Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia submitted draft laws to the Government of Russian Federation aimed at developing an environmental impact assessment

Since January 1, 2018, the norms on conducting state ecological expertise (SEE) for the design documentation of facilities related to environmental protection of the first category - large enterprises that have the greatest impact on the environment - come into force. This is reported on the official website of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation.
Currently, the Russian Government has amended the legislation, which provides for a reduction in the duration of the SEE for all facilities from 3 to 2 months, while preserving the possibility of its extension at the customer request. In addition, transitional provisions are established regarding the conduct of the SER for category I facilities. These provisions do not apply to these facilities, if they were put into operation /received a construction permit before January 1, 2018, or until January 1, 2018, they submitted to the town-planning expertise project documentation for construction and reconstruction, as well as to the design documentation of the capital construction of subsoil users, as provided by technical projects for the development of mineral deposits approved before January 1, 2018.
From the objects of the SEE, it is proposed to exclude separate project documentation for boreholes, leaving an environmental review for the field development project as a whole, which removes unnecessary administrative barriers without damage to the environment. The corresponding draft of the Federal Law "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Environmental Expertise" and the Federal Law "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" was developed in pursuance of the instruction of the President of the Russian Federation following the meeting of the State council. Amendments to the legislation are designed to remove uncertainties for business entities during the transition period, as well as unnecessary administrative barriers, including minimizing the terms of the environmental impact assessment.
At present, the Government of the Russian Federation also submitted a draft federal law "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" and other Legislative Acts", which, on the basis of harmonization with the provisions of international law, collectively address the development of national institutions for the environmental assessment of the proposed activity. The draft law provides for strategic environmental assessment of strategic and territorial planning documents. The SEE determines the materials for environmental impact assessment (EIA) (currently, the object of the SEE is the project documentation), which will allow conducting an environmental assessment at an early stage of planning economic activities until the final choice of the location of the facility. The list of SEE objects is being expanded and specified on the basis of the provisions of the Espoo Convention (1991). The EIA procedure, including public discussions, is regulated at the legislative level, which will strengthen its role in making decisions on the implementation of the planned activities.
A number of tasks to improve the SEE procedure were resolved by Federal Law No. 219-FZ of 21.07.2014 "On Amending the Federal Law" On Environmental Protection" and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation." In particular, the list of SEE facilities has been expanded and the terms of its organization and conduct have been reduced by half.
Press Service of MENR RT