ENVIROMENTAL STANDARDS AND LEGISLATION

Azerbaijan

The legislation for the protection of nature in Azerbaijan is based on the principles proclaimed in the Constitutional Act of Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, adopted in 1995, and the Law on "Nature Protection".

According to these principles, the following objectives are pursued:

• Establishing regulations for environmental impact studies

• Improving the existing set of ecological standards and harmonizing it with the standards recommended by the European Union

• Pollution reduction by use of economic mechanisms

• Enhancing ecological education

• Advancing the cooperation with regional and international organizations for nature protection

• Transferring the financial responsibility for pollution damages to the polluter

• Improvement of the environmental monitoring system

The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan states that the natural environment and the natural resources belong to the people of Azerbaijan. According to articles 7, 42 and 67 of the Constitution the people of Azerbaijan are obligated to protect nature and to guard its resources. For the benefit of the present and future generations the Government must rationally use the land and its natural resources, preserve the purity of water and air, favor the reproduction of natural resources and protect the environment.

Principal Laws

The following laws cover the main aspects of environmental protection in Azerbaijan:

• the Constitutional Act of Independence, adopted on December 18, 1991;

• the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 1995

• the Law on "Nature Protection", adopted February 25, 1992

• the Provisions of the State Committee on Ecology (September 7.1992) according to the Presidential Decree No.176

• the Norms and Standards of fees for the use of natural resources and penalties for environmental pollution (March 3.1992)

• the Provisions for Water Use

Economic Legislation in Environmental Protection

The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan, adopted March 3, 1992 (No.122) "Payment for the use of natural resources, estimate of the charges incurred for environmental pollution and the use of natural resources" introduces financial compensation for the utilization of nature. It is based on the principle "Polluter pays". The charges are imposed by Goscomecology through its local and regional committees.

Physical and legal persons are charged according to the Code on Administrative Violations and amendments according to the Law on "Nature Protection" of the Republic of Azerbaijan, adopted in 1992. At the moment this law has no provisions for taxation incentives, but it stipulates penalties, which are used for the renovation of existing and construction of new nature protection facilities.

The planning organizations propose the permissible waste disposal norms, which have to be confirmed by Goscomecology for the construction of new nature protection facilities. The top permissible water discharge and waste disposal norms are revised and amended every 5 years following the advancement of technology and environmental requirements. A special department of Goscomecology sets the standards for maximum permissible water discharge and waste disposal.

For obtaining a special license for waste disposal the documents presented must contain detailed information on the location of the site, its name and technological processes, existing regional and local norms and a forecast of the waste discharge. In the event that the plants does not have a discharge license the penalties are ten times higher than the usual ones. In case the discharges exceed the permissible norms according to the license the operation of the plant can be stopped.

Current standards for environmental protection in Azerbaijan

Iran

Principal Laws

Article 50 of the Iranian constitution refers to preservation of the environment. According to this article all activities which may cause serious damage to environment are prohibited.

Based on the above article the “Water Pollution Control Act ' and “Air pollution Control Act” have been passed by the parliament and are now acting laws. The water pollution act refers to all establishments which use water and produce effluents. All effluents should be treated before disposal. The standard of treatment and the quality of treated wastewater is controlled by the Department of Environment (D.O.E.). Institutions which cause damage to the environment could face fines and penalties, or be closed down or face other preventive measures provided by the law.

The air Pollution law, which came into force in 1996, is a similar act. Apart from these two acts, other regulations concerning water pollution are in use. The "Water Resources Preservation" act allows the authorities in the Ministry of Power (M.P.) to control water consumption and preservation. It also indicates that the (M.P.) should provide adequate potable water and sanitation for all cities in the country. The Ministry of Jihad must do so for villages. Another law, which affects the industrial development of the Caspian region and provinces of Gilan & Mazandaran, is the regional development law, which provides limitations for the type and size of industrial plant to be established. Only agriculturally based industries are allowed to operate freely. Others must seek special permission, which are is issued without a thorough environmental impact assessment.

The Iranian standard for effluent discharge

This standard has been prepared in accordance to the water pollution act (1994).

• All effluents must reach the said standards before discharge into environment.

• The responsible sources, should imply the best or the most appropriate technology for their effluent treatment.

• Measuring the quality and concentration of the effluent should be done on the final point of discharge.

• Sludge and other solid material produced in the treatment plant should also become stabilized and harmless to the environment before discharge.

• Foul smells, foaming and floating materials should not be felt or observed in treated effluent.

• Measuring the quality of effluent must be in accordance with " Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water " - A.W.W.A , 1991).

• Dilution of final effluents is not acceptable.

• Evaporation, for solidification or water reduction, can be practiced as long as it dose not create harmful vapors.

• Bypassing in wastewater treatment plants is prohibited.

Standards for concentrations of pollutants

Kazakhstan

As a result of the recently gained independence of Kazakhstan as a sovereign country, the environmental legislation is presently undergoing significant modification and many of the state ministries and institutes are in the process of reorganization. Many of the new Kazakh laws are in the draft stage. Consequently, many of the older regulations and standards from the USSR are still used as references and guidelines.

Laws of Kazakhstan

Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic Law on Environmental Protection.

Enacted June 18,1991.

Contains overall provision for environmental protection in Kazakhstan.

A second version of this law has been prepared, debated and submitted to the Parliament for approval.

