- TASK 14. Promotion of research and develop- tion of their releases and the promotion of BAT ment and BEP technologies. The responsible agency is Considering that the objective of research is to MENR, with assistance from MOI. The planned obtain scientific knowledge on POPs and their im- duration of the project is 12 months. Internation- pacts in order to develop mitigation options, the al technical assistance is required. NIP foresees promoting research and development efforts. The program of investigations will have to TASK 13. Increasing country’s preparedness for be targeted and phased, showing a high degree of identification of contaminated sites flexibility, in order to be easily adapted as new data The level of preparedness for managing the and information will be gathered. contaminated sites should be upgraded. Criteria In the field of pesticides, research should be for identification of contaminated sites should mainly focused on developing recommendations be developed and agreed by stakeholders. A for total elimination of obsolete pesticides. This

70 is considered necessary in order to investigate mediation measures for the pesticides dump in Cis- cost-effective solutions for elimination consider- michioi and stockpiles of out-of-use capacitors in ing at least the following options: (i) incineration, Vulcanesti and other places. (ii) chemical destruction, (iii) natural long-term degradation under controlled conditions. TASK 15. Re-packaging and centralization of PCDDs/PCDFs, HCB and PCBs research obsolete pesticides should focus on investigations of social and eco- The procurement of UN-accepted packaging nomic effects, evaluation of risk, environmental materials (bags and cans), individual protection fate, ecotoxicological effects, study of transport clothes, equipment, small engineering tools and and transfer processes, degradation mecha- express analytical kits (for preliminary identifi- nisms, bioaccumulation and biomagnification, cation of unknown chemical substances in the destruction. field) should be started. The leading agency is Other major directions of POPs research in MAFI, in co-ordination with MOD, DES, Moldova are: assessment of candidate chemicals MENR, and MOH. An international expert, under consideration for inclusion in the Con- supported by local specialists, should identify vention; technologies for elimination/remedia- the amount of items needed for the implemen- tion of POPs in the environment; specific stud- tation of works at national level, prepare the ies on the impact on population groups in heav- specification and tendering documentation, ily contaminated areas; studies to increase the evaluate proposals and monitor delivery. The understanding of POPs impacts on wildlife; and total duration is about 8-10 months. Costs for studies to explore social and economic implica- materials and equipment may be determined tions of POPs and their alternatives. only after the completion of a feasibility study. Future research in the framework of interna- International financial support is highly and ur- tional cooperation on POPs may include: trans- gently needed. NATO may facilitate finding of boundary impacts of POPs and its significance; financial support. development of analytical methods for deter- At the same time, preparation of district storage mining new types of POPs and their metabo- facilities for centralising the obsolete pesticides lites; study of emission, deposition, transforma- should be started. On the basis of national safe- tion and bioavailability of POPs in terrestrial ty standards, the district authorities should se- ecosystems, soil, sediments, and ground water at lect an appropriate facility. Required costs for regional scale; and environmental behaviour of materials and civil works have to be estimated. POPs under various climatic conditions. The lead agency is MENR, which should pro- The NIP foresees the organization of an inter- vide consultation and advice to district authori- national/regional research conference on “new ties and supervise compliance with safety and aspects of POPs management in the countries of environmental requirements, as well as the transition”, seeking to support the creation of overall implementation. On the basis of pre- regional co-operation schemes for researchers pared documentation, the district authorities and developers. should implement the repair works. Re-packaging and transportation of obsolete pesticides should be continued. The objective Annex 3: On-ground Remediation is to implement these actions in an environmentally safe manner. The responsible agencies are Measures MOD and DES. Supervision of all works should be ensured by local representatives of MAFI, Most of the actions described under this chapter MENR and MOH. Together with the local au- refer to the remediation of obsolete pesticides thorities, they should sign the commissioning problems, as they are a recognised high priority. report. The reports should be presented to the The actions include re-packaging and centralisa- MENR, and information should be introduced tion of obsolete pesticides at the district deposits as into the central POPs database. It is expected an intermediate solution, identification of a most that re-packaging and concentration of obsolete appropriated final solution, low-cost measures to pesticides will be finished during 3-4 years; the minimise impacts from abandoned storehouses, activity is highly depending from re-packaging DDT specific actions at household level, and re- materials delivery.

