State Ecological Expert Assessment and EIA in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation: Legal Regulation, Characteristics and Problems

I.A. Ignatyeva, Doctor of Law, Associate Professor, the Subdepartment of Environmental and Land Law, the Law Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

The policy of the Russian state concerning its Arctic zone has recently acquired some new aspects. These aspects are primarily related to the planned widespread use of natural resources in the Arctic. However, the use of natural resources in this region, based on strong economic interest, can not ignore the ecological features of the region.

The environmental significance of the Arctic is emphasized in the federal special-purpose program “World Ocean” (with the subprogram “Development And Use of the Arctic”) approved by the Resolution of Government of the Russian Federation dated August 10, 1998, No. 919[1]. It notes, in particular, “the existence of unique ecosystems (the contribution of the natural complex of the Russian Arctic to the preservation of the global stability of the biosphere is estimated to be 12 per cent), a large role in ensuring the sustainability of the planet's climate, biodiversity and the preservation of the traditional system of natural resources of indigenous peoples”.

This region is unique. Its distinctive features are marked in this program in comparison with other territories of the Russian Federation. These are, in particular, the extreme vulnerability of the environment, the low stability of ecosystems that can be easily disturbed by human impact, and hardly ever restored, the difficulty of prevention and liquidation of emergency situations of natural and technogenic character, which is connected with use of special equipment, including rescue equipment, in a zone of low temperatures.

However, ”The Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic for the Period Up to 2020 and Beyond”, adopted by the President of the Russian Federation on September 18, 2008, No. 1969, identified the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation as a strategic resource base (para. 4). One of the main aims of public policy in this sphere is expansion of the resource base of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (para. 6). “The Conception of Long-Term Socio-Economic Development of the Russian Federation Till 2020 (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on November 17, 2008, No. 1662-p) that was approved a little earlier, deals, in particular, with the intensification of works on development of oil and gas deposits transmitted to subsoil users, as well as unallocated subsoil fund of the Arctic continental shelf (section VII, para. 3).

This activity is planned in spite of the fact that at the same time the federal special-purpose program “World Ocean” (with the subprogram “Development and Use of the Arctic”) notes that “the projected growth of production, processing and transportation of hydrocarbon and mineral resources will be accompanied by appearance of new powerful sources of technogenic pollution of the Arctic environment, particularly dangerous for the works on the continental shelf” (although the program itself sees a way out of all difficulties, mainly in the presence of program-oriented approach to regulation).

Obviously, the application of the well-established proven methods of protection of the environment, as the environmental impact assessment (hereinafter also ― EIA) and the state ecological expert assessment (hereinafter also ― SEEA, ecological expert assessment) can reasonably reduce risks of negative impacts on the environment of the Arctic region. The Federal Law No. 7-FZ, “On Environmental Protection” dated January 10, 2002, among the basic principles of environmental protection contains the following: obligatoriness of environmental impact assessment when making decisions of economic and other activities; obligatoriness of state environmental assessment of projects and other documentation substantiating the economic and other activities that may have a negative impact on the environment, threaten life, health and property of individuals (Art. 3).

EIA has traditionally been understood as an activity closely related to SEEA ― as a necessary step prior to the SEEA. In the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection”, rules of EIA and SEEA are identified in the same chapter (Ch.VI). Under Part 1, Art. 14 of the Federal Law No. 174-FZ “On Ecological Expert assessment”, dated November 23, 1995, SEEA is conducted in the presence of materials of EIA. Under the Regulations on the Procedure of the State Environmental Assessment, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on June 11, 1996, No. 698, the availability of data of environmental impact assessment of the planned economic and other activities is a condition of acceptance of materials in the state ecological expert assessment (para. 4).

All specific questions on how to conduct these assessments, their objects and subjects are regulated by special legislation. Environmental legislation is in the sphere of joint competence of the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the scope of normative legal acts regulating relations in the sphere of environmental assessment and EIA is also supplemented with acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. And the legal basis for EIA and SEEA for the planned economic activity in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation consists of the federal legislation and the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the territories of which include parts of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. These constituent entities of the Russian Federation are: the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Oblasts, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Districts.

