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- As circumstances dictate: utility companies want to be exempt from environmental charges due to sewage
As circumstances dictate: utility companies want to be exempt from environmental charges due to sewage
Utility companies want to be exempt from paying for environmental damage due to sewage discharges. The relevant bill from United Russia senators and deputies may be considered as early as the autumn session, Izvestia has learned. The authors of the initiative believe that water utilities do not have enough funds to modernize worn-out drainage networks built in Soviet times, and the load on them has increased. Therefore, it is proposed to exempt them from additional expenses in the case of an existing wastewater treatment program. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment conceptually supports the bill, provided it is finalized, but the Accounting Chamber opposed it: the auditors did not consider the existence of a wastewater treatment program to be a reason for refusing compensation for damage.
Why do housing and communal services companies want to give relief
Housing and communal services enterprises can be exempted from payment for environmental damage (OS) associated with the discharge of sewage and other wastewater. Such a bill by deputies and senators of the State Duma may be considered in the first reading in October, Izvestia found out. The document provides for amendments to the Law on Environmental Protection. According to the initiative, large water utilities with a discharge volume of more than 20 thousand cubic meters per day will be able not to pay compensation for damage to water bodies, provided that measures are taken to reduce discharges and the indicators provided for in their environmental programs are achieved.
"The purpose of this initiative is to increase the motivation of investors to invest in environmental protection measures to improve water quality and protect the state's water resources. This will create an additional incentive for organizations to actively participate in reducing the negative impact on the environment and ensure the achievement of sustainable socio-economic development of the regions," says the explanatory note, which was reviewed by Izvestia.
It also notes that in recent years, Russia has tightened the requirements for the quality of wastewater treatment. However, due to population growth, equipment wear and changes in wastewater composition, including due to the widespread use of household chemicals, many wastewater treatment plants were not technologically ready to meet the new standards. The situation is also aggravated by the fact that almost all of their infrastructure was built back in Soviet times, the document says.
To change the situation, utilities need significant investments, which they do not have. At the same time, all sewage infrastructure facilities are in municipal ownership, and their deep reconstruction is possible only with the involvement of budget financing, the authors of the initiative note in the explanatory note.
At the same time, Rosprirodnadzor regularly conducts inspections of existing sewage treatment plants. According to their results, multimillion-dollar lawsuits are filed against resource-supplying organizations for compensation of environmental damage.
"This state of affairs entails the risks of bankruptcy of organizations that ensure the livelihoods of the population, and excludes the possibility of systematic implementation of measures to improve the quality of wastewater treatment," the document's developers justify the need to refuse to compensate for damage caused by wastewater discharges.
In their opinion, the funds currently allocated for payments on such claims could be used to implement environmental programs of water utilities. This will improve the ecological well-being of the population and improve the condition of reservoirs.
— The bill will not worsen the environmental situation. On the contrary, it will increase the investment attractiveness of investments in the modernization of wastewater treatment plants. The more money there is, the sooner it will be possible to solve the problem of pollution," Pavel Zavalny, one of the authors of the bill, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy, told Izvestia.
The relevant State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and environmental protection told Izvestia that the initiative had been sent to interested departments to receive feedback. The government's press service reported that the document had been received, but the position on it had not yet been formed.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment told Izvestia that they conceptually support the bill, provided it is finalized.
— It is proposed not to present harm calculated for wastewater disposal organizations during the period of implementation of measures to reduce pollutant discharges. If the indicators stipulated by the environmental efficiency program or the action plan are not achieved, the damage must be presented in full," the press service of the department explained.
They also noted that the final position of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be formed after coordination with the interested federal authorities and consideration in the government.
Pros and cons of the new rules
As Izvestia found out, the Russian Accounting Chamber has already given a negative opinion on the initiative. In the document, the agency informs that, despite the authors' justifications for the need to adopt the bill, the law "On Environmental Protection" is in force in Russia, according to which the requirements in the field of OS protection must be observed during the operation of water supply systems. In the same law, there is a requirement that legal entities or individuals who have caused environmental damage are obliged to compensate for the damage in full, the control body noted.
"Thus, in the opinion of the Accounts Chamber, the mere existence of an environmental efficiency improvement program or an environmental protection action plan cannot be a reason to exempt the owners of wastewater disposal facilities from compensation for damage caused by the OS," the agency said in its conclusion.
They also explained to Izvestia that the financial and economic justification for the draft law does not include calculations of the lost revenues of the budget system, which will arise if the proposed changes are adopted.
"In connection with the above, the bill was not supported by the Accounting Chamber," the control body added.
The Russian Association of Water Supply and Sanitation (RAV) editorial board stated that the bill is very important and needed by the entire industry.
"We believe that the new regulations will have a positive impact on the industry by exempting water utilities from paying large amounts of damage during expensive and capital—intensive work to reduce pollutants into reservoirs," RABBI Elena Dovlatova, executive Director, told Izvestia.
According to her, it would be advisable to extend the bill not only to large water utilities with a flow volume of over 20 thousand cubic meters per day, but also to smaller enterprises that carry out environmental protection measures.
"In general, the bill, together with the decisions already taken by the government on the minimum indexation (4%) of water utility rates for negative environmental impact, will enable the industry to implement environmental programs for which funds are currently sorely lacking," she is convinced.
According to environmentalist and leader of the Green Patrol movement Andrey Nagibin, logic is present in the bill.
— For enterprises that are classified as hazardous, such as petrochemical plants, there are already so-called integrated environmental resolution programs, which are aimed at ensuring that businesses themselves actively participate in the elimination of pollution. It is quite realistic for such a mechanism to appear for water utilities," the expert argues.
However, according to him, public utilities will not have enough money to implement it, even if they are allowed to use funds from fines for damage to nature. Andrei Nagibin believes that, first of all, they need financial support from the state, especially when it comes to municipal property.
The flood situation in Tyumen on August 6 shows how infrastructure enterprises, in particular the vodokanal, efficiently cope with emergencies precisely within the framework of current regulation, without any relaxation, Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative, told Izvestia.
According to him, the recently adopted amendments already make it possible to replace some of the fines for businesses with obligations to invest in their own infrastructure. Therefore, all additional exemptions should be treated as carefully as possible, so as not to lose the preventive effect of administrative sanctions and not provoke business to unscrupulous behavior, the expert added.
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