According to the Constitution, every citizen has the right to favorable environmental conditions. At the same time, an obligation arises to preserve nature, to take care of its riches. Natural resources act as the basis for sustainable development and the life of all the peoples of Russia. Legal regulation of the sphere of nature protection is carried out by the relevant Federal Law.

Law "On Environmental Protection": general information

The normative act establishes the principles in accordance with which the protection of nature is carried out. The legal foundations of the document provide a balance in solving socio-economic issues, maintaining favorable environmental conditions, biodiversity and resources to meet the needs of present and future generations, monitoring compliance with regulations environmental legislation. The normative act regulates the relations that are formed in the process of carrying out economic and other activities related to the impact on nature.

Principles

the federal law"On protection environment" defines General requirements for entities conducting economic and other activities that have an impact on nature. The functioning of enterprises and the work of citizens should be carried out in accordance with the following principles:

Objects to be protected

Their list is established by the 7th Federal Law (FZ "On Environmental Protection"). To objects subject to protection from depletion, pollution, damage, degradation, destruction and other negative impact economic or other activities include:

Special categories

The Law of the Russian Federation "On Environmental Protection" establishes a list of objects subject to priority protection. These include ecosystems, natural complexes and landscapes that have not been subjected to anthropogenic influence. The Law "On Environmental Protection" also defines the category of objects subject to special protection. This list includes:

• state reserves, wildlife sanctuaries;
• botanical gardens;
• natural monuments;
• dendrological and national parks;
• health-improving and resort areas;
• permanent living environment of small indigenous peoples.

In this category, the Law "On Environmental Protection" includes objects included in the List world heritage, as well as endangered and rare soils, forests and other vegetation, animals and other organisms and their areas of special historical, cultural, scientific, recreational, aesthetic or other value.

Citizens' rights

The Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" was adopted in pursuance of the Constitutional provisions relating to the sphere environmental safety. In this regard, the normative act spells out the rights of citizens in this area. In particular, the Law "On Environmental Protection" establishes that every Russian can send appeals to the structures of state, regional or local authorities, organizations and officials for timely receipt of complete and reliable data on the state of nature in the territory of their residence. Citizens also have the right to get acquainted with information about environmental safety measures. The law "On Environmental Protection" allows the formation of public associations, other non-profit structures (foundations, etc.) to carry out activities related to the protection of nature. Citizens can participate in demonstrations, marches, rallies, pickets, referendums, collection of signatures for the adoption of petitions on environmental issues, as well as in other actions that do not contradict normative acts. The law "On Environmental Protection" provides for the right of individuals to apply to the courts with claims for compensation for damage to nature.

Responsibilities

According to the law, citizens must:

1. Protect natural resources.
2. Save the environment.
3. Comply with other environmental requirements.

Interaction with government agencies

Citizens have the right to put forward proposals for the implementation of environmental expertise and take part in it in the prescribed manner. Individuals can assist local, state or regional authorities in solving environmental issues. The law "On Environmental Protection" provides for the right of any citizen to apply to the authorized structures with statements, complaints and proposals regarding the protection of nature.

The system of legal protection of nature in Russia includes four groups of legal measures:

1) legal regulation relations on the use, conservation and renewal of natural resources;

2) organization of education and training of personnel, financing and logistical support of environmental activities;

3) state and

public control over the fulfillment of environmental protection requirements;

4) legal liability of offenders.

In accordance with environmental legislation object legal protection is the natural environment - an objective reality that exists outside of a person and regardless of his consciousness, serving as a habitat, condition and means of his existence.

Sources of environmental law normative legal acts are recognized, which contain legal norms regulating environmental relations. These include laws, decrees, resolutions and orders, regulations of ministries and departments, laws and regulations of the subjects of the Federation. Finally, among the sources of environmental law, a large place is occupied by international legal acts that regulate internal environmental relations on the basis of the primacy of international law.