SEEA is regulated by the following acts on federal level: Federal Law “On Ecological Expert Assessment” (with subsequent amendments); Regulations on the Procedure of the State Ecological Expert Assessment, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on June 11, 1996, No. 698; Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation dated November 30, 2008, No. 283 “On Approval of the Administrative Regulations for the Implementation of the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Supervision  of the State Function of Organizing and Conducting the State Ecological  Expert Assessment at the Federal Level”; Government Decree dated October 17, 2009, No. 824, “On Approval of the Regulations of the State Environmental Assessment of Project Documentation of Olympic Facilities, the Construction, Reconstruction and Major Repairs of Which Are to Be Carried out on the Lands of Specially Protected Natural Territories of Federal Significance”; and some other acts.

The legislation on environmental assessment of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), in addition to the federal acts, includes the following: Decision of the Government of the RS (Y) dated January 24, 2007, No.26 “About the State Environmental Assessment of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)” (with the “Regulations on the Procedure of the State Environmental  Expert Assessment”, “Procedure for Determining The Value of the State Ecological  Expert Assessment”, “List of Documents Submitted to the Accounting Department to Pay for State Environmental Review and Remuneration of Members of Expert Committees (External Experts)”; Order of the Ministry of  Environment Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) dated July 30, 2010, No. 01-5/1-225 “On Approval of the Administrative Regulations of the Providing Public Services in Organizing and Conducting the State Ecological  Expert Assessment of Objects at the Regional Level”; Order of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) dated May 12, 2009, No. 01-05/1-126 “On the Procedure of Forming and Maintaining the Register of Specialists Employed As External Experts for the State Ecological  Expert Assessment”.

Regional legislation of Arkhangelsk region in the same sphere consists of the Resolution of the Government of the Arkhangelsk region on May 24, 2011, No. 163-pp “On Approval of the Procedure of Use of Funds Received from Fees for Conducting the State Ecological  Expert Assessment of Objects at the Regional Level”.

On January 15, 2007,  the Government of the Murmansk Oblast adopted Resolution No. 5-PP “On the State Ecological Expert Assessment of Objects at the Regional Level”.

In the Krasnoyarsk Krai, the regional acts are: Resolution of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Government of October 21, 2008, No. 147-p “On Approval of the Procedure of Use of Funds for Carrying Out State Ecological  Expert Assessment of Objects of the Regional Level”; Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry of the Krasnoyarsk Krai  dated February 24, 2010, No. 19, “On Approval of an Administrative Regulation to Provide the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry of the Krasnoyarsk Krai with the State Service for Organizing and Conducting the State Ecological  Expert Assessment”.

In the Chukotka Autonomous District, SEEA is regulated by the following acts: Law of the Chukotka Autonomous District  dated September 29, 2011, No. 84-OZ “On the Division of Powers in the Field of Environmental Assessment in the Chukotka Autonomous District”; Resolution of the Government of the Chukotka Autonomous District dated July 1, 2011, No. 280 “On Approval of the Administrative Regulations of the Department of Agriculture Policy and Management of the Chukotka Autonomous District to Provide Public Service  “in Organizing and Conducting the State Ecological Expert Assessment of Objects at the Regional Level”; Resolution of the Government of the Chukotka Autonomous District dated May 18, 2007, No. 63, “On State Environmental  Expert Assessment in the Chukotka Autonomous Region” (with the “Regulations on the Procedure of the State Ecological  Expert Assessment of Objects at the Regional Level in the Chukotka Autonomous District”, “Procedure for the Use of Funds Received From Customers Who Ordered Documentation Submitted to the State Ecological  Expert Assessment of Objects at the Regional Level in the Chukotka Autonomous District”).

There are other resolutions: Resolution of the Government on the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District dated December 20, 2011, No. 962-P “On Approval of the Administrative Regulations of the Department of Natural-Resource Management, Forest Relationships and Development of Oil And Gas Complex of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District to Provide Public Service  “in Organizing And Conducting the State Ecological  Expert Assessment of Objects at the Regional Level” and Resolution of the Administration of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District dated  December 6, 2007, No. 569-A “On the Procedure of Use of Funds Received from Fees for Conducting Environmental  Expert Assessment of Facilities at the Regional Level” in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.

