Czech firms to pay more for air pollution

The lower house of Czech parliament on Wednesday passed a bill under which the fees firms are charged for air pollution will be gradually raised until 2021. The lower house originally agreed to cancel the fees completely within 10 years, but the upper house rejected it and returned the bill to the lower house in a modified version, similar to the original proposal prepared by Environment Minister Tomas Chalupa (Civic Democrats, ODS). Chalupa said the fees would motivate companies to introduce cleaner technologies and help improve air quality.