As a result of the last codification, a system of environmental legislation has developed, which is based on three fundamental normative acts: Declaration of the First Congress people's deputies RSFSR on the State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1990), Declaration of the Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen (1991) and the Constitution Russian Federation taken as a result popular vote December 12, 1993

Environmental Legislation System, guided by the ideas of fundamental constitutional acts, includes two subsystems:

• environmental
• natural resource legislation.

In environmental legislation includes the Federal Law of January 10, 2002 No. 7-FZ "On Environmental Protection" and other legislative acts of complex legal regulation.

To the subsystem of natural resource legislation includes: Land Code of the Russian Federation (FZ No. 136 of 10/25/2001), Law of the Russian Federation of February 21, 1992 No. 2395-1 "On Subsoil", Forest Code of the Russian Federation (FZ No. 200 of 04.12.2006), Water Code of the Russian Federation (FZ No. 74 of June 3, 2006), Federal Law No. 52-FZ of April 24, 1995 “On the Wildlife”, as well as other legislative and regulatory acts.

In the Constitution of the Russian Federation the main provisions of the environmental strategy of the state and the main directions of strengthening the environmental law and order are reflected. The Constitution of the Russian Federation introduces into scientific circulation the definition of human environmental activity in the field of interaction between society and nature: nature management, environmental protection, ensuring environmental safety.

Part 1 of Art. 9, which states that the land and other Natural resources in the Russian Federation are used and protected as the basis of life and activity of the peoples living in the respective territory.

There are two very important norms in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, one of which (Article 42) enshrines the right of every person to a favorable environment, reliable information about its condition and compensation for damage caused to his health or property, and the other proclaims the right of citizens and legal entities for private ownership of land and other natural resources (Part 2, Article 9). The first concerns the biological principles of man, the second - his material foundations of existence.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation also formalizes the organizational and legal relations between the Federation and the subjects of the Federation. According to Art. 72 the use, possession and disposal of land, subsoil, water and other natural resources, nature management, environmental protection and ensuring environmental safety are the joint competence of the Federation and the subjects of the Federation.

On the subject of its jurisdiction, the Russian Federation adopts federal laws that are binding throughout the country. The subjects of the Federation have the right to their own regulation of environmental relations, including the adoption of laws and other regulations. The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes general rule: laws and other legal acts of the subjects of the Federation should not contradict federal laws. The provision of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is specified in the sources of environmental law.

Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" determines the legal framework for state policy in the field of environmental protection, ensuring a balanced solution of socio-economic problems, maintaining a favorable environment, biological diversity and natural resources in order to meet the needs of present and future generations, strengthening the rule of law in the field of environmental protection and ensuring environmental safety.

The following legal provisions are fixed in 16 chapters of the Law:

• fundamentals of management in the field of environmental protection;
• rights and obligations of citizens, public and other non-profit associations in the field of environmental protection;
• economic regulation in the field of environmental protection;
• standardization in the field of environmental protection;
• environmental impact assessment and environmental expertise;
• requirements in the field of environmental protection in the implementation economic activity;
• zones of ecological disaster, zones of emergency situations;
• state environmental monitoring (state environmental monitoring);
• control in the field of environmental protection (environmental control);
• scientific research in the field of environmental protection;
• bases of formation of ecological culture;
• international cooperation in the field of environmental protection.

Protecting health and ensuring human well-being is the ultimate goal of protecting the natural environment. Therefore, in legislative acts aimed at protecting the health of citizens, environmental requirements occupy a leading place. In this sense, the source of environmental law is the Federal Law of March 30, 1999 No. 52-FZ "On the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population." It regulates sanitary relations related to the protection of health from adverse effects. external environment- industrial, household, natural. Environmental requirements expressed in the articles of the Law are at the same time sources of environmental law. For example, the norms of Art. 18 of the Law on burial, processing, neutralization and disposal of industrial and household waste etc.

Another source of environmental law is the Federal Law “On the Basics of Protecting the Health of Citizens in the Russian Federation” dated November 21, 2011 No. 323-FZ. It has a norm that ensures the environmental rights of citizens. Yes, Art. 18 states that: “Everyone has the right to health care. The right to health protection is ensured by the protection of the environment…”

Legal norms on nature protection and rational use of natural resources are also contained in other acts of Russian natural resource legislation. These include the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, the Water Code of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law "On the Wildlife", etc.