EIA is regulated by the Order of the State Committee for Ecology of Russia dated May 16, 2000, No. 372 “On Approval of Regulations on Environmental Impact Assessment of Planned Economic And Other Activities on the Environment in the Russian Federation” (Regulations on EIA). Acts on EIA are rarely contained in the regional legislation (e.g., Regulations approved by the State Committee for Ecology of the Arkhangelsk Region on September 29, 2000).

A set of objects of both EIA and SEEA are usually estimated in the scholarly literature as the same[2]. The definition of objects of EIA, as it follows from the requirements of para. 1.3 of the Regulations on EIA, depends on the definition of objects of SEEA, as EIA is carried out for the planned economic and other activities the supporting documentation for which should pass an ecological  expert assessment in accordance with the Federal Law “On Ecological  Expert Assessment”.

But now, determining the range of objects of EIA has become a theoretically significant legal problem. It should be noted that the basic legal act regulating the procedure of EIA ― Regulations on EIA ― is only a by-law act, which at the time of its adoption had no legal basis in the laws (the Federal Law “On Ecological  Expert Assessment” mentioned only materials of environmental impact assessment, referred to the complexity of assessing the impact on the environment, but did not disclose the concept of EIA, and it did not define the procedure of EIA). For the first time, the EIA was recognized at the legislative level only in 2002 ― with the adoption of the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection”.

It follows from this fact that the Regulations on EIA should be applied only in part which is not contrary to laws. In particular, this applies primarily to EIA objects. And while the Regulations on EIA in this part contain a very specific range of objects associated with  the further SEEA, the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection” does not contain such a limitation. Moreover, this Law has proclaimed the obligatoriness of the environmental impacts assessment, making decisions on the implementation of economic and other activities as one of the basic principles of environmental protection.

Article 32 of the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection” does not contain limitations or clarifications as to the objects of EIA either: environmental impact assessment is carried out for planned economic and other activities that may have a direct or indirect impact on the environment, regardless of the organizational legal forms of ownership of subjects of economic and other activities. In determining the competence of by-laws in this area, the Law on Environmental Protection does not provide for a different approach to the identification of the objects of EIA, establishing only that the requirements for materials on environmental impacts assessment shall be established by the federal bodies of executive power in charge of state administration in the field of environment.

Thus, there is a conflict of rules with respect to determining objects of EIA, and it must be resolved, I believe, in favor of a superior legal act ― that is , in this case, the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection”.

Objects of SEEA are listed in Articles 11 and 12 of the Federal Law “On Ecological  Expert Assessment”, depending on the level at which ecological  expert assessment is conducted ― the federal or regional level.

It should be noted that in 2006, the lists of objects of SEEA were significantly reformed in line with the adoption of  Federal Law No. 232-FZ, dated  December 18, 2006 “On Amendments to the Urban Planning Code of the Russian Federation and  Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”. As a result, some important objects have disappeared from the list, such as: 1) drafts of legal acts of the Russian Federation, both normative and non-normative, realization of which can lead to a negative impact on the environment; 2) technical and economic substantiation and projects of construction, reconstruction, expansion, modernization, conservation and liquidation of enterprises and other objects of economic activity of the Russian Federation and other projects, implementation of which may have an impact on the environment. Thereby, the role of SEEA has decreased. Nevertheless, the SEEA has retained its importance in planning the activities on the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation, as well as in the internal maritime waters and the territorial seas. Thus, Order No. 917 of the Rostechnadzor, dated October 30, 2009, approved the conclusion of the expert commission for the state ecological  expert assessment of materials on “Reconstruction of the Base of Murmansk “Gazflot” Ltd. to Ensure the Work on the Arctic Shelf of the Russian Federation. Sector  No. 1”. Rostechnadzor’s  Order No. 961, dated  December 10, 2008, approved the conclusion of the expert commission of the state ecological  expert assessment of the materials “The Program of Work on the Object “Marine Engineering Explorations for Installing Multi-Purpose Machines at the Drilling Sites of Dolginskaya-4 and Dolginskaya-5 Drilling Exploratory Wells in the Pechora Sea” of “AMIGE” (Murmansk)”.

