Environmental Burden

An environmental burden (environmentálna záťaž) is pollution of an area caused by human activity that poses a serious risk to human health or to the ground, groundwater and soil. The geological act, act 569/2007 Z. z., gives this definition (§ 3 písm. t). It also defines a probable environmental burden as an area where such a burden is reasonably expected (§ 3 písm. u).

What is an environmental burden on a plot?

Act 409/2011 Z. z. on measures in the field of environmental burdens sets the procedure. Identification is the set of activities that recognise a burden. It includes classification and the completion of a registration sheet (registračný list), whose content is set in annex 1 (§ 2 ods. 1). Classification is a risk assessment that ranks burdens by urgency (§ 2 ods. 2). The ministry ranks a burden as low, medium or high priority for remediation (§ 2 ods. 7).

Anyone who suspects a burden may report it to the Ministry of the Environment or to the district office in the seat of the region (§ 2 ods. 3). When identification ends, the ministry has the burden entered in the informačný systém environmentálnych záťaží (§ 2 ods. 8). The geological act makes this a public administration information system that the ministry manages (§ 20a ods. 1 and 2).

How do you check whether a plot is in the register?

Use the public view of the information system at envirozataze.enviroportal.sk. It lists three registers: A for a probable environmental burden, B for a confirmed burden and C for a remediated or reclaimed site. You can filter by region, district, municipality and locality, or search on a map. The ministry makes the data public except for data on probable burdens (§ 20a ods. 2), so a probable burden may not show in detail.

• Look up the plot by municipality and locality, or on the map.
• Ask the seller whether the seller is an originator or an obliged person of a burden on the plot.
• Ask the district office in the seat of the region about proceedings that name an obliged person.
• Ask for the decision that ends a remediation plan, if one exists. It sets conditions for further use of the property (§ 9 ods. 3). The district office also sends it for an update of the cadastre entry (§ 9 ods. 4).

Include the plot in your wider site due diligence, so that the burden check sits next to the title and boundary checks.

How does the identification process run step by step?

The act sets a sequence, and the time limits below are those written into the text.

Step	What happens	Act 409/2011
Notice of suspicion	Anyone may report a suspected burden in writing, electronically or orally, using the model in annex 2	§ 2 ods. 3 and 4
Completeness check	If the notice is incomplete, the ministry asks the notifier to complete it, and the notifier has 30 days from delivery of the request	§ 2 ods. 5
Ministry's own check	Within 30 days of a complete notice, the ministry reviews the documents and inspects the site	§ 2 ods. 6
Registration and classification	The registration sheet is completed and the burden is ranked low, medium or high priority	§ 2 ods. 7
Entry in the information system	The ministry has the burden entered once identification ends	§ 2 ods. 8

Who is responsible for cleaning up an environmental burden?

The originator (pôvodca) is responsible. An originator is anyone whose activity caused the burden. The originator must arrange the preparation and carrying out of a plan of works (plán prác) and must pay all related costs (§ 3 ods. 1 to 3). There are two exceptions to who counts as an originator. One is where the state committed to remediate the burden by a contract made before the act took effect or by a government decision. The other is where the burden arose from waste deposited under a valid permit.

The duty moves to an obliged person (povinná osoba) in other cases. If the originator has ceased to exist or died, the district office names its legal successor, and an heir does not count as a legal successor (§ 4 ods. 1 and 2). If the originator is unknown, or no obliged person can be named under § 4 ods. 1, the district office names the owner of the property (§ 4 ods. 3). An owner cannot be named if the owner proves one of three grounds, shown in the table.

Situation	Who carries the duty	Act 409/2011
The originator is known and exists	The originator	§ 3 ods. 1 to 3
The originator ceased to exist or died	Its legal successor, named by the district office	§ 4 ods. 1
The originator is unknown, or no obliged person can be named under § 4 ods. 1	The owner of the property	§ 4 ods. 3
The owner inherited the property and did not continue the harmful activity	Cannot be named, if the owner proves it	§ 4 ods. 5 písm. a)
The owner did not continue the activity and could not know of the burden when acquiring the property	Cannot be named, if the owner proves it	§ 4 ods. 5 písm. b)
The owner continued the activity but did not damage rock, groundwater, soil or human health	Cannot be named, if the owner proves it	§ 4 ods. 5 písm. c)
Several owners are named	Shared by the size of the co-ownership share	§ 6 ods. 3
Obliged persons include an owner and a non-owner, under § 4 ods. 1	Jointly and severally	§ 6 ods. 4

The plan of works goes to the district office for approval. For a burden of high priority the deadline is one year, and for medium or low priority it is five years, counted from the legal force of the relevant decision. The ministry may extend the deadlines in justified cases (§ 8 ods. 1 and 2). The district office checks the work at least once a year (§ 8 ods. 9). If the originator or obliged person does not act, the responsible ministry arranges the work from public funds only where a burden directly endangers life, health or the environment, and the person must repay it within one year (§ 3 ods. 4, § 4 ods. 7).

What does selling an affected plot require?

If the originator or obliged person also owns the property, that person may transfer it only after arranging a geological survey of the environment (geologický prieskum životného prostredia) for the property. The final report of that survey is part of the transfer contract. The originator or obliged person must also notify every transfer in writing to the district office in the seat of the region and send the contract with it (§ 7).

A transfer made against § 7, or a missing notice, is a misdemeanour with a fine from 700 to 20,000 euro (§ 16 ods. 1 písm. c, ods. 4). A buyer should ask for the survey report before signing and should have a lawyer review the contract wording.

How does the Building Act treat a burdened site?

Article I of the Building Act, act 25/2025 Z. z. (Stavebný zákon), has applied since 1 April 2025. The consolidated text in force from 1 November 2025 to 31 December 2026 mentions environmental burdens in one place. The designer is responsible for designing the building with regard to the existence of an environmental burden and the state of its removal (§ 35 ods. 6 písm. h). The geological act adds that planning authorities proceed in line with geological results on environmental burdens (§ 20 ods. 1). A burdened plot therefore changes the brief from the first sketch. See the Building Act entry for the procedure.

What are the common misconceptions about environmental burdens?

• A register entry makes a plot unbuildable. Neither act 409/2011 nor the text of act 25/2025 that I read contains a general ban. The design must take the burden into account, and the decision that ends a remediation plan sets conditions for further use (§ 9 ods. 3).
• A buyer inherits the originator's duty. The duty lies with the originator. An owner is named only when the originator is unknown or no obliged person can be named under § 4 ods. 1 (§ 4 ods. 3). Even then an owner who could not know of the burden at purchase and did not continue the activity cannot be named, if the owner proves it (§ 4 ods. 5 písm. b).
• Contamination equals an environmental burden. The act defines a burden as pollution that poses a serious risk (geological act § 3 písm. t). Pollution that nobody has identified is not yet in the register.