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Legislation and Procedures
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A. Legislation and Procedures
In the context of this review, environmental assessment is the general term describing the whole process of systematic analysis and assessment of potential impacts of the planned activities on the environment carried out prior to a decision of development consent being granted. In spite of the fact that environmental assessment in the Russian Federation includes a number of elements present in the environmental assessment systems of the other countries, it has its own clearly defined components. In particular, there are two basic subsystems: environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental review (ER). Environmental assessment is part of and functions as a component of the more general system of environmental protection along with such important subsystems as environmental control and environmental monitoring.
The present-day Russian legislation, which regulates the environmental assessment procedures, is based on the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection” (2002) and the Federal Law “On Environmental Review” (1995).
A major principle established by the Russian legislation is the presumption of potential environmental hazard of any planned activity. Therefore in Russia, environmental impact assessment is a mandatory requirement for all kinds of planned economic activities or some other types of activities, which in case of realization can have an adverse impact on the environment.
The EIA procedure is regulated by the Provisions on environmental impact assessment of the planned economic activities and other types of activities in the Russian Federation, approved by Order No. 372 of the State Committee for Environment of the Russian Federation of May 16, 2000 and registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (Reg. No. 2302 of July 4, 2000).
In addition to the above-mentioned laws, the state environmental review procedure is regulated by the following normative documents:
- The provisions on the procedure for state environmental review approved by the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 698 of June 11, 1996.
- Regulations for state environmental review approved by Order No. 280 of the State Committee for the Environment of the Russian Federation of June 17, 1997 and registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (Reg. No. 1359 of July 28, 1997).
- The provisions on the procedure for rating of the state environmental review approved by Order No. 238 of the State Committee for the Environment of the Russian Federation of April 22, 1998 and registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (Reg. No. 1533 of June 1, 1998).
The procedure for public environmental review is regulated by the Federal Law entitled “On Environmental Review”.
The mandatory list of documents and kinds of activities (projects) which always require environmental review are established by the Federal Law entitled “On Environmental Review”. It includes, for example:
- Draft laws and draft normative documents, including drafts of international agreements;
- Territory development programmes;
- Project documentation on any kind of economic activity, and;
- Documentation on the other kinds of activity, which in case of realization can have direct or indirect effects on the environment.
The content and extent of the information of the EIA documentation and the level of the state environmental review depend upon the complexity, potential hazard, degree and the scale of possible effects.
The process of environmental assessment consists of the following stages: (i) EIA conducted by the developer of the project and preparation of documentation providing the rationale for the planned project, including the results of the EIA; (ii) state environmental review of the project documentation providing the rationale for the planned activity, including the results of the EIA materials (the state environmental review is conducted by the Agency of the state environmental expertise). In addition, public environmental review of the project documentation can be conducted upon the request of the general public; and, (iii) finally, the approval of the decision of the commission of the experts of state environmental expertise, which is taken by the Competent Authority. After that the document sets out the conclusion of state environmental expertise, the conclusion is mandatory for the developer of the project and the other participants of decision-making process (see Annex 1).
Environmental impact assessment is carried out at the expense of the project initiator (the developer, who carries out studies to collect the environmental information).
The State environmental review is carried out subject to prepayment, which is made by the customer of the environmental information. The scope and procedure of the state environmental review are established by the specially authorized state agency of environmental expertise (Article 14 of the Federal Law “On Environmental Review”). Budget financing is provided only for remuneration of the staff labour.
Strategic environmental assessment is the process of analysis, assessment and consideration of possible adverse environmental and social implications of the planned strategies (policies), plans or programmes before a decision is made on consent to develop. It is carried out in compliance with the Federal Law “On Environmental Review”. It implies the environmental review of the projects on a strategic level (plans, projects, programmes) as well as the draft laws and the other normative and legal acts.
