The main motivation to undertake the research was the search for tools allowing for the evaluation of government policies in the field of environmental quality. Showing which type of support for certain types of activities or pro-environmental investments may lead to improvement of the quality of the environment can be very important in order to improve the effectiveness of this policy. The aim of this paper is to determine factors shaping the quality of the environment in the regional perspective. The realization of the aim of the publication was preceded by computing composite measures for four dimensions which constitute the quality of the environment, i.e. biodiversity, soil, water and air. The determinants considered in the aim of the study were divided into the groups of technical and financial determinants (expenditures on activities related to the improvement of the environment quality). The analysed territorial units (poviats) were divided into 4 equilateral classes, according to the increasing environmental quality measure. The applied MANOVA analysis proved that between the classes the majority of variables used in the analyses showed the significant differences between classes. However, higher investment and financial outlays were mainly associated with lower quality of the environment with regard to local government policy. On the other hand green schemes of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU seem to contribute to improving the environment.