Environmental supervision - this is the functioning of bodies in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation aimed at searching, preventing, suppressing any violations by individuals, bodies of different levels of government, as well as other persons or citizens, as well as their compliance with the requirements established by international treaties, Russian standards and federal laws. Also, this term refers to actions taken by authorized bodies to verify the implementation by various enterprises and companies, individual entrepreneurs, citizens of those requirements relating to the protection of nature.
Subdivision
State environmental supervision functions as part of preventive and ongoing supervision. It is divided into general, which is implemented by the Government and the President of the Russian Federation, as well as special, implemented by the executive authorities of the Russian Federation and constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Tasks
Preventive environmental supervision is aimed at preventing industrial activities that could adversely affect the environment. It is implemented at the design or planning stage of the project, its implementation, as well as at the commissioning of economic facilities in various ways in direct operation.
Among the main tasks that environmental monitoring implements, it is necessary to highlight the following points:
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official environmental impact assessment;
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coordination of planned activities with environmental authorities;
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issuance of conclusions and permits for projects.
The last area of activity is indicated, in particular, in Art. 50 of the Fisheries Act. It is supposed to carry out activities on the planning of the territory, zoning during urban development activities.
Also, preventive environmental supervision controls architectural and construction design, overhaul of various facilities, the introduction of innovative technological processes associated with the use of water resources. The activity of this body requires coordination with the federal executive authority in the field of fisheries.
Features of ongoing environmental oversight
It is carried out at the stage of operation of various enterprises and other facilities by special federal bodies vested with authority. For example, on the basis of Art. 10 of the Law on the destruction of chemical weapons, control and supervision is carried out for the safe conduct of work on the transportation, storage, and also destruction of chemical weapons.
The Environmental Supervision Service monitors the state of the environment at those facilities that are directly related to chemical weapons. This body analyzes the state of the environment along the entire route for transporting chemical weapons.
Activities
Environmental supervision in our country carries out the following areas:
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monitoring the state of wildlife: agricultural and other lands, waters, forests, wildlife, atmospheric air, bowels;
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supervision of the state of wildlife located in specially protected natural areas, the continental shelf, and inland sea waters;
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monitoring compliance with environmental requirements in industry, waste management, assessment of the radiation situation.
The state environmental supervision is organized taking into account the categories of economic, as well as other activities that are carried out by legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, ordinary citizens, taking into account those violationsthat are capable of causing serious damage to the environment.
Features
The environmental oversight service has some distinctive characteristics. The first feature is that such an activity applies to all natural objects, their condition, the activities of any nature users, regardless of ownership or subordination.
Federal State Environmental Supervision does not have closed zones. According to Art. 66 of the Federal Law "On OS Protection", state inspectors have the right to conduct environmental monitoring at defense facilities, which are also subject to state protection.
The second feature is the content of administrative coercive measures that are applied by state inspectors, as well as by judicial authorities, to violators of Russian environmental legislation.
Among those measures that can be applied to individual entrepreneurs, large organizations, we highlight a warning, penalties, suspension of activities, as well as issuing orders to eliminate violations. The organization of environmental supervision is carried out on the basis of current legislation.
Important points
Domestic legislation provides for certain guarantees for the interests of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs against arbitrariness by environmental state inspectors by clarifying mutual obligations, rights, responsibilities, developing legal procedures for control and supervision.
For example, such guarantees are provided for by Federal Law No. 294, which is aimed at protecting the rights of individuals and legal entities in the conduct of municipal and state supervision (control). In particular, the said law establishes the presumption of good faith of individual entrepreneurs, legal entities, the implementation of inspections in full compliance with the powers of supervisory authorities.
Ecological atomic supervision implies the inadmissibility of conducting simultaneous inspections of similar content in relation to one entrepreneur or legal entity.
Among the mandatory elements that relate to scheduled inspections, it is necessary to highlight compliance with their frequency, as well as the openness of the results.
