Legal Regulation of Environmental Impact Charges

General Provisions

The legal regulation of the fee for negative impact on the environment is aimed at compensating for damage caused to the environment by economic and other activities. In accordance with the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection," negative impact includes emissions, discharges, soil and subsoil pollution, waste disposal, noise and physical effects, as well as other types of influence on ecological systems. The fee for such impact is mandatory and regulated by the state.

The procedure for calculating and collecting the fee is established by the Government of the Russian Federation. At the same time, paying the fee does not exempt economic entities from carrying out environmental protection measures and compensating for the damage caused. This approach ensures a comprehensive mechanism of economic liability, encouraging compliance with environmental standards and reducing negative impact on nature.

The question of the nature of the environmental impact fee has sparked discussions in legal literature. Experts argue that the fee is not a tax, as tax legislation does not classify it as such. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation emphasized that these payments have an individual-reimbursable and compensatory character and constitute a fiscal levy for state measures aimed at protecting and restoring the environment.

The amount of the fee is determined taking into account basic norms established for each type of pollution, the degree of danger of substances, and natural factors of regions. Additional coefficients are introduced that take into account the ecological significance of territories, natural-climatic conditions, and socio-cultural characteristics. The fee is calculated as the product of rates applied to the volume of pollution and summed up by types of harmful impact.

Enhancing coefficients are provided for exceeding pollution limits, and in the absence of permits, the entire mass of pollutants is considered to be beyond the limit. The economic effect of the fee is divided: payments within permissible norms are included in the cost of production, while fees for exceeding pollution limits affect the profit of the natural resource user. This mechanism encourages companies to minimize environmental damage and ensures a fair distribution of the economic consequences of environmental risks.

Negative impact on the environment is the effect of economic and other activities, the consequences of which lead to negative changes in the quality of the environment (Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection").

Negative impact on the environment is payable. Types of negative impact on the environment include: emissions of pollutants and other substances into the atmosphere; discharges of pollutants, other substances, and microorganisms into surface water bodies, groundwater bodies, and catchment areas; contamination of subsoil and soil; placement of waste from production and consumption; pollution of the environment by noise, heat, electromagnetic, ionizing, and other types of physical impacts; and other types of negative impact on the environment.

The procedure for calculating and collecting payment for negative impact on the environment is established by the Government of the Russian Federation. Payment for negative impact on the environment does not exempt subjects of economic and other activities from carrying out measures to protect the environment and compensating for damage to the environment (Article 16 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection").

In ecological and legal literature, the issue of whether the payment for negative environmental impact constitutes a tax generates discussion. According to N.I. Khlyudeneva, although the legal nature of payments for negative environmental impact and existing tax payments in the country are largely similar, at present it is not possible to classify this type of payment as a tax payment – the Russian Tax Code does not include this type of payment among any of the taxes established on the territory of the Russian Federation¹.

In the Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 10.12.2002 No. 284-О² it is noted that payments for the negative impact on the environment are mandatory public-law payments (within the framework of financial and legal relations) for the state's implementation of activities aimed at protecting the environment and its restoration from the consequences of economic and other activities exerting a negative influence on it within the limits of the norms established by the state regarding permissible impact. They have an individual-reimbursable and compensatory nature and, in terms of their legal nature, are not a tax but a fiscal fee.

In the Procedure for Determining the Fee and Its Maximum Amounts for Polluting the Natural Environment, Waste Disposal, and Other Forms of Harmful Impact³, two types of base fee norms are provided for: 1) for emissions, discharges of pollutants, waste disposal, and other forms of harmful impact within permissible norms; 2) for emissions, discharges of pollutants, waste disposal, and other forms of harmful impact within established limits (temporarily agreed norms).

Basic rates of payment are established for each ingredient of a pollutant (waste), type of harmful impact, taking into account the degree of their danger to the surrounding natural environment and public health. For certain regions and river basins, coefficients are applied to the basic rate of payment, which take into account ecological factors - natural and climatic characteristics of territories, the significance of natural and socio-cultural objects. Differentiated rates of payment are determined by multiplying the basic rates of payment by coefficients taking into account ecological factors.

The payment for polluting the surrounding natural environment in amounts not exceeding the permissible norms of emissions, discharges of pollutants, volumes of waste placement, levels of harmful impact established for the environmental user is calculated by multiplying the corresponding payment rates by the magnitude of the specified types of pollution and summing the resulting products by types of pollution.

The fee for polluting the surrounding natural environment within established limits is determined by multiplying the applicable rates of the fee by the difference between the limit and permissible emission levels, discharges of pollutants, volumes of waste disposal, levels of harmful impact, and summing up the resulting products by type of pollution.

The fee for exceeding the limit in polluting the surrounding natural environment is determined by multiplying the applicable rates of the fee for polluting within established limits by the amount of excess of the actual mass of emissions, discharges of pollutants, volumes of waste disposal and levels of harmful impact over the established limits, summing up the resulting products by type of pollution, and multiplying these sums by a fivefold increasing coefficient.

In the event that a natural resource user does not have a properly issued permit for emissions, discharge of pollutants, or waste disposal, the entire mass of pollutants is considered to be exceeding the permitted limits⁴. According to G.P. Serov, the fee for polluting the environment within established permissible norms should be charged to production costs (cost of goods). This means that ultimately, these payments are passed on to consumers. Such a position is fully justified, as society as a whole should bear the cost of negative impacts that cannot be avoided at the current level of technology and processes if it wishes to consume certain material benefits. The fee for pollution exceeding established norms is charged to the profit remaining in the disposal of natural resource users⁵.