71 TASK 16. Low cost and community based ur- old pesticides, particularly DDT and other per- gent actions for reduction of impacts from sistent chemicals. The MENR should select, on abandoned storehouses a competitive base, an agency (company or Taking into consideration that re-packaging of NGO), which will implement the activities. The obsolete pesticides and their centralisation may agency should have agrochemical, health and en- take 3-4 years, and that emptied old storage de- vironmental safety experience. The staff should posits may not be quickly decontaminated or be trained for safety management of pesticides, remedied, the NIP proposes the local communi- repackaging and transportation procedures and ties to implement urgent, but simple and low- should be equipped with protective, packaging cost actions for minimising pesticides releases and other equipment, including transport. It will and for the protection of local environment and be an advantage if commercial companies, dis- public health. The low-cost urgent measures tributing in Moldova agricultural chemical or bi- may include, but not necessarily be limited to, ological preparations for plant protection, would the following: (i) all facilities (or their ruins if it is be able to contribute to the project by covering the case), either if they still contain obsolete pes- the operational expenses. Commercial compa- ticides or not anymore, should be labeled with nies may also propose to the farmers, in ex- visible safety/precaution symbols, (ii) fences change to returned obsolete pesticides, an around facilities (or their ruins) should be built amount of their products with instructions for to limit access of population and grazing domes- their safe utilisation. The GRM and MENR may tic animals, (iii) existing pesticides or their allocate the necessary financial resources for pur- wastes should be covered with plastic, if deposit chasing the commercial products at a discount has a damaged roof, (iv) after the evacuation of price, to be used as compensation for farmers. An old pesticides the windows and doors should be intense awareness campaign should be part of blocked by bricks. The responsibility falls on the the project. Local authorities will have a critical local authorities, which should work closely with role for the success of this action. the MENR. The mayoralties should assess the current status of the facilities and prepare an implementation schedule and financial plan for low-cost measures. The plans should be agreed by the MENR. On the basis of the agreed plan the mayoralty should mobilise local resources and implement necessary actions. The local community should be involved in the discussion and implementation of measures. Incentives should be foreseen for the rural communities that have implemented the urgent low-cost measures in a safe and efficient way. It is proposed that at least one “best” rural community per district should be endowed by the Ecological Fund. The grant should be foreseen for the implementation of chemical safety related projects to be initiated by the community it- self. The “best” community should be selected by a district commission, formed by representatives of local government, public, environmental, health authorities, and NGOs, on a competitive base with clearly stated criteria. The responsible agency is MENR.

TASK 17. Collecting old DDT stocks from households The objective is to persuade local villagers to re- turn stored in the private households amounts of All obsolete pesticides stocks must be repackaged.

72 TASK 18. Assessment of final solution options their impacts on the environment, health, social for obsolete pesticides and abandoned store- and economic life at national scale, prior to any houses further actions. The results and recommenda- The centralisation of obsolete pesticides at the tions obtained will provide a sound base for final district facilities is only an intermediary solu- decision about out-of-use storehouses. The re- tion. Further, a final disposal/liquidation solu- sponsible agency is MENR. The study may be tion for obsolete pesticides, wastes and contam- scheduled for 12 months. International exper- inated packing materials should be identified tise and external financing are required. with a clear understanding of technical, economic, environmental and financial elements. TASK 19. Remediation measures at the Cismi- The NIP proposes as a priority for the planned chioi pesticide dump period to fulfil the assessment of available op- The last study, implemented under a Tacis pro- tions, to estimate the potential environmental ject, indicated pollution of soils and shallow impacts, social and economic benefits, and con- groundwater following the landscape gradient. sequently to select the most appropriate alterna- In line with this, precaution measures are pro- tive(s). For the selected alternative(s) a feasibil- posed such as: fencing the territory, renovating ity study should be implemented. The respon- the drainage and runoff collection systems, cov- sible agency is MENR. The feasibility study ering the site with a new protection layer, envi- may take about 12 months. International exper- ronmental monitoring, annual inspection and tise and technical assistance is highly necessary. maintenance, etc. All these recommendations Abandoned and vacated storehouses (and their should be implemented during 2004-2008. The ruins) are sources of pollution and human health responsible agency is MENR or MAFI. impacts, even if low-cost urgent measures will be implemented as described above. Several op- TASK 20. Feasibility study for the Vulcanesti tions exist for dealing with these facilities: they stock of out-of-use capacitors (option 1) or Re- may be decontaminated and used for storing mediation measures at the Vulcanesti stock of new chemicals, or for other purposes, or disas- out-of-use capacitors (option 2) sembled. The demolished materials may be (option 1) A feasibility study and EIA are re- used for other constructions, or construction ma- quired for the Vulcanesti site hosting about terials may be treated as a toxic waste. The NIP 12,000 old capacitors. Feasibility study and EIA states the need to study various alternatives and should include: (1) an assessment of the current

Additional precaution measures will improve the safety of the pesticides landfill.

