The plot of the Arctic — the territory of development
A meeting of the discussion club of the Arctic Development Project Office was held. It discussed the application of standard projects for capital construction projects in the Arctic zone. The experts also touched upon the topic of the need for further improvements to the law on environmental expertise.
The event was attended by zdeputy Head of the Department of Strategic Planning and Project Management of the Ministry for the Development of the Arctic and the Peoples of the North of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Raymond Popov, member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and the Public Council of the State Corporation “Rosatom” Elena Esina, Head of the Department of Expertise, Rationing and monitoring in the field of Environmental ProtectionLyudmila Artemova, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Environmental Management of the Department of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Arkhangelsk Region, Marina Tsymbal, Professor of the A. A. Vysokovsky Higher School of Urban Studies of the HSE Alexander Puzanov, and other experts.
Further improvements of the law are needed
The use of standard projects can significantly simplify the conduct of their environmental assessment,noted deputy Chairman of the interdepartmental working group “Arctic Agenda”of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, member of the Scientific Council of the Research Institute “Ecology” Vadim Petrov.
Initially, these were developed for sewage treatment plants. They contributed to the fact that the costs of designing facilities and carrying out construction work were significantly reduced. The application of this effective, but by now forgotten approach will significantly simplify the environmental assessment. According to Petrov, on the one hand, this method allows us to ensure a high level of environmental safety, and on the other hand, a high rate of development of territories.
The experts also discussed the recently adopted amendments to the federal law “On Environmental Expertise” and noted the complexity of applying environmental expertise in practice.
In reality, the construction of facilities in the Arctic still meets obstacles. Even despite the amendments adopted to the law. As the participants of the meeting stressed, the northern delivery and the construction season in the region are limited in time, besides, the process of months-long approval of documents is slowing down.
Many people noticed that one of the main administrative barriers now is the uncertainty of the concept of a “social object”, since the amendments freed social objects from the need to undergo environmental expertise.
General Director of the Company Alexander Stotsky he told about the construction of a visit center in the Taimyr village of Ust-Avam, which should provide jobs in the tourism sector. But it is unclear whether it can be considered a social object from the point of view of legislation, so the time and financial costs of construction increase significantly.
“The authorities take a tough position on the issue of environmental expertise, but they do not help the applicants of the expertise in its implementation, do not advise, do not correct the applicants, the legislation in this area is confusing,” says Alexander Stotsky.
In July 2020, a requirement appeared in Russian legislation: any capital construction object on the territory of the Arctic zone of Russia must receive approval of project documentation in Moscow, at the central office of Rosprirodnadzor. In the future, social facilities were exempted from these requirements, the list of which is regulated by the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1486-r of June 2, 2021: schools, kindergartens, hospitals.
According to the coordinator of the Expert Council of the TIME, moderator of the event Alexander Vorotnikov, any list of such objects in the Arctic is incomplete.
“It is necessary to further refine the legislation that concerns environmental expertise. In particular, those who are trying to build infrastructure facilities in the Arctic zone complain about the very long time for making decisions, the lack of feedback. These issues need to be resolved, for example, by transferring powers to the regional divisions of Rosprirodnadzor, the expert believes.