Abstract
The paper deals with the role of municipalities as basic territorial self-governance units, which also includes activities towards environmental protection. Environmental protection as a public interest is primarily represented and promoted by the State.
Despite this fact the role of municipalities (as well as regions on the upper level) is irreplaceable especially when regulating activities of individuals (natural persons). The article describes the role of a municipality in the area of land-use-plan-ning that is understood as a basic horizontal instrument of environmental protection.
Further, regulatory scheme for municipal waste management is discussed as this is probably an area with the highest involvement of a municipality. Finally attention is paid to air pollution prevention on the municipal level.