The range of environmental issues on which decrees and orders of the President of the Russian Federation can be issued is practically unlimited. Among them is the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 4, 1994 No. 238 "On the state strategy of the Russian Federation for environmental protection and sustainable development."

Based on and in pursuance of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, regulatory decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation issues resolutions and orders, being also responsible for their implementation. The Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation is also a regulatory legal act. In accordance with Art. 114 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation The Government of the Russian Federation ensures the implementation in the Russian Federation of a unified state policy in the field of science, culture, education, healthcare, social security, ecology.

Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation on environmental issues can be divided into three groups.

• The first group includes those that are adopted in pursuance of the law to specify individual provisions.
• The second group of resolutions is intended to determine the competence of the governing and control bodies.
• The third group of resolutions includes normative legal acts of further legal regulation of environmental relations.

Environmental ministries and departments are empowered to issue regulations within their competence. They are intended for mandatory execution by other ministries and departments, individuals and legal entities.

Regulations play an important role sanitary, construction, technical and economic, technological etc. These include environmental quality standards: norms of permissible radiation, noise level, vibration, etc. These standards are technical rules, and in this form they are not considered as sources of law. Departmental normative acts may be canceled by the Government of the Russian Federation if they contradict the law. Acts come into force only after registration with the Ministry of Justice and publication in the newspaper Rossiyskiye Vesti. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the subjects of the Federation also have the right to adopt laws and other regulatory legal acts on issues within their jurisdiction. The representative and executive authorities of the republics, territories, regions, autonomous entities, the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Sevastopol have the right to engage in norm-setting activities.

The scope of competence of the subjects of the Federation is determined by sectoral legislative acts: for land use - the Land Code of the Russian Federation, for subsoil - the Law of the Russian Federation "On Subsoil", for water use - the Water Code of the Russian Federation, for the use of wildlife - the Federal Law "On the Animal World", for the natural environment - Federal Law "On Environmental Protection". This division of legal regulation is based on the attitude towards natural resources. The procedure for classifying natural resources as federal or otherwise is regulated by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on federal resources. The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 76) establishes laws and other normative legal acts of the subjects of the Federation that must not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws. In the event of a contradiction between the normative acts of the constituent entities of the Federation and the articles of federal laws, the former are subject to cancellation by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation or a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. In addition to special regulatory legal acts of environmental content in last years the greening of normative acts regulating the economic, economic and administrative activities of enterprises is widely used. Under greening understand the introduction of environmental requirements into regulatory legal acts of non-environmental content. The need for such a process is explained by the fact that environmental laws may not always directly relate to economic entities engaged in various fields production.

Thus, the Law of the Russian Federation of February 7, 1992 No. 2300-1 “On Protection of Consumer Rights” (Article 7) gives the consumer the right to demand that goods be safe for his life. It also gives the authorities the right to suspend the sale of goods if there is a threat to the health of citizens or the state of the environment. The laws on local self-government, taxation of legal entities reflect various benefits for reducing emissions, using clean technologies, etc.

The federal law “On Environmental Protection”, adopted on January 10, 2002, is a systematized, comprehensive legal act in the field of environmental protection. It regulates the main public relations in the field of nature management and environmental protection.

General characteristics of the law

This law determined the main tasks and the mechanism for regulating relations in the sphere of interaction between society and man. He laid the foundations for the progressive development of environmental legislation as a new generation of legislation. This law is characterized by the presence of the following features:

The law is a complex normative act that regulates environmental relations in general without differentiation by individual natural objects. It formulates the main provisions that help prevent environmental damage and ensure compliance with environmental requirements. These include: the creation of an economic mechanism for environmental protection, the regulation of state environmental expertise, liability for environmental offenses.

