Methodologies and criteria have been approved for the evaluation of procedures under the priorities "Water", "Waste", "Biological diversity" and "Risk and climate change" for nearly 115 million BGN.

The Managing Authority (MA) of the Program Environment 2021-2027 (PE) conducted the sixth meeting of the Monitoring Committee. Within the framework of the forum, the members approved evaluation methods and criteria according to the procedures planned for 2024, for the priorities "Water", "Waste", "Biological diversity" and "Risk and climate change" in the total value of nearly 115 million BGN.

The committee approved the methodology and evaluation criteria under the procedure "Modernization of the state health control bodies for monitoring the quality of drinking water". As a result of the funding, investments from the 2014-2020 OPE will be built upon by the Ministry of Health, providing the necessary equipment to fulfill the obligations of its structures in respect to water intended for human consumption. The procedure has a budget of 10 million BGN with a project implementation period of 36 months.

In the "Waste" sector, methodologies and criteria were approved under the procedure "Reclamation of regional landfills/cells of regional landfills for household waste - second". The purpose of the investments is the implementation of technical reclamation of filled regional landfills or cells of regional municipal waste landfills with discontinued operation, which must be closed in order to reduce the risk of further environmental pollution and prevent risks to human health. The total budget for the procedure is over 59.7 million BGN, of which a little over 2 million BGN is for the reclamation of regional landfills of municipalities from the South-West planning region. Nearly BGN 57.7 million are intended for the reclamation of regional landfills of municipalities from the North-West, North-Central, North-East, South-East and South-Central planning regions. 

The members of the Monitoring Committee approved methodologies and criteria under the procedure "Completion of the National Water Management System in Real Time for 12 Main Rivers" under Priority 4 "Risk and Climate Change". Nearly 19.6 million BGN will be directed to ensuring the functioning of a national integrated, interdepartmental system for optimizing the operational monitoring and management of water in the Republic of Bulgaria. The system will cover twelve main rivers - Ogosta, Vit, Osam, Yantra, Rusenski Lom, Provadiyska, Kamchia, Tundzha, Maritsa, Arda, Mesta, and Struma. The beneficiary of the procedure is the "Water Management" Directorate at the Ministry of Environment and Water.

Within the "Biological diversity" priority, five procedures will be announced by the end of 2024. "Implementation of measure 68 of the National Framework for Priority Actions for Natura 2000" is aimed at activities to improve the preservation of reptile species. The budget of the procedure is 3 168 444.60 BGN with the Road Infrastructure Agency as an eligible beneficiary.

The members of the committee approved the methodology and evaluation criteria for the procedure "Implementation of measure 70 of the National Framework for Priority Actions for Natura 2000". The aim is to improve the conservation status of the Black Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Crested Eagle and Egyptian Vulture bird species, by feeding them in a total of 15 existing sites in the protected areas. The planned budget is 5 134 053.75 BGN of which 1 026 810.75 BGN is assigned to the Region in transition – the South-West region. Eligible beneficiaries are structures of the MOEW and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, municipalities, regional administrations, non-governmental organizations, as well as natural and legal persons, owners of feeding sites or those who have the consent of the owner to carry out the project activities.

The Monitoring Committee approved the methodology and criteria for evaluation of the procedure "Implementation of measure 74 of the National Framework for Priority Actions for Natura 2000". The investments of 1.45 million BGN aim at improving the conservation status of the 1354 Brown bear species by reducing the human-brown bear conflict and the damage caused by the species. The beneficiary will be the Directorate "National Service for the Protection of Nature" at the MOEW.

In the "Biodiversity" sector, the members of the committee also approved the methodology and evaluation criteria for the procedure "Development/updating of management plans for protected areas". The total budget is 14 million BGN and is aimed at developing and updating Plans for the Management of Protected Areas in accordance with the three main commitments for nature protection from the EU Strategy: protection of at least 30% of land and 30% of marine areas, strict protection of at least 10% of forests, and effective management of all protected areas. Eligible beneficiaries are directorates of nature parks, regional environmental and water inspectorates, regional governments, municipalities, and non-profit legal entities.

The methodology and evaluation criteria for the procedure "Monitoring the population of the brown bear species" were approved. Its aim is to complement and upgrade the monitoring of the brown bear population on the territory of Bulgaria. The total budget of the investment is 1.6 million BGN, with an eligible beneficiary, the Environment Executive Agency.

During the committee meeting, information was presented on the implementation of the Operational Program "Environment 2014-2020". The members of the Monitoring Committee also approved the Draft Amendment to the Indicative Annual Work Program of the PE 2021-2027 for 2024.