The basis of EMAS legal system in Poland is Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 allowing organizations voluntary participation in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) and the National Ecomanagement and Audit Scheme Act of 12 march 2004 and 3 supplementing Ministry of Environment regulations:

1. Minister of Environment Regulation dated 23 April 2004 on an application template for registration of EMAS verifiers, and document templates, form, frequency and time for transferring information from regional register to national register (Dz. U.04.94.930)
2. Minister of Environment Regulation dated 23 April 2004 on the scope of data to be included in the regional register and the application template for registration of organization in a regional register (Dz.U.04.94.931)
3. Minister of Environment Regulation dated 23 April 2004 on coefficients used to differentiate the EMAS registration fees (Dz.U.04.94.932)

Based on New act of Polish Parliament of 9 July 2005 on changes in particular acts regarding tasks and competences of regional authorities (came into force on 01.01.2006), Voivods competences (regarding to registration of organizations in EMAS scheme) has been taken over by Marshals.

EMAS Regulation requires that Member Countries are obligated to establish national unit (so called competent authority) which will be responsible for correct EMAS functioning.

In Poland the above mentioned Act appoints the Minister of Environment as the national EMAS competent body responsible for setting up and administering the scheme, administering environmental verifiers registry as well as mutual cooperation with Polish Center for Accreditation concerning accreditation system. Besides Minister of Environment cooperates with national institutions and organizations related to EMAS system and is responsible for effective exchanging of EMAS system information with European Community and EMAS units.

On behalf of the Minister of Environment, in the regions, the Voivods (regional state administration) operate as competent bodies. Voivods are responsible for analyzing and evaluating EMAS applications of organizations interested in EMAS registration. Also their task is to cooperate with the Minister of Environment in the field of national EMAS system functioning. Voivods through their sub depended environmental departments are better prepared to evaluate weather organizations placed in their region are fulfilling environmental law requirements or the information contained in environmental statements are adequate and reflects real environmental impact.

EMAS concept states that registered organizations are periodically validated by independent environmental verifiers. Their task is to neutrally evaluate EMAS functioning and confirmation of environmental statement data. According to EMAS Regulation, EMAS verifiers shall be environmental specialists with proven knowledge and experience in the field of environmental management systems. Furthermore, environmental verifiers must not be commercially, family nor financially related to verifying organization. They shall evaluate organization activity in honest, objective and independent manner.

Polish Center for Accreditation plays a role of accreditation unit. PCA deals with EMAS environmental verifiers accreditation issues. According to polish law, EMAS verifiers can be both individuals and EMS certifying units as well. PCA task is also registering verifiers accredited by accreditation bodies from other member states. PCA does that through control of foreign verifiers statements on verifying capabilities, knowledge of polish law, etc. PCA operates controlling system of environmental verifiers performance and cooperates with the Minister of Environment on EMAS functioning.

According to Polish Act on Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), the Polish EMAS infrastructure also includes the National Eco-Management Council which is an advisory body to the Minister of Environment. Its task is to promote EMAS, perform the analysis of system operation and provide opinion on legal acts related to EMAS.

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