March 20, 2024
Penalties for violations of environmental legislation and measures to prevent them.
In recent years, there has been a significant deterioration of the environmental situation in the Republic of Uzbekistan, which is partly explained by an increase in the number of environmental offenses. Air and water pollution, illegal felling of trees and shrubs, violation of hunting and fishing rules are just some of the numerous offenses in the field of ecology. In this regard, amendments have recently been made to the Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Administrative Responsibility and other acts, and a Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On measures to transform the sphere of ecology and environmental protection and the organization of the activities of the authorized state body” was adopted.
Legislation.
The Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Administrative Responsibility (hereinafter referred to as the “Administrative Code”);
The Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 363 “On Environmental Control” dated 12.27.2013;
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 754 “On Nature Protection” dated 09.12.1992;
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 73-II “On Environmental expertise” dated 05.25.2000;
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 362-II “On Waste” dated 04.05.2002;
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No.495 “On Amendments and Additions to certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with increased liability for offenses in the field of environmental protection, rational use of natural resources, including drinking water” dated 10.10.2018;
Presidential Decree No. 81 “On measures to transform the sphere of ecology and environmental protection and the organization of the activities of the authorized State body” dated 05.31.2023;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 216 “On Approval of the Regulations on the Procedure for State Environmental Control” dated 08.05.2014;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 737 “On improving the environmental monitoring system in the Republic of Uzbekistan” dated 05.09.2019;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 80 “Rules of fishing in natural reservoirs of the Republic of Uzbekistan” dated 02.09.2024.
1. The concept of environmental offenses and the responsibility of legal entities and individuals.
An environmental offense is an unlawful culpable act, action or omission that violates the environmental legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It is the basis for criminal, administrative, disciplinary and other liability.[1]
For a culpable act or omission that encroaches on the natural environment, legal entities are mainly brought to administrative responsibility. Administrative responsibility for the commission of such offenses, as a rule, will be borne by officials responsible for compliance with the rules and legal requirements in the field of environmental protection.[2] Thus, in accordance with the Administrative Code, there are the following types of administrative measures for offenses of individuals and officials in the field of ecology, environmental protection and nature management:
- imposition of a fine;
- retaliatory seizure of an object that was the instrument of commission or the direct subject of an administrative offense;
- confiscation of an object that was the instrument of commission or the direct subject of an administrative offense;
- deprivation of a special right granted to this person.
Criminal liability is provided for environmental crimes that have serious consequences or caused major damage. Crimes such as violation of the rules for the treatment of harmful chemicals, violation of the conditions for the use of waters and reservoirs, as well as environmental pollution, which caused massive human disease and death of animals, or other serious consequences, etc. are classified as environmental crimes in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Penalties are fines (the maximum amount of which is 600 amounts of the Basic Calculated Value – BCV. At the time of writing of this memorandum 1 amount of BCV is equal to 340 000 soums), deprivation of a certain right, compulsory community service, correctional labor, restriction of liberty (up to a maximum of three years) and imprisonment (up to a maximum of 5 years).
The table shows the types of administrative offenses in accordance with the Administrative Code (Chapter 8 “Administrative responsibility for offenses in the field of ecology, environmental protection and nature management”).
2. Types of environmental offenses.
Violations for which administrative fines are provided can be conditionally divided into four categories:
- violation of basic environmental requirements (for example, submission of unreliable environmental reports);
- violation of general provisions on environmental protection (atmospheric air, waters, forests, etc.);
- violation of provisions on specially protected areas (for example, nature reserves);
- violation of environmental requirements for economic activity.
Thus, according to the Law “On Nature Protection”, disciplinary, administrative, criminal and other liability is provided for the following types of offenses:
– violation of standards, norms, rules and other regulatory and technical requirements for nature protection, including violation of the established ecological capacity of the territory, environmental norms, rules during planning, construction, reconstruction, operation or liquidation of enterprises, structures, vehicles and other facilities, export, import of environmentally hazardous products;
– unauthorized use of natural resources, failure to comply with the requirements of the state environmental assessment;
– refusal to pay the prescribed fee for the use of natural resources, as well as compensation payments for environmental pollution and other types of harmful effects on it;
– non-fulfillment of plans for the construction of environmental protection facilities and other nature protection measures;
– failure to take measures to restore the natural environment, eliminate the consequences of harmful effects on it and reproduce natural resources;
– failure to comply with the instructions of the bodies exercising state control and supervision of nature protection;
– violation of the legal regime of nature protection facilities and protected natural areas;
– violation of the rules of accounting for harmful effects on the environment;
– violation of environmental requirements during storage, transportation, use, neutralization and disposal of waste, chemicals, as well as radioactive and harmful chemicals;
– preventing officials exercising state control and supervision in the field of environmental protection from visiting facilities, and individuals and public environmental organizations from exercising their rights and obligations;
– refusal to provide timely and reliable information about the state of the natural environment and the use of its resources etc.
