Legal regime of zones of ecological disaster and zones of emergency situations

General Provisions

The legal regime of zones of ecological disaster and emergency zones reflects the specifics of regulating territories with impaired environmental conditions and increased threat to the population.

Historically legislation distinguished both zones of ecological disaster and zones of extraordinary ecological situations, however, current legislation retains only the first category, while the second has been abolished.

At the same time, emergency zones are regulated separately and are associated with sudden natural or man-made events.

The key difference lies in the nature of impact: zones of ecological disaster are formed as a result of prolonged and systematic deterioration of the environment, whereas emergency situation zones arise due to acute, sudden incidents.

Despite this, in scientific literature they are often combined under the concept of ecologically disadvantaged territories.

Legal regulation of these areas includes procedures for their establishment, operation, and lifting of special status, as well as comprehensive measures for protecting the population and restoring the natural environment.

Improving legislation in this area remains an urgent task aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of environmental policy and preventing degradation of the environment.

The previously applicable Law of the RSFSR dated December 19, 1991, No. 2060-1 "On the Protection of the Natural Environment" provided for two types of zones: 1) zones of environmental disaster; and 2) zones of extraordinary environmental situations.

Zones of ecological disaster, according to the aforementioned law, were declared to be territories [territories](/enc/33369/ "Definition of the term 'territory' in the legal encyclopedia) of the Russian Federation where as a result of economic or other activities, deep irreversible changes in the surrounding natural environment occurred, leading to [significant deterioration of public health](/enc/26852/ "Definition of the term 'Significant deterioration of public health' in the legal encyclopedia), [violation](/enc/32659/ "Definition of the term 'violation' in the legal encyclopedia) of natural balance, destruction of natural ecological systems, degradation of flora and

fauna (Part 1 of Article 59 of the Law of the RSFSR dated December 19, 1991, No. 2060-1 "On the Protection of the Natural Environment").

Then areas [territories](/enc/33369/ "Definition of the term «Territories» in the legal encyclopedia) of the Russian Federation were declared zones of extraordinary ecological situations where sustained negative changes in the surrounding natural environment, threatening the health of the population, the condition of natural ecological systems, and the genetic funds of plants and animals occur as a result of economic and other activities (part 1 of article 58 of Law No. 2060-1 dated December 19, 1991 of the RSFSR "On Environmental Protection").

As noted by S.A. Bogolubov, since the beginning of the 1990s, legislation has included such a form of the organizational and legal mechanism for environmental protection as declaring territory a zone of ecological disaster or a zone of emergency ecological situation, although no fundamental differences between them were apparent in legislation from the beginning¹.

A similar position is held by M.M. Brinchuk, according to whom the law did not establish a principled difference between zones of emergency ecological situations and zones of ecological disaster. In both cases, the text referred to territory areas with degraded surrounding environment. However, in relation to zones of emergency ecological situations it was stated that these are areas where sustained negative changes in the surrounding natural environment occur. As for zones of ecological disaster, it was said – these are areas where such changes have occurred

profound irreversible changes to the natural environment

In practice, it is difficult to determine the nature of changes: whether they are stable or profound, whether they have occurred or are still occurring. And therefore, despite the seriousness of the environmental situation in many regions of the country, the institute of ecologically problematic territories has not functioned in practice in Russia. Indeed, another obvious reason for this was the lack of financial resources required for the ecological rehabilitation of degraded territories².

In the current Federal Law "On Environmental Protection," Chapter VIII (chapter) (zones of ecological disaster, emergency situation zones) is provided, which contains only one article (article) (Article 57 Order for establishing zones of ecological disaster, emergency situation zones). Thus, zones of ecological disaster existed in the previous law and remain in the current one. Whereas zones of extreme environmental situations were abolished. The aforementioned zones should not

Do not confuse them with zones of emergency situations. If the previously established zones of ecological emergency situations were set up as a result of long-term negative impact on the environment, then the zones of emergency situations provided for by current legislation are established due to an abruptly occurred emergency situation of natural or man-made character³.

  ***Law of RSFSR dated 19.12.1991 No. 2060-1 "On Protection of the Natural Environment"***  ***[Federal Law](/enc/18664/ "Definition of the term «Federal Law» in the legal encyclopedia") dated 10.01.2002 No. 7-FZ "On Environmental Protection"***  ***Features of Zones***    Zones of Ecological Disaster  yes  yes  Established as a result of ***long-term*** negative impact on the environment    Zones of Extraordinary ***Ecological*** Situations  yes  no    Zones of Emergency Situations  no  yes  Established as a result of ***sudden*** emergency situation    

Zones of ecological disaster and emergency situations in scientific literature are often denoted by a general term. For example, S.A. Bogolyubov⁴ refers to such zones as «zones of environmental adversity», while M.M. Brinchuk uses the term «environmentally adverse territories»⁵ in relation to these zones.

In scientific literature, there is a proposal for improving legislation regarding these zones. For example, A.P. Anisimov argued for the need to improve the legislation of the Russian Federation and subjects of the Russian Federation on zones of ecological adversity by introducing amendments to Article 7 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, which should provide for another category of land in the land fund of Russia - "lands of ecological adversity". The current legislation includes

a separate category of land only particularly protected territories and objects, forgetting about another type of territory with a special ecological and legal status⁶.

Among the main federal laws defining the legal regime of ecological disaster zones and emergency situations, the following can be mentioned: Federal Law "On Environmental Protection"; Federal Law "On Safety"⁷; Federal Law "On Protection of Population and Territories from Natural and Technological Emergency Situations"⁸; Federal Law "On Fire Safety"; Federal Law "On Road Safety"⁹; Federal Law "On Industrial Safety of Hazardous Production Facilities". By the legal regime of an ecologically unfavorable territory, M.M. Brinchuk understands a set of

rules on declaration, ensuring the functioning of such territories and removal of their special status¹⁰.

1. Institutes of Environmental Law / Ed. by author's group, resp. ed. S.A. Bogolyubov. Moscow, 2010. Pp. 382-383. ↩
2. Brinchuk M.M. Environmental Law: textbook. Moscow, 2010. P. 576. ↩
3. See more: Gorbachev A.N. Legal Regulation of Remediation of Ecologically Unfavorable Zones: diss... candidate of juridical sciences. Moscow, 1999. ↩
4. Institutes of Environmental Law / Ed. by author's group, resp. ed. S.A. Bogolyubov. Moscow, 2010. P. 382. ↩
5. Brinchuk M.M. Environmental Law: textbook. Moscow, 2010. Pp. 560–590. ↩
6. Anisimov A.P. Theoretical Foundations of the Legal Regime of Lands

settlements in the Russian Federation: abstract of a dissertation ... doctor of juridical sciences. Saratov, 2004. pp. 14–15. ↩
7. Federal Law No. 390-FZ dated December 28, 2010 "On Security" // Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation. 2011. No. 1. Art. 2. ↩
8. Federal Law No. 68-FZ dated December 21, 1994 "On Protection of Population and Territories from Emergencies of a Natural and Technological Nature" // Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation. 1994. No. 35. Art. 3648. ↩
9. Federal Law No. 196-FZ dated December 10, 1995 "On Road Safety" // Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation. 1995. No. 50. Art. 4873. ↩
10. Brinchuk M.M. Environmental Law: textbook. Moscow, 2010. p. 577. ↩