The Council of Ministers has begun work on a draft amendment to the act on special solutions related to removing the effects of floods. The so-called special flood act assumes, among other things, support for borrowers, the introduction of a random allowance for education, and simplification of procedures for issuing environmental decisions.
The draft amendment to the Act of 2011 on special solutions related to removing the effects of flooding contains proposals for changes to regulations aimed at supporting both individuals and entrepreneurs who suffered in the flood in September this year.
The proposals included in it include: granting a new form of financial support in the form of accidental allowance intended to meet the educational needs of children completing the compulsory one-year pre-school preparation or students, additional care allowancesemployee facilities, support for borrowersshortening the procedures for issuing decisions on environmental conditions related to counteracting the effects of floods or related to the provision of health services.
People who were affected by the flood will receive non-refundable aid from the Borrower Support Fund. Victims will be able to count on funds that will be equal to 12 loan installments.
To obtain assistance, it will be necessary to submit an application for support. The application will be available to people who are borrowers and whose house or apartment – to which the loan relates – was damaged or destroyed during the flood in a way that makes it impossible to use the building. The support will be non-refundable and exempt from income tax.
The project also envisages changes to dozens of other acts, including on the education system, on special principles for the reconstruction, renovation and demolition of buildings destroyed or damaged by the elements, on crisis management, on gambling, on special solutions related to the prevention, counteracting and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, on the Institute for the Development of the Polish Language named after St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, on the Silesian Voivodeship Transformation Fund, a joint-stock company, on supporting digital competences of students and teachers.
New regulations on crisis management
The document clarifies, among other things, the provisions on crisis management (from the 2007 Act) regarding the issuance of orders by the Prime Minister to government and local government administration bodies, legal entities, entities without legal personality and entrepreneurs.
Such orders may be issued primarily to ensure the proper functioning, protection, reinforcement or reconstruction of critical infrastructure, to take control of a crisis situation and to eliminate the effects of a crisis situation. The amendment proposes to clarify these provisions and remove related “interpretative doubts”.
The document also includes provisions dedicated to non-governmental organizations from flood-affected areas. The project allows for the extension of deadlines for the implementation of public tasks carried out by NGOs under signed agreements and due to end by September 30, 2024.
According to the project, these deadlines will be able to be extended by public administration bodies commissioning non-governmental organizations to perform these tasks. “The lack of the proposed solution will prevent non-governmental organizations and other authorized entities from performing the above tasks in whole or in part, which may result in the return of subsidies, despite the costs incurred by them earlier,” it was noted in the impact assessment of the project.
Support for police and firefighters
The government also proposed that officers of the Police, Border Guard and State Fire Service who performed tasks related to the state of natural disaster in the period from September 13, 2024 to October 31, 2024, should receive monetary compensation for service time exceeding 40 hours weekly.
They would be due regardless of the official position held and would be paid by 31 December this year. The details of payments are to be based on the principles described in the relevant articles of the acts on the Police, Border Guard and State Fire Service.
The bill assumes that the amendment will enter into force on the day following the date of its announcement. Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday that the parliamentary debate on the bill would take place on Thursday, September 26.
Main image source: PAP