The law is a basic normative act, the provisions of which are developed and specified in other acts of environmental legislation. Separate sections of this law subsequently became the basis for the development of other federal laws and other regulatory acts of environmental legislation.

The law establishes the priority of protecting human life and health from the adverse effects of the environment. Environmental protection is not an end in itself, the main goal is to prevent the harmful effects of the environment on the human body. From this point of view, the main legal institutions of environmental protection operate. In particular, human health is the main criterion for setting environmental standards.

The law is based on a scientifically based combination of environmental

ical and economic interests of the society. The principle of correlation of ecological and economic interests of society is fundamental in the concept of sustainable development formulated at the UN conferences in 1972 and 1992. In our legislation, this principle is reflected in such a compromise wording

The law establishes a system of economic incentives for environmental protection activities in combination with measures of administrative and legal influence. This combination allows, on the one hand, the state to control the activities of users of natural resources, since natural resources are the property of the whole society, on the other hand, the introduction of market mechanisms creates the prerequisites for the rational use of natural resources.

The law consists of a preamble, 16 chapters and 84 articles.

Normative acts on rational use of natural resources

As noted above, among the laws that regulate environmental legal relations, two groups can be distinguished: environmental and natural resource.

Natural resource regulations regulate social relations that develop in the field of rational use of certain types of natural resources and objects of nature: land, subsoil, water, forests, atmospheric air, wildlife, specially protected areas.

The group of federal laws, which are fundamental regulations, includes the following: the Land Code of the Russian Federation, the Law of the Russian Federation “On Subsoil”, the Water Code of the Russian Federation, the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law “On the Protection of Atmospheric Air”, the Federal Law of March 14, 1995 No. No. 33-FZ “On Specially Protected Natural Territories”, Federal Law “On Wildlife”.

These normative acts are characterized by the presence of some common features.

1. Natural resources may be in different forms of ownership, but they are a specific object of ownership.

However, they are a specific object of ownership, since they are used by the whole society, and therefore the state limits the ownership of natural resources, establishing certain rights and obligations of owners, determining the purpose of natural resources.

Significant, from the point of view of legal regulation, is the content of the concept of “protection and rational use of a natural resource.” What qualities of a natural resource are priority? For example, water can be used for drinking, for household needs, as a shipping route, etc. If water is used as a shipping route, then its purity is not critical. The legislation determines that the priority quality of water is its suitability for drinking, i.e. purity.

The fulfillment of any instructions is impossible without the presence of responsibility. A rule of law is not a recommendation, but a command backed by the authority of the state.

These legislative acts provide for liability for violation of the relevant legislation (land, water, forestry, etc.), and liability measures may have their own specific features.

Let us consider in more detail the two main natural resource federal laws.

Land Code regulates relations in the field of use and protection water bodies(water relations) in order to ensure the right of citizens to clean water and favorable water environment. These goals are achieved through the following activities:

maintaining optimal conditions water use, quality of surface and ground waters in a state that meets sanitary and environmental requirements;

protection of water bodies from pollution, clogging and depletion;

prevention or elimination of the harmful effects of water, as well as the conservation of the biological diversity of aquatic ecosystems.

The Water Code of the Russian Federation provides for the following obligations of water users: rational use of water bodies; prevent violation of the rights of other water users, as well as inflict

mitigation of harm to human health and the environment; prevent the deterioration of the quality of surface and ground waters, the habitat of the animal and flora; inform the authorities state power on emergency and other emergencies affecting the state of water bodies.

The Water Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that “persons guilty of violating the water legislation of the Russian Federation bear administrative and criminal liability in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation” (Article 130). If damage is caused to a water body, then the persons guilty of this are obliged to compensate for the damage.

Questions for self-examination

What are the main legal acts that regulate the use of individual natural resources and the protection of the natural environment.

Describe the main stages in the formation of Russian legislation.

Give a general description of the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection”.

What social relations are regulated by natural resource regulations?

Give a description of the Land Code of the Russian Federation.

Give a description of the Water Code of the Russian Federation.

What are the obligations of land users under the Land Code of the Russian Federation?

