Ministry of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine is sneakily abolishing the state ecological expertise

By making life easier for developers, the Ministry thus ignores the constitutional right of citizens to safe and healthy environment, the provisions of existing legislation and some international obligations. Public indignation is also caused by the fact that draft explanatory notes to these bills cynically state that these regulatory acts do not require consultation with public*.

According to experts, such rulemaking could be damaging to the environment of Ukraine and will put the country back for decades, ruling out possibility for fulfilling international obligations, especially on the preparation of the Association Agreement between EU and Ukraine.

“The proposed changes do not meet the EU-Ukraine Association Agenda and its priorities for 2010 in part of promoting involvement of citizens in decision-making in general and in the development and implementation of Ukrainian legislation in the frames of harmonization of Ukraine’s legislation with the EU legislation, including impact assessment, strategic assessment, access to information in the field of environment and public participation,” said indignantly Hanna Holubovska-Onisimova, president of the environmental NGO “MAMA-86”. “Also, if passed, they would be inconsistent with several provisions of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context ratified in 1999 and Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters ratified by Ukraine in 1998, because such changes will leave unresolved issues of environmental impact assessment and participation of public in decision-making process, particularly in environmental impact assessment. Proposed changes to legislation can bring to naught all attempts to introduce horizontal environmental policy of European type in Ukraine”, Holubovska-Onisimova added.

* State officials decided to remove from the list of subjects of state ecological expertise (and thus of sanitary-epidemiological and several other security expertise) feasibility studies and estimates, projects for construction and renovation (expansion, modernization) of enterprises and other subjects that may adversely affect the environment. This initiative completely contradicts the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Protection”, Law of Ukraine “On ecological expertise”, which provide for necessity of ecological expertise in the process of lawmaking, investment, administrative, economic and other activities affecting the environment.

At the same time, the proposed changes pose a threat of ignoring public interests that is currently carried out in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On planning and construction of areas” which is planned to be replaced by the Law “On Regulation of City Planning”; this will also affect the abolition of provisions of State construction standards of Ukraine DBN A.2.2-1 -2003 “Design. Structure and content of environmental impact assessment materials in the design and construction of enterprises, buildings and structures”, which provide for direct participation of public in environmental impact assessment.

This material was prepared in the frames of the public monitoring of Ukraine’s implementation of its commitments to the European Union in environmental policy, which is also part of the project “Strengthening Participation of Environmental Organizations of Ukraine in the Development of EU-Ukraine Relationship”, supported by the European Program of the International Renaissance Foundation.

Contact persons: Hanna Holubovska-Onisimova, President of the All-Ukrainian Environmental NGO “MAMA-86”, coordinator of the project “Strengthening Participation of Environmental Organizations of Ukraine in the Development of EU-Ukraine Relationship”, anna@mama-86.org.ua, Daryna Nakonechna, coordinator of the projects of the European Program, IRF, nakonechna@irf.kiev.ua.

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All-Ukrainian Environmental NGO “MAMA-86”works since 1990 to promote environmental consciousness in policy making in Ukraine for transition to sustainable development. Website: www.mama-86.org.ua