During his visit, the Minister held a meeting of the Interagency Commission for the Protection of Lake Baikal. As a result of the meeting, Sergei Donskoi instructed the executive authorities of the Republic of Buryatia, the Irkutsk Region and the Trans-Baikal Territory to upgrade the state oversight over the treatment of waste in the central environmental zone of the Baikal Natural Area. “We should continue developing the system to treat solid domestic waste, which should include laws and regulations to be followed by the constituent entities and some practical steps such as building waste treatment facilities, clearing litter from the shores of Baikal, as well as providing record keeping and reporting,” he said.
He pointed out the failure of the Irkutsk Region Government to carry out the Federal Government’s instructions and recommendations after a meeting at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in June 2013, including instructions on substantiating the environmental safety of the types of activities proposed for exclusion from the List of Activities Banned in the Central Environmental Zone of the Baikal Natural Area. The Irkutsk Region Government, according to Mr Donskoi, should take the necessary steps to draw up environmental feasibility studies of proposals to expand the range of business activities in the central environmental zone to enable the Federal Government to prepare materials and draft legislation in accordance with the procedures stipulated by federal law. The Minister explained: “The Government is not seeking to ban everything. Socioeconomic activity must be developed, but in accordance with legislation and with due account of the main protective parameters for Lake Baikal, including the balance of socioeconomic and environmental factors.”
Mr Donskoi issued instructions to set up a working group under the Interagency Commission for the Protection of Lake Baikal, which would revise the List of Activities Banned in the Central Environmental Zone of the Baikal Natural Area. The working group will include representatives of federal executive authorities, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Energy, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and the expert community. The working group should study the proposals submitted by the Government of the Irkutsk Region with due account of introducing the best technologies and enhancing the economic accessibility of projects, as well as identify priorities until the end of September of this year. In keeping with Sergei Donskoi’s instruction, an organisation will be selected under the aegis of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet) until the end of August of this year, which will combine all types of monitoring with respect for the unique ecosystem of Lake Baikal.
The Minister instructed the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) to develop a single comprehensive, permanent programme for overseeing the Baikal Natural Area and to ensure the regular monitoring of compliance with environmental legislation in the water conservation zones of rivers flowing into Lake Baikal.
As he wound up the meeting, Mr Donskoi said: “I’d like to once again emphasise this: our work to preserve the unique ecosystem of Lake Baikal and our moves with regard to business and other activities in the BNA and primarily its central environmental area should be in strict conformity with the special status of Lake Baikal as an UNESCO Natural World Heritage site.”
Source: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
