Work on the draft special act on assistance to those affected by “Clean Air” may be completed quickly; maybe it will be adopted by the government within a month – according to the statement of Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska. She estimated that this would be possible as long as there were no “major comments” on the project.
During a press conference on Tuesday, the minister reminded that the ministry is working on a draft special act that is intended to help beneficiaries harmed by the “Clean Air” program. It is intended to withhold receivables from injured parties and allow for the recovery of money from dishonest contractors.
Special act for victims of fraud in “Clean Air”
When asked when the project would be adopted by the government and sent to the Sejm, Hennig-Kloska said that it would happen “as soon as possible”, but it also depended on further comments in the inter-ministerial arrangements for the project. She emphasized that she wanted the government to adopt the draft regulations “within perhaps a month.”
I believe it will be sooner rather than later. (…) If there are no major comments during the consultations and further arrangements, we can actually finish working on this document quite quickly. Because – as to the need for it to be carried out by the Council of Ministers and the Parliament – I don't think anyone has the slightest doubt – said Hennig-Kloska.
She also pointed out that after the first inter-ministerial arrangements, many comments were received and they were taken into account. She added that last week she discussed them with one of the ministry's departments, after which the draft bill was sent back for inter-ministerial consultations so that all ministries could become familiar with the introduced changes.
– I hope that we will soon complete the negotiation stages and the act will be available for consultation. This is an extremely important act and I asked for work on this document to be accelerated – emphasized the head of the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
When asked whether the aid regulations would come into force in the first half of 2026, she said that “it would be good if this happened” because the act was very necessary.
Important news for beneficiaries with problems
Hennig-Kloska also said that the costs of assistance resulting from the provisions of the Special Act were estimated by the ministry at a maximum of PLN 400 million, and the provisions should cover several thousand households.
The Minister also said that currently the Clean Air program is safe for beneficiaries and public finances, and the backlog in processing payment applications has been practically eliminated. – We have introduced many, many safeguards to protect beneficiaries – she said.
As she pointed out, in the last two years the ministry has been carrying out corrective actions to the program, which previously – in her opinion – was exposed to abuse and fraud. The Minister recalled numerous cases of fraud in which beneficiaries were harmed by dishonest contractors, which resulted in unrealized investments and financial losses.
Hennig-Kloska drew attention to the changes introduced in 2022-2023, which – according to the current management of the ministry – led to the “untightening” of the program. Among them she mentioned, among others: the introduction of a pre-financing mechanism without appropriate security and the abolition of unit cost limits, which was supposed to contribute to inflating the prices of services and materials.
The head of the Ministry of Climate reminded that in November 2024 the program was temporarily suspended and thoroughly rebuilt, and then resumed in 2025 under new rules. – We then decided that it was impossible to replace wheels in a moving car, and that the program needed to be completely overhauled – she emphasized.
Payments from “Clean Air” are already being made on an ongoing basis
She also emphasized that one of the key effects of the changes is the streamlining of the application handling process. – However, today I can also boast of good news that we have “dequeued” the so-called payment applications. Do you remember that we often participate in parliamentary environmental protection committees? We talked about queues in processing payment applications. They actually took place because we looked at every invoice and every zloty, sometimes three times, asking about individual items of contractors or beneficiaries, said Hennig-Kloska.
She assured that currently both new applications for funding and payments are processed on an ongoing basis.
As he informed in mid-February this year. Deputy Minister of Climate Krzysztof Bolesta, the purpose of the proposed act is to help people harmed by dishonest contractors in the “Clean Air” program, i.e. owners of single-family houses who made advance payments to dishonest contractors for the implementation of, for example, thermal modernization, which was not carried out or settled due to the contractor's fault.
Currently, the provincial funds for environmental protection and water management (wfośigw) must, in accordance with the law, claim reimbursement of the advance payments granted from such injured persons.
Aid project for those affected by “Clean Air”
After the introduction of the regulations, in order to suspend the repayment of receivables, the beneficiaries of the program will have to submit an application to the prosecutor's office and the provincial fund to suspend the repayment of liabilities, at the same time authorizing it to pursue these claims from the investment contractor. Bolesta announced that if the court's decision is positive for the beneficiary, the liability will be removed and he will not have to return any money. Then the provincial fund will claim the money due to it from the contractor.
PAP informed in November 2025 that work on the draft law on assistance to those affected by the program was underway. In December last year. the list of legislative works of the government published information about work on this project, at the same time indicating that it would be adopted by the government in the first quarter of 2026.
On Tuesday, the Central Anticorruption Bureau secured documents regarding the Clean Air program in several offices. The officers were, among others: in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and 16 provincial funds. The investigation into this case is being conducted by the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
Marek Pogorzelski, spokesman for the Ministry of Climate, informed that CBA officers requested documents regarding the Clean Air program from June 1, 2021. He assured that both the ministry, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and provincial funds are cooperating with the prosecutor's office and the services, and all documents expected by the services will be provided. The Minister of Climate also informed on Tuesday during the conference that the ministry would cooperate with the relevant services. – We will diligently provide the officers with all necessary documents in order to reliably assess everything that has happened in the Clean Air program since the beginning of 2021 – she emphasized.
From the “Clean Air” program, owners of single-family houses can receive subsidies for replacing old furnaces with more ecological ones, e.g. heat pumps (currently, support for the purchase of gas furnaces cannot be obtained), as well as for the thermal modernization of the building. Since April last year mandatory in the program is an energy audit before the investment, and after it – an energy performance certificate of the building, which shows how thermal modernization has contributed, for example, to reducing heat consumption.
Since September 2018, over 1 million applications have been submitted to the program (this number also includes applications rejected or withdrawn during the evaluation) for over PLN 41 billion in funding. (PAP)
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