Structure and summary Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of the Environment"

Section 1. General Provisions.

This section defines the following: the tasks of the environmental legislation of the Russian Federation, the system of environmental legislation, the basic principles of environmental protection, objects of environmental protection, the competence of state authorities at various levels in the field of environmental protection.

The system of environmental legislation is built on the same principle as the head law.

Section 2. The right of citizens to a healthy favorable environment.

The right of citizens to health protection from the adverse effects of the natural environment caused by economic or other activities is fixed; consequences of accidents, disasters, natural Disasters which is provided by:

• - planning and regulation of the quality of the natural environment;
• - social insurance of citizens;
• - providing real opportunities for living in favorable conditions for life and health;
• - compensation for harm caused to health;
• - state control for the state of the environment.

Section 3. Economic mechanism of environmental protection.

This section covers the following:

• - tasks of the economic mechanism;
• - the need to maintain cadastres of natural resources;
• - sources of financing of environmental activities;
• - the procedure for issuing a license for integrated nature management;
• - limits on nature management (withdrawal of natural resources, emissions and discharges of pollutants into the environment, disposal of production waste);
• - types of payments for natural resources (for the right to use natural resources within the established limits, for overlimit and irrational use of natural resources, for the reproduction and protection of natural resources);
• - a mechanism for economic incentives for environmental protection (tax rebates, deferred payment, concessional loans, promotional prices and premiums for environmentally friendly products, etc.).

Section 4. Rationing of the quality of the natural environment.

The section provides the basic requirements for standardization of the quality of the natural environment, a list of maximum permissible standards for the impact on the environment.

Section 5. State ecological expertise.

The section defines the purpose of the state environmental review (checking the compliance of economic and other activities with the environmental safety of the company), the objects of the review, the possibility of conducting a public environmental review.

Section 6. Environmental requirements for the placement, design, construction, reconstruction, commissioning of enterprises, structures and other facilities.

The section focuses on the need to take into account environmental safety in the development of feasibility studies (FS) of projects.

Section 7. Environmental requirements for the operation of enterprises, structures, other facilities and the performance of other activities.

The section provides environmental requirements separately:

• - in agriculture;
• - during land reclamation works;
• - to energy facilities;
• - during the reconstruction and construction of cities and other settlements;
• - when using chemicals;
• - to military and defense facilities.

Section 8. Environmental emergencies.

The law provides for the allocation of two types of crisis zones:

• 1. Zones of ecological emergency - areas of the territory of the Russian Federation where, as a result of economic and other activities, stable negative changes occur in the natural environment that threaten public health, the state of natural ecological systems, animal and plant genetic funds;
• 2. Zones of ecological disaster - territories where there have been profound irreversible changes in the natural environment, resulting in a significant deterioration in the health of the population, disruption of natural balance, destruction of ecosystems, degradation of flora and fauna.

Such zones are declared by decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation, decrees of the President of the Russian Federation on the basis of the conclusion of the state environmental review. In Russia, the following zones are recognized as such: the Kuznetsk coal basin of the Kemerovo region, Nizhny Tagil of the Sverdlovsk region, the city of Bratsk of the Irkutsk region.

Section 9 Specially Protected natural areas and objects.

The section defines the conditions for classifying natural objects as specially protected, their legal regime and security measures.

Section 10. Environmental control.

The section defines the tasks of environmental control:

• - monitoring the state of the natural environment and its change;
• - checking the implementation of plans and measures for nature protection, rational use natural resources, improvement of the natural environment, compliance with the requirements of environmental legislation and environmental quality standards;

As well as the levels of environmental control:

• - state;
• - production;
• - public.

Section 11. Environmental education, education, research.

The section refers to the need for universal, comprehensive and continuous environmental education and education, as well as the obligation of environmental knowledge in educational institutions, preventive environmental training of managers and specialists, scientific environmental research.

Section 12. Settlement of disputes in the field of environmental protection.

The law defines the possibility of resolving disputes between legal entities and individuals in court.