73 status of capacitors and of the management op- safety containers, and identification of technolo- tions applied, (2) the identification of current en- gies for PCBs and PCB-contaminated equip- vironmental and health impacts, (3) the elabora- ment elimination. Development of an effective tion of technical options for the elimination of monitoring system for temporary storage places capacitors, (4) an evaluation of related economic, would be of major importance. The owners of social and environmental concerns. Clear envi- equipment should be prepared to purchase new ronmentally sound alternatives to reduce releas- PCB-free equipment. The cost for new equip- es from the Vulcanesti site should be formulated, ment should be covered by the equipment own- and financial requirements should be identified. ers. The total duration of the project is 1-2 years. The responsible agency is MOE. The duration of the project is 12 months. International expertise and international financing is necessary. Annex 4: Public Awareness, (option 2) The Vulcanesti site is hosting about 12,000 capacitors, which are out-of-use and Training and Education leaking. It is proposed to hire an internationally accepted and experienced company, which will This chapter responds to the most urgent needs take the full responsibility for remediation mea- to be met in the short to medium term in the follow- sures, including the evacuation of capacitors ing areas: raising public awareness on the dangers as- from Moldova. The responsible agency is MOE. sociated with POPs, training on POPs risks for most The activity may take about 1- 1.5 years. A exposed (target) groups, as well as incorporation of rough estimate indicates the total elimination POPs issues in the educational programmes. costs at US$ 1.0-1.2 million. TASK 22. Improvement of communication within TASK 21. Country-wide handling of PCB-conta- Moldovan society on POPs related issues minated equipment The improvement of communication within so- Safe storage of capacitors and other out-of-use, ciety is envisaged through the establishment of contaminated or damaged equipment awaiting a communication framework, incorporating the destruction is required. International financial following actions: provision of communication support will be required for the centralisation of knowledge and skills to the staff of central and capacitors and other equipment identified as local public authorities, environmental and hot spots at the disposal place(s), provision of health protection agencies, NGOs, public com-

Old capacitors at Vulcanesti station require urgent remediation measures.

74 panies, research institutes, universities. Estab- state institutions, NGOs, general public, access- lishment of mandatory institutionalized com- ing existing ecological networks for NGOs, cre- munication procedures between agencies and in ation of a Web site. The efforts of the MENR to relation to the public, providing of high quality maintain relationships with and to support ecolog- communication equipment, creation of periodic ical NGOs are also a significant step in building informational releases, accessible to all groups, the participatory process. Further development of promotion of a socio-economic environment the participatory process for its institutionalisation favourable for the personality empowerment as well as provision of skills in participation, main- and respect to people’s opinion are the key ele- taining of participatory processes and tools is ments of the actions required. The range of planned. Review of the current responsibilities of communication tools could include all commu- the state agencies should be carried out, so that nication techniques, starting with presentation they would comprise regular affairs to the public, and messages in mass media and general meet- meetings with the concerned groups, open days, ings of communities, interactive dialogues, mi- official presentations in mass media, maintenance cro-seminars between colleagues within and of interactive tools for complaints and alerts. The outside the profession, and ending with prepa- objective could be achieved through the provision ration and presentation of information through of training courses for the various groups relevant the existing communication channels of each to POPs problems, including the state agencies, community, such as professional meetings, en- NGOs, educational institutes, business compa- tertainment facilities, local radio, children’s net- nies, consumers, women, children and least edu- works, interest groups sessions, handicraft sit- cated target groups. tings, other accepted ceremonies and media. Provision of communication knowledge and TASK 24. Ensuring of information exchange at skills could be carried out through a set of short the country and international levels term courses in communication with the popu- National exchange of information in POPs relat- lation, offered to relevant agencies, organiza- ed issues is important both for the awareness- tions and institutions, including the Ecological building process and for generation of new Inspectorate, the public relations sections of rel- knowledge. The most important actions would evant ministries, active ecological NGOs, repre- be inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary meetings, sentatives of the educational institutions with meetings of different generations’ representa- ecological or rural profile as well as selected rep- tives, access to and use of relevant networks, ac- resentatives of the polluting companies. The cess to information about the state of the envi- training in communication of all these groups ronment in each community and within the could be accomplished through short training country as a whole. The main tool for the ex- courses. The course material could include the change of information would be a monthly or a following areas: interpersonal communication quarterly POPs newsletter. Mixed age groups skills, sharing of information between agencies, conferences and symposiums, regular confer- presentation of information to the public, gener- ences between the most relevant actors in the al public relations, facilitation skills, relation- POPs process, such as: ecological inspectors, re- ships with mass media, preparation of accessible searchers, representatives of polluting compa- reports on activity. The course material could be nies, physicians, representatives of agencies re- accompanied by a short manual in communica- sponsible for the management of natural re- tion in respect to POPs and other chemicals. sources, etc would also serve the purpose. Local and national databases of POPs sources would TASK 23. Building up a participatory process in be developed and made available to the public. respect to POPs and chemical safety issues At international level, information relevant to The POPs related problems have better chance to the solution of the POPs problem could be ac- get close to their successful resolution in the pres- cessed internationally with other Parties to the ence of a large-scale participatory process. The Convention through bilateral and multilateral NIP preparation has already initiated steps for partnerships, creation of POPs networks, confer- building up the participatory process, including: ences, symposiums, contests, awards for alterna- participatory framework for consultants, periodic tives to POPs, projects for solution of specific events for exchange of opinions with relevant POPs related problems. The Republic of Moldo-

