Ministry of Natural Resources drafts new bill on air pollution fines

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has produced a draft bill titled “On Amendments to the Administrative Code,” which proposes introducing responsibility for failure to comply with required standards for quoting polluting emissions.
According to the paper, people who refuse to submit information for completing summary air pollution estimates may face penalty, writes Izvestia on Friday, citing the ministry’s press service.
We suggest, in particular, to add additional portions to Art. 8.21 of the Russian Federation’s Code of Administrative Offenses, which will show responsibility for breaching the legislation’s necessary conditions for conducting an experiment on quotas for pollutant emissions into the air.
For example, the Ministry of Natural Resources’ press staff indicated to the magazine that refusing to submit information for summary estimates of air pollution or refusing to design and implement plans to meet quotas is punishable under the legislation.
According to the publication, authorities will be penalized 20,000 rubles for breaking the new regulations, while individual businesses and legal organizations would be fined 200,000 rubles. If the infringement is repeated, a fine of up to 500,000 rubles will be imposed.
The new guidelines were drafted on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko, according to the ministry. The deadline for presenting the bill to the government is also understood to be October 30. He will thereafter be transferred to the State Duma.