Enterprises, institutions, organizations and individuals who have caused harm to the environment are obliged to compensate for it, including lost profits, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In addition, enterprises, institutions, organizations and individuals are subject to increased taxation for irrational special environmental management, excessive and unlimited emissions and discharges of pollutants into the environment and waste disposal.
3. Environmental control.
In order to prevent, identify and suppress the above-mentioned offenses, specially authorized state bodies and local public authorities have the right to carry out environmental control. Their responsibilities include checking compliance by legal entities and individuals with the requirements of legislation in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources, the implementation of state and other environmental programs and environmental monitoring.
The forms of implementation of environmental control are:
- issuing an order to a legal entity or individual to eliminate violations of the requirements of legislation in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources;
- adoption of a decision by a specially authorized state body, a local government body on the restriction and suspension of the activities of enterprises, organizations, structures and other facilities for a period of no more than ten working days in order to prevent the occurrence of emergencies, epidemics and threats to the life and health of the population in connection with excess pollution of the environment;
- an appeal to the court of a specially authorized state body, a local government body with an application for restriction, suspension, termination and (or) re-profiling of the activities of enterprises, organizations, structures and other objects that have a harmful effect on the environment, as well as compensation for damage caused to the environment, life and health of citizens;
- sending by specially authorized state bodies, local public authorities to law enforcement agencies material on bringing to justice persons who violated the requirements of legislation in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources;
- informing specially authorized state bodies, local public authorities and citizens about the results of public environmental control;
- making proposals to the relevant state bodies to take measures on the revealed fact of violation of the requirements of legislation in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources, etc.
Specially authorized state bodies in the field of environmental control include:
– The State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Ecology and Environmental Protection;
– Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan
– State Committee for Industrial Safety of the Republic of Uzbekistan
– Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan
– Ministry of Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan
– Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan
– Agency for Quarantine and Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan
– Committee of Veterinary Medicine and Livestock Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The scheme of environmental control is shown in the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, dated 08/05/2014 No. 216 “On Approval of the Regulations on the procedure for State Environmental control.
In order to carry out their functions, specialized bodies have the right to visit enterprises, organizations, institutions, facilities of legal entities and individuals in accordance with the established procedure to carry out environmental control; to make claims to legal entities and individuals for compensation for damage caused to the environment, life and health of citizens; to send materials to law enforcement agencies on punishing individuals who violated the requirements of legislation in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources; to require the heads of legal entities to create points (posts) at subordinate facilities equipped with means of continuous monitoring of emissions (discharges) of pollutants into the environment; to request and, free of charge, in accordance with the established procedure and forms, to receive from legal entities and individuals the necessary information and explanations related to nature protection and the use of natural resources.
But at the same time, mentioned above bodies should not create obstacles to the functioning of economic entities. The procedure for conducting state environmental control is explained in the Regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 216 dated 05.08.2014 (paragraphs 34-42).
4. Environmental assessment
Another method of preventing environmental offenses is to conduct an environmental assessment. An environmental assessment is carried out to determine compliance with the environmental requirements of economic activity before making a decision on its implementation, if it can have or has a negative impact on the state of the environment and the health of citizens. A specially authorized body in this procedure is the State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection.
Environmental expertise is carried out in the form of state and public environmental expertise, as well as environmental audit.
The state environmental expertise is carried out by specialized expert units of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Ecology and Environmental Protection, the Committee of the Republic of Karakalpakstan on Ecology and Environmental Protection, the departments of ecology and environmental protection of the regions and Tashkent. While public environmental assessment is initiated by non-governmental non-profit organizations and citizens in any field of activity that needs environmental justification. However, the conclusion of the public environmental assessment is advisory in nature.