Section 13. Liability for environmental offenses.

The section defines environmental offenses (guilty, unlawful acts that violate environmental legislation), 4 types of environmental legal liability are distinguished by the methods of applying sanctions:

• 1. Disciplinary (to individuals) - for non-fulfillment of plans and measures for nature protection and rational use of natural resources, violation of environmental quality standards and requirements of environmental legislation arising from labor function or official position;
• 2. Material (to individuals) - in the form of reimbursement of expenses of an enterprise, institution or organization for the elimination of harm caused by an environmental offense;
• 3. Administrative (to individuals and legal entities) - for committing environmental offenses in the form of fines;
• 4. Criminal (to individuals) - for committing an environmental crime.

Section 14 Compensation for environmental damage.

The law determines the obligation of full compensation for harm, the procedure for its compensation (voluntarily, by court decision). Harm can be caused by:

• - environment;
• - health;
• - property.

Section 15 The international cooperation in the field of environmental protection.

The section provides the principles and types of international cooperation.

The system of environmental legislation based on fundamental constitutional acts includes two subsystems: environmental and natural resource legislation.

The main law is the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which introduces into scientific circulation the definition of human environmental activity in the field of interaction between society and nature: nature management, environmental protection, environmental safety.

The central place among the environmental norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is Art. 9, part 1, which states that the land and other natural resources in the Russian Federation are used and protected as the basis for the life and activities of the peoples living in the relevant territory.

There are two very important norms in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, one of which (Article 42) enshrines the right of a person to a favorable environment and to compensation for damage caused to his health or property, and the other proclaims the right of citizens and legal entities to private ownership of land and other natural resources (art. 9, part 2).

The first concerns the biological principles of man, the second - his material foundations of existence.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation also formalizes the organizational and legal relations between the Federation and the subjects of the Federation. Table. one.

On the subject of its jurisdiction, the Russian Federation adopts federal laws that are mandatory throughout the country. The subjects of the Russian Federation have the right to their own regulation of environmental relations, including the adoption of laws and other regulations. The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes a general rule: laws and other legal acts of the subjects of the Federation must not contradict federal laws. The provision of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is specified in the sources of environmental law.

First, this Law is the main legislative act, the subject of regulation of which are environmental relations.

Table 1.

Regulating these relations, it aims to solve three problems: the preservation of the natural environment, the prevention and elimination of the harmful effects of economic activity on nature and human health, the improvement and improvement of the quality of the environmental protection system.

The law leads the system of environmental legislation, i.e. in matters of OPS, the norms of other laws should not contradict this legislation.

Secondly, the main direction of the Law is to ensure a scientifically based combination of environmental and economic interests with the priority of protecting health and natural human rights to a favorable environment. The maximum allowable norms of the impact of economic activity on the natural environment serve as such a justification. Exceeding these standards is an environmental offense.

Thirdly, in contrast to sectoral laws (for example, the foundations of land legislation), the Law formulates requirements addressed to sources of harmful effects on the natural environment, i.e., to enterprises, institutions and organizations that have a harmful effect on the natural environment.

Fourthly, the central theme of the Law is a person, the protection of his life and health from the adverse effects of environmental protection. In the Law, a person is also considered as a subject of impact on the natural environment, responsible for their activities, and as the subject of such impact, endowed with guarantees for compensation for the harm caused.

Fifthly, the norms of the Law establish the mechanism for its implementation, which consists of a system that includes economic incentives for the business executive in the OOPS and measures of administrative and legal impact on violators of environmental and legal regulations. The law establishes the economic mechanism of the OPS, as well as the obligation of state environmental expertise, state environmental control, its powers to suspend, limit, terminate the activities of environmentally harmful industries, measures of administrative and criminal liability for environmental offenses, compensation for damage to the natural environment and human health, environmental education and upbringing.

The effectiveness of this mechanism depends on the level of organizational activity of the supervisory and control bodies for the OPS, on the material, technical and financial support environmental protection measures, from performing discipline, as well as the state of environmental culture in society.