The State Ecological Inspectorate has developed a draft order of the Cabinet of Ministers on the Strategy for Reforming the State Environmental Control System and its Implementation Plan for 2024-2026 and announced the start of its public discussion.
The document aims to formulate and implement a policy of state environmental control for the medium term, the State Environmental Inspectorate reports.
It is noted that the reform will help create a system of state environmental control that will ensure:
- protection of the environment and will prevent its deterioration;
- fixing and determining damage to the environment and bringing it to justice, in particular as a result of Russia's armed aggression.
The explanatory note emphasized that the Strategy takes into account policies in the EU, other international organizations, as well as national needs and priorities, in particular regarding green recovery. It will be implemented in two stages during 2024-2026 and 2027-2028.
The achievement of the Strategy's goals will be evaluated based on the results of the implementation of three-year plans and annual reports. Based on the assessment, proposals for further implementation of the reform will be formed.
The press service of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources emphasized that in order to implement paragraph 8 of the Peace Formula "Environmental Safety and Wildlife Conservation" of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a reform of state environmental control is needed. In addition, the reform will help create a European-style environmental control system.
The new system of state environmental control provides for:
- monitoring and preservation of natural ecosystems to prevent damage, rather than waiting for complaints and statements and spot visits to the enterprise. Patrol and emergency response services will work around the clock;
- reduction of the territory of control by one eco-inspector – currently the specialist is responsible for 447 m2 of the territory, and after the reform it will decrease to 75.5 m2;
- changing approaches to financing, personnel policy and strengthening the material and technical base;
- transparency of control measures and openness of information thanks to the "EkoZagroza" application, which will become the main tool of work of eco-inspectors for photo and video recording of offenses and collection of evidence base.
"In order to increase the range of measurements and the accuracy of research, it is planned to create 12 modern measuring laboratories similar to European ones with the involvement of international assistance," the press service said.
Comments and suggestions to the document will be accepted for one month, i.e. until April 6. They can be sent to the postal address: 3 Novopecherskyi Lane, Building 2, Kyiv, 01042, (044) 521-20-33 and e-mail: info@dei.gov.ua.
As you know, the draft law No. 3091 "On State Environmental Control" was registered in 2020 and has been awaiting a second reading since 2021.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets said that the reform of the State Environmental Inspectorate is one of the priorities for 2024.
Earlier, EcoPolitic analyzed how the reform of the State Environmental Inspectorate unfolded.