5. The rights and obligations of business entities.
In order to protect the environment, business entities are obliged to:
- comply with environmental legislation;
- monitor the state of the environment and situations that may lead to environmental pollution and the irrational use of natural resources to endanger the life and health of citizens;
- develop and comply with environmental regulations governing the maximum permissible environmental impact;
- eliminate the fact of violation of legislation in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources identified during environmental control.
In particular, economic entities with high and medium risk of environmental impact, whose activities lead or may lead to deterioration of the state of the environment, necessarily carry out industrial monitoring of the environment.[3]
Since one of the most relevant topics today is waste management, let’s take an example of the rights and obligations of legal entities in accordance with the Law “On Waste”.
The legislation of Uzbekistan provides for the following rights of legal entities in this area:
– The right to receive information on sanitary standards and regulations from authorized state bodies;
– The right to store waste at accommodation facilities in accordance with sanitary standards;
– The right to submit proposals on the placement, design of construction, as well as the operation of waste management facilities to authorized state bodies, as well as local authorities;
– The right to participate in the development of state waste management programs;
– The right to compensation for damage caused by other persons as a result of waste management.
The duties of legal entities include compliance with sanitary norms and rules, regulations, waste accounting, development of draft waste generation standards, as well as determining the degree of danger of waste to the life and health of the population, as well as compensation for damage caused to the life, health and property of citizens, the environment, and legal entities as a result of waste management.[4]
6. What measures have been taken in recent years in the Republic to reduce the level of environmental crime?
The identification and prevention of violations in the field of nature protection is one of the most urgent problems in connection with the deterioration of the environment, which has an impact on the health of millions of people. In order to reduce the crime rate in this area, a presidential decree was adopted “On measures to transform the sphere of ecology and environmental protection and the organization of the activities of an authorized state body.”
In accordance with this resolution:
The amount of administrative fines for environmental offenses has been increased. For example, for violating the requirements of nature protection in the process of collection, transportation, placement, disinfection, storage, disposal, processing and sale of industrial, household and other waste, as well as for the release of solid household and construction waste in unidentified places and the discharge of liquid household waste – the size of fines increased 10 times. At the same time, financial sanctions will be applied to legal entities in an additional manner in the amount of 100 to 300 amounts of the BCV.
The amount of administrative fines for violating the requirements of the imposed moratorium on cutting down valuable species of trees and shrubs not included in the state forest fund has been increased by 5 times. At the same time, the establishment of an additional obligation to plant compensation tree seedlings instead of an illegally felled tree in the exact place where the felled tree sprouted, as well as financial sanctions in the amount of 100 to 300 amounts of the BCV may additionally be applied to legal entities.
Crimes related to damage to the environment and the environment, destruction or damage to objects of flora and fauna will be classified as serious crimes.
Separate administrative and criminal liability for illegal provision and use of land will be introduced for the forest fund.
Since July 1, 2023, the “Public Environmental Controller” system has been implemented. Public environmental supervisors are required to ensure transparency, combat corruption, and objectively prepare reliable data in the process of identifying and registering offenses.
The position of Deputy Prosecutor General responsible for compliance and supervision of the implementation of legislation in the field of ecology, environmental protection and forestry has been introduced..
Also, the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers (No. 80 dated 02/09/2024) approved the Rules of fishing in natural reservoirs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, mandatory for legal entities and individuals operating in natural reservoirs. Fishing is now prohibited in certain periods as well as the use of certain fishing equipment.
Thus, the latest trend can be considered the beginning of active attempts on the part of the state to reduce the crime rate in the field of environmental offenses in connection with the increased public attention to environmental problems in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
[1] Article 47 of the Law “On Nature Protection”
[2] An official is a person holding a position in an enterprise, institution, organization, regardless of the form of ownership, if he is entrusted with managerial, organizational, distributive, control and supervisory functions or duties related to the movement of material assets.
[3] https://lex.uz/ru/docs/4502814 – Industrial monitoring consists of monitoring the volume of emissions (discharges) of pollutants at pollution sources, as well as in settlements adjacent to them.
[4] For more information, see article 15 of the law “On Waste” /lex.uz/
