Legal Regime of Environmental Information

General Provisions

The legal regime of environmental information in the Russian Federation represents a system of norms and rules regulating the collection, storage, use, and dissemination of information on the state of the environment. Although the term "environmental information" is not precisely defined in domestic legislation, its legal status is formed through general provisions of the Information Law, the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection," and international standards, including the Aarhus Convention. Environmental information covers data on the state of the natural environment, the impact of economic activities, environmental protection measures, and the health status of the population.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the right of every individual to reliable information on the state of the environment, and federal legislation specifies the forms and procedures for its provision. Citizens, public organizations, and legal entities may obtain information on pollution, natural resources, and measures for their protection, while government authorities are obliged to ensure the completeness, timeliness, and reliability of such information. The legal regime of environmental information is aimed at protecting citizens' environmental rights and ensuring transparency in state environmental oversight.

Access to environmental information is also regulated by provisions of federal legislation on state secrets and on information. Information on the state of the environment shall not be classified, except in cases threatening the safety of citizens or state secrets. Violation of these norms, including refusal to provide information or its distortion, entails administrative or criminal liability, which is stipulated in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The liability system for concealing or providing unreliable environmental information includes fines for individuals, officials, and legal entities, as well as deprivation of liberty and prohibition from holding certain positions in particularly serious cases. These measures are aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability of government agencies and organizations responsible for environmental protection and informing the public.

However, experts note that the actual application of criminal liability in the field of environmental information is limited. Practice shows that most violations are handled by administrative bodies, and initiating criminal cases in the environmental sector is an extremely rare occurrence. This highlights the need for further improvement of the legal regime of environmental information and increasing public oversight of compliance with environmental rights.

The current legislation of the Russian Federation does not contain a definition of the term "environmental information". However, paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the Federal Law "On Information, Information Technologies and on Protection of Information" (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Information)¹ provides a general definition of the term "information", which refers to data (messages, information) regardless of their form of representation.

The definition of the term "ecological information" is not contained in the Information Law, nor does it exist in other normative legal acts. We believe that for clarifying the content of the term "ecological information," great importance is attached to the definition proposed in environmental law science. The definition of the term "ecological information" is proposed in scientific literature. According to G.V. Vykhanovaly, ecological information refers to any information (messages, data on the state of the environment and its components, their changes under the influence of negative economic and other activities, sources of such activities, measures taken, etc.) regardless of the form of presentation, characterizing the state and specific features of the sphere of interaction between society and nature, necessary for environmental protection, rational use of natural resources, ensuring ecological safety, protecting life and health of citizens, as well as being significant for ensuring public, personal and state ecological interests and needs, implementation and protection of ecological rights of citizens and legal entities².

The definition of the term "environmental information" is contained in the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters³. This convention is referred to as the Aarhus Convention due to the place of its adoption. According to the Convention, environmental information means any information in written, audiovisual, electronic or any other material form about: a) the state of elements of the environment such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural objects, biological diversity and its components including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction between these elements; b) factors such as substances, energy, noise and radiation, as well as activities or measures, including administrative measures, environmental agreements, policy, legislation, plans and programmes that have or may have an impact on elements of the environment; c) the state of human health and safety, living conditions of people, the condition of cultural objects, buildings and structures to the extent that they are affected or may be affected by the state of elements of the environment (part 3 of article 2 of the Aarhus Convention). According to M.V. From this definition, which in fact represents a list of ecologically significant information included in the composition of this concept, it can be concluded that the term "environmental information" in terms of its content is significantly broader than the term "information on the state of the environment" used in Russian legislation⁴.

According to Article 42 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, everyone has the right to a favorable environment, reliable information about its condition, and to compensation for damage caused to their health or property by an environmental violation. The above provision of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is clarified in paragraph 1 of Article 11 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection," according to which every citizen has the right to a favorable environment, protection of the environment from negative impact caused by economic and other activities, natural and man-made emergencies, reliable information about the state of the environment, and compensation for damage to the environment. Among the main principles of environmental protection, there is provided the principle of ensuring everyone's right to obtain reliable information about the state of the environment (Article 3 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection").

To the powers of the state authorities of the Russian Federation in the field of relations related to environmental protection, including ensuring the population with reliable information on the state of the environment (Article 5 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection"). Whereas the powers of the state authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the field of relations related to environmental protection, including participation in providing the population with information on the state of the environment within the territory of the subject of the Russian Federation (Article 6 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection").