The objects of the SEEA of the regional level are, among others: 1) drafts of normative technical and methodological documents in the field of environmental protection to be approved by the  government authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation; 2) projects of special-purpose programs of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation providing for construction and use of objects that impact the environment; 3) licenses  study materials for certain activities, which are licensed in accordance with the Federal Law “On Licensing of Certain Activities” by the executive power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (except for the licenses study materials for the collection, use, disposal, transportation of waste); 4) the materials of complex ecological survey of land plots in order to give these territories the legal status of protected natural areas of regional significance; 5) some project documentation of the objects, the construction or reconstruction of which is supposed to be carried out on lands of specially protected natural areas of regional and local importance and others.

However, in most cases, the building of objects of capital construction currently requires expert assessment of project documentation in accordance with Art. 49 of the Urban Planning Code. The object of this  expert assessment is the assessment of conformity of project documentation to requirements of technical regulations, including the sanitary-epidemiological, ecological requirements, state requirements for cultural heritage protection, the requirements for fire, industrial, nuclear, radiation and other safety, as well as the results of engineering studies, and conformity of the assessment results to engineering survey requirements of technical regulations. Formally, providing EIA materials during  expert assessment of project documentation[3] is not required.

Despite the fact that the two activities ― EIA and SEEA ― are closely connected, they differ substantially in various aspects. At least, this difference is clearly visible in the following indicators ― the content (the definition of legal concepts), the subjects that carry out these activities, the procedure, and  legal results.

Definitions of both legal concepts are given in laws. EIA is defined as an activity to identify, analyze and assess direct, indirect and other effects of the environmental impact of planned economic and other activities in order to decide on the possibility or impossibility of its implementation (Article 1 of the Federal Law on Environmental Protection).

Ecological  expert assessment, under Article 1 of the Law on Ecological  Expert Assessment, is establishing the relevancy of documents and (or) documentation that  substantiate the planned economic and other activities in connection with the implementation of environmental impact assessment object, to ecological protection requirements which are contained in technical regulations and legislation in the sphere of environmental protection, in order to prevent the negative impact of such activities on the environment. Ecological  expert assessment can be of two types: state  expert assessment and public  expert assessment. Only state ecological  expert assessment has a legal value.

The subjects of EIA are identified as the Customer and the Executor. The Customer is  an individual or a corporate entity responsible for preparing the documentation for the proposed activity in accordance with regulatory requirements for this type of activity  that  provides  documentation for the proposed activity on the environmental assessment. The Executor of works to assess the impact on the environment is an individual or a corporate entity carrying out an environmental impact assessment (it may be a customer or an individual (legal) person who has the right to carry out works to assess the impact on the environment).

The subjects of SEEA are defined at the federal level and the level of the Russian Federation. At the federal level, there are the federal executive authorities in the field of environmental assessment. Currently, the implementation of the state function of organizing and conducting SEEA at the federal level is carried out by the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostechnadzor) and its territorial authorities.

At the regional level, there are the authorities of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. These authorities are specified in the legislation of each subject (constituent entity) of the Russian Federation. For example, there are the following state bodies in constituent entities of the Russian Federation whose territories are included in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation: the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Murmansk Oblast, the Department of Natural Resources and Forestry of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Department of Agricultural Policy and Nature of the Chukotka Autonomous District, the Department of Natural  Resources Management, Forest Relationships and Development of Oil and Gas Complex of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.

The EIA procedure includes three steps. First of all, the customer carries out notification,  preliminary assessment and preparation of technical specifications for the environmental impact assessment. The customer develops the terms of reference (the technical project) for the evaluation of environmental impact (TOR) on the basis of the preliminary assessment of the impact. The TOR for the evaluation of environmental impact is a part of materials of the EIA. Then assessment studies of the environmental impacts should be conducted and a preliminary version of the materials to evaluate the impact on the environment should be prepared. The final step is preparing the final version of EIA materials to be approved by the Customer. The final version of the EIA materials is prepared on the basis of a preliminary version of the materials in the light of comments, suggestions and information received from participants in the process of assessing the impact on the environment under discussion. The information about the registered comments and suggestions, as well as minutes of public hearings (if any) should be included in the final version of the EIA materials.

