Public hearings for environmental impact assessment in Russia - changes in legislation and practice of performance 2021-2022

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the issues of changing in the legislation of the Russian Federation on environmental impact assessment in terms of informing the public about new projects. Significant changes that have occurred in the practices and requirements of legislation, including one connected with the COVID-19 pandemic, have made changes, among other things, in the ways of informing the public - it has become possible to hold public discussions and inform the public remotely. With a low level of interest of the general public in the results of the impact assessment, the remote format of public discussions did not make fundamental changes. The main changes of 2021-2022 that occurred in the part of public discussions are presented in the Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation No. 999 dated December 1, 2020 “On approval of requirements for environmental impact assessment materials”, and the permissibility of using a remote format for public discussions is given in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 440 of April 3, 2020 “On the Extension of Permits and Other Features in Relation to Permitting Activities in 2020-2022”.