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State of Environmental Review
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F. State environmental review
Later on the materials of the environmental impact assessment are submitted to state environmental review as the part of project materials (rationale documentation). In the process of state environmental review, the specially authorized state structure – the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation – determines the compliance of the suggested solutions with the environmental, normative and legal requirements.
Interaction with other subdivisions of the Ministry is carried out in line with the relevant regulations in order to manage and conduct the state environmental review.
The procedure for the state environmental review is as follows:
- The developer submits the agreed rationale documentation to the specially authorized competent environmental authority (hereinafter referred to as the specially authorized competent authority) for the environmental review;
- The specialized expert unit of the specially authorized competent authority specifies the cost, the time period for the state environmental review and sets up the commission of experts consisting of independent experts;
- The commission of experts considers the submitted documentation with due regard to the results of the public environmental review (in the case that it was undertaken) and issues the expert conclusion, which identifies the compliance of the planned economic and other activity with the environmental requirements and the permissibility of project realization taking into account all possible adverse environmental effects and the related social, economic and other implications;
- The conclusion of the commission of experts is approved by the specially authorized competent authority. After that the document sets out the conclusion of state environmental expertise;
- The conclusion of the state environmental expertise is presented to the project initiator and to the corresponding territorial authority of specially authorized competent authority in order to conduct control of the project realization in the respective territory.
The conclusion of the state environmental expertise can be contested only judicially. In the event that a court takes the decision about a second state environmental review it is not established by legislation in force that the review is to be conducted by the third party. At the same time in 2002, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation established the forensic environmental expertise subdivision. However, this public institution is still not functioning in the absence of normative documents establishing the procedure of such review and the status of the rendered conclusion.
In the process of the state environmental review the experts of the commission of experts of the state environmental review are guided by all legal, normative, instructive and methodological documents, which establish environmental, technical, economic, health and other requirements to the planned activity.
At the federal level the terms of the state environmental review make up as a rule from 1 to 4 months, but cannot be longer than 6 months; at the territorial level they make up from 2 weeks to 3 months.
A positive conclusion of the state environmental review becomes legally invalid in the event that:
- Revision of the object of the state environmental review in view of critical remarks made as a result of the state environmental review conducted earlier;
- Modification of the terms of nature management by specially authorized state environmental authorities;
- Realization of the object of the state environmental review with deviations from the documentation which was the basis for the earlier positive conclusion obtained from the state environmental review and (or) in the event of introduction of changes to the above-mentioned documentation;
- Expiration of the positive conclusion of state environmental review;
- Introduction of changes to the project documentation and any other documents after receiving of a positive conclusion from the state environmental review.
The legal implication of a negative conclusion of the state environmental review is the prohibition of realization of the project.
In the case of a negative conclusion of the state environmental review the initiator has the right to submit materials for a second state environmental review subject to the revision of the materials taking into account criticism stated in the given negative conclusion.
Non-observance of the requirement for mandatory state environmental review of the project of international agreement is grounds to declare it invalid.
The conclusions of the state environmental review as for the draft normative and legal acts of the Russian Federation and normative and legal acts of the constituents of the Russian Federation are considered by public authorities responsible for adoption of these acts.