The Customer (the Executor) is obligated to consider alternatives to achieve the goal of the planned economic and other activities. They identify, analyze and take into account environmental and other related consequences from all the considered alternatives to achieve a goal of planned economic and other activities, as well as the “zero alternative” (giving up the activities). The Customer must provide timely receipt of complete and accurate information to everyone involved in EIA.

A public debate can be organized during the EIA. The goal of public debate is to identify public preferences and take them into account in the EIA. The Customer and the local authorities organize public debates on the object of the research, including EIA materials of planned economic and other activities. Besides, the Customer (the Executor) takes and records the comments and suggestions from the public within 30 days from the date of publishing the information in the official publications of the federal executive authorities (for objects of federal  expert assessment), in the official publications of the executive authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local self-government, and on the radio, television, in periodicals, the Internet and in other ways.

When the planned economic and other activities may have a transboundary impact, the reserch and training materials to evaluate the impact on the environment are subject to the provisions of the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.

The results of evaluation of EIA are: 1) information about the nature and extent of the environmental impact of proposed activities, alternatives for its implementation, evaluation of environmental and associated socio-economic and other consequences of these impacts and their significance, opportunities to minimize the impacts; 2)identification and registration of social preferences in decision-making by the customer regarding the proposed activity; 3) the decision of the customer to identify alternative options for implementing the planned activities (including the placement of the object, the choice of technology etc.), or rejecting it, based on the results of the assessment of environmental impact.

EIA is documented in the materials on impact assessment which make a part of the documentation of these activities to be provided to SEEA and also to be used in making other management decisions related to the activity.

The details of the SEEA procedure are set directly in the Federal Law “On Ecological  Expert assessment”. This Law sets the list of documents that are to be submitted for the expert assessment. Public authorities that are responsible for carrying out of  expert assessment may also request the necessary documents.

SEEA is conducted under the condition of full advance payment by the customer who ordered the documentation to be reviewed in SEEA.

The duration  of SEEA depends on the complexity of the object of SEEA, established in accordance with the regulations of the federal executive authority. but for most objects, it should not exceed six months.

The SEEA is conducted by a commission of experts, formed by a federal authority of executive power or by the authorities of state power of constituent entities of the Russian Federation to carry out environmental assessment of each specific object. The expert commission includes, as a rule, outside experts, but in cases stipulated by normative legal acts of the federal executive authority, its own staff members and the staff of government authorities of the  RF constituent entities may be included as the experts.

The expert commission prepares the conclusion of the state ecological  expert assessment, that is the document containing the substantiated conclusions on the compliance of documents to the environmental requirements of the technical regulations and  environmental legislation and (or) documentation that justifies planned economic and other activities. This document must be approved by a qualified majority of this expert commission.

If the experts have their own unique opinions that do not conform to the final conclusion of the expert commission, such separate opinions should be added to the conclusion. The conclusion should be signed by the head of the expert commission, its executive secretary and all its members. This conclusion cannot be changed without the agreement of these persons.

The federal executive authority in the field of ecological  expert assessment or public authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation approve the conclusion that has been prepared by the expert commission. After the approval, the conclusion acquires the status of the conclusion of the state ecological  expert assessment. And this is the result of the SEEA. It can be positive or negative.

A positive conclusion of the SEEA is one of the prerequisites for financing and implementation of the object. It is important to note that similar conclusion has a legal effect for a period determined by the federal executive authority in the field of ecological  expert assessment or public authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that conducted the SEEA. For example: the SEEA of the Program  of “Re-Acclimatization of Bison in the Forest Zone of Yakutia” (Block 1) was scheduled  by Order No. 318 of the State Committee for Ecology of Russia dated May 27, 1998 and Order No. 389 of the State Committee for Ecology of Russia dated June 26, 1998, approved a conclusion of the expert commission on the Program “Re-Acclimatization of Bison in the Forest Zone of Yakutia” (Block 1. Section 2 of the Program of  Implementation of the State  Environmental Policy of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the Sphere of Enrichment of Biodiversity of Flora And Fauna) with applications).