Among the rights of citizens in the field of environmental protection is the right to submit appeals to the federal executive authorities, the executive authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, local self-government bodies, other organizations and officials regarding obtaining timely, complete and reliable information on the state of the environment in areas where they reside, as well as measures for its protection (paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection"). Then, public and other non-profit organizations engaged in environmental protection activities have the right to address federal state authorities, state authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, local self-government bodies, other organizations, and officials for timely, complete, and reliable information on the state of the environment, measures taken to protect it, as well as on circumstances and facts of economic and other activities posing a threat to the environment, people's lives, health, and property (paragraph 1 of Article 12 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection").

According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, everyone has the right to freely seek, obtain, transmit, produce and disseminate information in any lawful manner. The list of information constituting state secrets is determined by federal law (paragraph 4 of Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). At the same time, access to information on the state of the environment cannot be restricted (point 2 of paragraph 4 of Article 8 of the Information Law). According to Article 7 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On State Secrets"⁵, the following information shall not be classified as state secrets or subject to classification: information on emergencies and disasters threatening the safety and health of citizens, as well as their consequences, and on natural disasters, their official forecasts and consequences; information on the state of ecology, public health, sanitation, agriculture; information on violations of human rights and freedoms (including environmental ones); information on violations of legality by state authorities and their officials (including in the areas of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources).

At the same time, officials who have made decisions to classify the aforementioned information or to include it in carriers of information constituting state secrets for this purpose bear criminal, administrative, or disciplinary liability depending on the material and moral damage caused to society, the state, and citizens. Citizens have the right to appeal such decisions in court.

For example, Article 5.39 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses provides for administrative liability for refusal to provide information. According to this article, unlawful refusal to provide information to a citizen and (or) an organization, failure to timely provide such information or providing knowingly false information, except in cases provided by Article 7.23.1 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses⁶, entails imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount from one thousand to three thousand rubles. Article 8.5 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses establishes administrative liability for concealment or distortion of environmental information. According to the above article, concealment, intentional distortion or untimely provision of complete and reliable information on the state of the environment and natural resources, on sources of pollution of the environment and natural resources or other harmful impact on the environment and natural resources, on the radiation situation, as well as distortion of information on the condition of land, water bodies and other environmental objects by persons obliged to provide such information, entails imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount from five hundred to one thousand rubles; on officials - from one thousand to two thousand rubles; on legal entities - from ten thousand to twenty thousand rubles.

Article 140 of the Russian Criminal Code provides for criminal liability for refusal to provide information to a citizen. According to this article, an unlawful refusal by an official to provide documents and materials collected in accordance with established procedures, directly affecting the rights and freedoms of a citizen, or providing incomplete or deliberately false information to a citizen, if these acts have caused harm to the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, shall be punished by a fine of up to two hundred thousand rubles or in an amount equal to the offender's salary or other income for a period of up to eighteen months, or by deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of two to five years. Article 237 of the Russian Criminal Code provides for criminal liability for concealing information about circumstances creating a danger to human life or health. According to the above article, concealing or distorting information about events, facts, or phenomena that create a danger to human life or health or to the environment, committed by a person who is obliged to provide such information to the population and authorized bodies responsible for taking measures to eliminate such danger, is punishable by a fine of up to three hundred thousand rubles or in an amount equal to the offender's salary or other income for a period of up to two years, or compulsory labor for a term of up to two years with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for a term of up to three years or without such disqualification, or deprivation of liberty for a term of up to two years with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for a term of up to three years or without such disqualification. The same acts, if committed by a person holding a federal government position or a government position of a subject of the Russian Federation, or by the head of a local self-government body, or if as a result of such acts harm to human health is caused or other serious consequences occur, shall be punished by a fine in the amount from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the convicted person's salary or other income for a period of one to three years, or by compulsory labor for a term up to five years with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for a term up to three years or without such disqualification, or by deprivation of liberty for a term up to five years with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for a term up to three years or without such disqualification.

At the same time, according to S.A. Bogolyubov, it is not possible to rely on Art. 140 "Refusal to provide information to a citizen" and Art. 237 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Concealment of information about circumstances creating a danger to human life or health," due to the modern indifference of society to such phenomena, the practical absence of such criminal cases, and the difficulty in initiating them in the field of ecology, which is even greater than initiating administrative cases⁷.