75 va could contribute internationally with POPs al- specific information than the one offered to the ternatives, BATs and BEPs generated through general public through information campaigns, national exchange of information, participatory could be treated as promoters of POPs related indicators for POPs developed by the research information and knowledge and encouraged to institutions and NGOs, demonstration of reme- share it with the wider public. The training of diated sites and improved POPs decreasing solu- these groups could include not only the whole tions in agriculture and in protected areas. range of information on POPs agents known as In order to build awareness in POPs related is- of the date of the training and their impact, but sues in the bulk of the population, the use of par- also practices and skills for the extension of ticipatory forms of information dissemination is POPs related information, references to addi- advised. The feedback tools are also important, tional information sources, participatory meth- due to the wealth of experience existing within ods of data collection and transfer of information, the population in dealing with the chemicals, skills for incorporating POPs related concerns in- both in agriculture and industry. Other means to the decision-making process at respective lev- could include agricultural and industry non- els. Small accessible POPs guides describing POPs “oases”, built specifically for gaining expe- POPs sources in different occupations and in rience in POPs substitution with alternatives and households, as well as the precautionary actions for the dissemination of such experience through needed in their application, would serve as use- demonstration. Such actions could be supple- ful props for the training process. mented with lifestyles and activity patterns collected from different zones of Moldova, industry TASK 26. Facilitation of education in POPs technology changes favourable to the environ- The education in POPs areas is significant not ment, collections of best practices in POPs reduc- only through the need to pass the knowledge to tion, specific recommendations to representa- the younger generation, but also through the tives of different occupations, etc. The aware- moral obligation of the current generation to ness-building tools with the greatest impact maximally contribute to the remediation of the would include interactive programmes and dia- damage done to the environment and to health logues in mass media, video spots and materials, of children and young people by the current and POPs information caravans and excursions to preceding generations. The education process more affected localities, national contests in POP needs predominantly a creative approach to- reduction, visual publicity, such as stickers, wards teaching methodology, involving case leaflets, and posters. At local level, general meet- study, role play, brainstorming, teamwork. This ings of localities dedicated to POPs topic, POPs educational framework could be supported reduction campaigns would also be of use. through addressing the emotional dimension in cases suitable for the knowledge transfer. Along TASK 25. Training in POPs for the target groups with a general overview of the POPs problem, Training in POPs areas is needed for the repre- the educational material could include a histori- sentatives of all main target groups of occupa- cal perspective, as well as a clear explanation of tions and professions relevant for POPs prob- the real sources of POPs in the country, region lems, and entities capable of disseminating in- and their own locality, and, importantly, project formation to a wider public, such as central and work and practical activity for reduction of POPs local public authorities, physicians, school and amounts and impacts on health and environ- university teachers, kindergarten educators, ad- ment, excursions and other visualisation, in- ministrative staff of industries, managers and spection and reflection exercises on the best trainers of NGOs and professional growth insti- practices for POPs reduction and elimination. tutions, leaders of political parties, organizations The young generation’s creativeness could be for economic and social development, financial employed though practical POP reduction activ- and banking structures etc. The training process ities under the guidance of relevant adults, such could focus on civil servants most closely related as ecological inspectors and competent teachers, to the POPs issues, representatives of the con- which is also an effective educational tool. Chil- cerned NGOs and socio-economical factors. dren and students could research POPs alterna- This first corps of POPs related information tives, BATs and BEPs and contribute to their holders, having access to more detailed and more dissemination.

76 Figure 4. LOAD OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS ON RIVER BASINS

77 Figure 5. LOAD OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS ON LANDSCAPES

78 Figure 6. LOAD OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS ON SOIL REGIONS

79 Imprimare la Combinatul Poligrafic, str. Mitropolit Petru Movilã, 35; MD-2004, Chiºinãu, Republica Moldova. Comanda nr.