A legal effect of a negative conclusion of is the prohibition to implement the object of SEEA. For example, the expert SEEA commission approved  the negative evaluation of the project of building the M-8 “Kholmogory” Road ― from Moscow through Yaroslavl, Vologda to Arkhangelsk under Order No. 480 of Rostechnadzor dated May 26, 2006. This conclusion establishes a discrepancy between the materials of the draft and the environmental requirements and identifies the need to modify the project documentation.

In the case of a negative SEEA conclusion, the customer may submit materials for re-assessment after the materials are modified in conformity with the comments made in the negative conclusion.

There is an expiration date in a conclusion. Thus, a period of three years has been defined for the SEEA conclusion of the previously mentioned Program “Re-Acclimatization Of Bison In The Forest Zone of Yakutia”. In Order No. 380 of Rostechnadzor, dated June 4, 2008, which approved the conclusions of expert SEEA commission on license study materials for the collection, use, disposal, transportation and disposal of hazardous waste by “Far Eastern Generating Company” JSC (the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), a five-years period of validity of the conclusion was defined. In Order No. 229 of the RF Ministry of Natural Resources, dated March 24, 2003, which approved the conclusion of the expert SEEAcommission about the materials on “Substantiation of  Investments. Varandey Export Terminal”, the conclusion is valid during the implementation period of the SEEA object.

The conclusion of SEEA must be sent to the customer. The conclusion may be contested in court.

It should be noted that the Russian legislation includes the peculiarities of SEEA for project documentation of some Olympic facilities, as well as for project documentation of capital construction objects necessary for the organization of the Summit of Heads of Government of countries-participants of the “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation” Forum in 2012 in Vladivostok (see the Federal Laws No. 310-FZ dated December 1, 2007 and No. 93-FZ  dated May 8, 2009).

In the light of the difficulties of such basic legal institutions of environmental protection as EIA and SEEA, it is obvious that the expansion of economic activity in the Arctic will require restoration of the role of EIA and SEEA as a part of the mechanism of enforcing legal norms in environmental law. At a time when the list of objects of the state ecological  expert assessment was considerably reduced in 2006, the mechanisms of enforcement in this sphere were disturbed. The practice shows that EIA lost its meaning simultaneously with the said changes in legislation on ecological  expert assessment. It is important to pay attention to the fact that even in 2010 the President of the Russian Federation  required  to “submit proposals on making amendments to the legislation of the Russian Federation concerning ensuring obligatoriness of the state environment assessment of construction documentation which  regards environmentally dangerous objects”, to develop and approve normative legal acts aimed at improvement of the procedure of environmental impact assessment during state expert assessment and state environment assessment, including, among others, a mechanism for public discussions. These instructions were issued to the Government of the Russian Federation, following the meeting of the Presidium of the State Council held on May 27, 2010, but have not been implemented until now.

The absence of any clear and timely responses to the said problems in the legislation will make it difficult to achieve the goals of the project of “Environmental Security in the Arctic” (“World Ocean” Program). These goals, in particular, involve the prevention and elimination of pollution of coastal and marine environment as a result of economic and other activities on land in the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic seas, including oil, chemical and radioactive pollution, the reduction of  the risks of environmental emergencies and liquidation of their consequences. It is EIA and SEEA that help to solve such problems at the earliest stage of economic activity.

Bibliography:

1. M.I. Vasil’eva. Kontseptual’nye voprosy sovershenstvovaniia ekologicheskoi’ politiki i zakonodatel’stva ob okhrane okruzhaushchei sredy [Conceptual Issues of Improving the Environmental Policy and the Environmental Legislation] // Ekologicheskoe pravo [Environmental Law]. 2007. № 2. Р. 10.
2. Nauchno-prakticheskii’ kommentarii k Federal’nomu zakonu “Ob okhrane okruzhaushchei sredy” (postatei’nyi’) [Scientific-practical commentary to the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection” (itemized)] // E.N. Abanina, A.P. Anisimov, A.V. Kodolova etc. / Edited by A.P. Anisimova. Мoscow, 2010.
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