The State Duma will soon examine a draft of a Federal law aiming to lower protection status of federally protected natural areas. The proposed bill provides for partial or complete elimination of any protected area in the following cases:

— if “nature objects were ruined/damaged”
— if it is necessary to “guarantee protection and safety of the State”
— if it is necessary for construction of linear infrastructure, such as roads, electric power lines, oil and gas pipelines, et.c.

It is obvious that reasons for eliminating a protected area are not clearly defined in this bill and allow for broad interpretation. For example, regular fires, windfall, or droughts in wild forests can be interpreted as “damage of nature objects,” while building a cottage for employees of Ministry of Defense can be presented as guaranteeing protection of the state. As for the necessities of construction, the bill might make it easier to eliminate a protected area rather than to conduct an environmental impact assessment.

The federal law in draft was examined and approved by the Soviet of the State Duma on January 24, 2006, and then sent out to solicit commentaries from Ministries and agencies. The deadline for commentaries is 5 March 2006.

25/02/2006