Rights of individual entrepreneurs and legal entities
They are fixed at the legislative level. Among them are the following points:
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the possibility of presence during the audit;
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the right to provide clarification on controversial issues regarding the subject of verification;
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access to the results of investigations;
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the opportunity to express consent (disagreement) with the materials specified in the act;
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the right to appeal the action (inaction) of an official of the control body in full compliance with the legislation in force in the Russian Federation;
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the right to compensation for material damage caused to the individual entrepreneur or legal entity within the framework of the state supervision, including compensation for lost profits from the state budget.
All objects of environmental supervision in respect of which various measures are carried out, in addition to rights, are also vested with certain responsibilities. For example, in the framework of inspections, legal entities must ensure the presence of senior officials, and individual entrepreneurs must personally be present during all events or guarantee the presence of persons authorized by them.
If on their part there will be unreasonable obstacles in conducting an inspection, as well as attempts to evade the fulfillment of the requirements of the supervisory authorities within the indicated period, the environmental, technological supervision department has the right to impose liability on the individual entrepreneur or legal entity within the framework of the legislation in force in the Russian Federation.
Rights and obligations of environmental inspectors
All rights and obligations, as well as the responsibility of inspectors in the field of OS protection, are noted in Article 66 RF Law “On the Environment”.
The objects of federal environmental supervision are defined in a special list established by resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation (No. 285).
Among the rights of state inspectors, whose responsibilities include environmental control, we highlight:
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Make a request and receive on the basis of written motivated requests from local authorities, state authorities, legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, citizens, documents and information that are needed to carry out the audit.
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Without obstructing the demonstration of an official certificate and a copy of the order (order) of the head of the supervisory state body on the inspection, visit the treatment facilities, inspect other technical and vehicles, equipment and materials, carry out tests, studies, examinations, as well as other measures within the control.
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Issue instructions to legal entities and legal entities on the elimination of violations found, on measures to prevent emergencies of a man-made and natural nature.
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Draw up a protocol on an administrative offense, which concerns a violation of mandatory requirements, take effective measures to prevent such actions.
The specifics of nuclear environmental supervision
Rostekhnadzor is a federal executive body that carries out functions on the adoption of various legal regulations, supervision and control in the field of OS protection, safety of thermal and electric networks and installations, industrial safety.
This agency for environmental, technological and nuclear supervision monitors the safety of the use of atomic energy in industrial volumes.
The purpose of Rostechnadzor
This service is a body of state safety regulation in the use of atomic energy. It is Rostekhnadzor that exercises supervision in the field of industrial safety. Among the main powers vested in this body, we highlight:
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observance of rules and norms in the field of atomic energy use, as well as supervision of the conditions of validity of licenses for the right to use it;
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monitoring compliance with industrial safety requirements during construction, design, conservation, operation, liquidation of hazardous production facilities.
It is this service that ensures the safe conduct of work that is associated with the subsoil, monitors fire safety requirements during blasting operations. State environmental supervision oversees compliance with domestic legislation in the field of environmental protection in the field of atmospheric air, waste management. Specialists of this department monitor the readiness of the VGSO for timely liquidation of accidents during mining operations.
The functioning of Rostekhnadzor
This federal agency monitors the operation of nuclear facilities, especially the handling of radioactive substances, verifies compliance with the rules for the storage of radioactive waste.
Rostekhnadzor is also responsible for monitoring the operation of hazardous chemical production facilities, as well as explosive enterprises. There are other powers that relate to supervision and control in the environmental sphere of activity.
Rostechnadzor has the right to issue the following licenses:
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to conduct activities in the field of atomic energy use;
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on the use of specific types on HMO;
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on the use of supervised hydraulic structures;
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on discharges and emissions of polluting substances into the environment, as well as on physical harmful effects on atmospheric air;
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on the use of explosive materials of an industrial nature, as well as on the implementation of work with them.
To summarize
Currently, environmental issues are particularly important and relevant.In order to protect humanity from various industrial facilities, special oversight bodies function.
Environmental oversight services not only control the work of individual entrepreneurs and legal entities, but also determine the requirements within the powers granted to them by the legislation of the Russian Federation.