Kazakh Republic Law on the Protection, Reproduction, and Utilization of Wildlife

Enacted May 30, 1992

This law addresses wildlife protection in general.

Kazakh Republic Law on Ecological Examination in the Republic of Kazakhstan (Draft of 1993.)

Outlines procedures to be followed for preparation of environmental assessment (EA) reports by government authorities.

Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Petroleum.

Enacted June 28,1995.

This decree pertains to the legal aspects of petroleum operations; general environmental issues are discussed in Chapters 5 and 6.

Kazakh Republic Code on Subsoil and the Processing of Mineral Raw Materials.

Enacted May 30,1992.

Chapter 14 of this Code addresses environmental requirements for depletion of mineral resources.

Kazakh Republic Law on Ecological Expertise.

A draft has been discussed and submitted to the Parliament for approval

This law contains all requirements of ecological expertise.

Land Code of the Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic.

Enacted November 16,1990.

Specifies requirements for obtaining land use permits from regional authorities for both agricultural and non-agricultural purposes, including petroleum exploration.

Kazakh Republic Code on Water.

Enacted March 31,1993,Nr. 2061-XII.

Specifies requirements for protecting water and for managing water resources.

Kazakh Republic Code on Forests.

Enacted January 23,1993,Nr 1924-XII.

Specifies requirements for protecting forests and management forests resources.

Unified Technical Rules on operation and construction of oil, gas and condensate wells and fields of Kazakhstan Republic (1995)

Technical and ecological requirements for the drilling and testing of wells.

Safety Rules (of safe levels) in oil and gas industry of Kazakhstan Republic (1995)

Technical and ecological requirements for wells drilling and oil and gas production.

Common Rules of Exploration of oil and gas fields (1996)

Technical and ecological requirements for exploration of oil and gas fields

Governmental Decree of the Republic of Kazakhstan N 772

Enacted June 24,1996

Prerequisites for permissions for construction and exploitation of artificial islands, dams, and construction of platforms for oil extraction

Governmental Decree of the Republic of Kazakhstan N 693.

Enacted June 5,1996

Prerequisites for permissions for onshore exploration, associated with onshore oil operations

Decree of the President on "The International Consortium on Appreciation of oil and gas potential of Kazakhstan's part of the Caspian " N 1517

Enacted January 24,1994

Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers N 1215 “On Organizing the International Consortium for Appreciation of the oil and gas potential of Kazakhstan's part of the Caspian ".

Enacted December 3,1993

This document provides the formation of an International Consortium which consists of the "Kazakhstancaspyshelf" state company, "Agip”, “British Gas”, “British Petroleum" and "Statoil", "Mobil", "Shell" and "Total".

Cabinet of Ministers Decree N 936, “on producing of geophysical research.”

Enacted September 23,1993

The Cabinet of Ministers allows to carry out geophysical research, exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons in the reserve zone of the northern part of the Caspian .

Decree of the Counsel of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR N 284 "On including the aquatory and flood-lands of the Ural river into the reserve zone of the Northern part of the Caspian ."

Enacted July 13,1978

Decree of the Counsel of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR ?252"On Declaring the northern part of the Caspian a reserve zone."

Enacted April 30, 1974

Decree of the USSR's Counsel of Ministers ? 246 "On complementary measures for further development of the geological prospecting works in the Northern part of the Caspian "

Enacted February 26, 1987

FSU guidelines and standards still in use

The (USSR) Professional Instructions on Use of Assessment of Environmental Impact for the Construction of Commercial Objects and Complexes "OVOS".

Issued May 1991, valid as of June 1993. Although a USSR document, OVOS is presently being used in Kazakhstan.

OVOS contains specific of the instructions for preparing an EIA and specifies the type of information that should be included and the presentation format.

List of Permissible Concentration Limits (MPC) and Applicable Approximate Safe Levels (OBUV) in the Atmosphere in Populated Areas (1992), Ministry of Health USSR; Chief Sanitary and Epidemiological Department(1985).

Issued 1985 in the USSR. The PDK/OBUV list is still used by the Kazakhstanian authorities.

The document comprises a very extensive list of atmospheric contaminants with the corresponding MPC limits for discharges, and the OBUV concentrations for ambient conditions.

USSR Drinking Water Standards and Quality Control GOST 2874 -82 (1982).

Issued 1982 in the USSR. This GOST Standard is presently used by the Kazakhstanian authorities.

GOST 2874-82 contains list of pollutants and their maximum permissible concentration for drinking water.

USSR Sanitary Rules and Norms surface water and reservoirs GOST 4630-88 (1988).

Issued 1988 in the USSR. The MPC/OBUV list is presently used by the Kazakhstanian authorities.

Describes effluent limits for discharges into surface and ground water.

Norms on Safe levels of Radiation NRB-76 and Basic Sanitary Rules of Safe Work with Radioactive Materials and other Sources of Radiation OSP-72/80.

First issued in 1981 revised in 1987.

Contains requirements for limiting exposure of people to radiation and for preventing and monitoring releases of radiation. It was updated after the Chernobyl accident.

Instructions for Writing the Chapter on Environmental Protection in a Feasibility Study SNIP 1.02.01-85 (1987).

Issued 1987 in USSR. The SNIP Instruction is presently used by the Kazakhstanian authorities.

Includes guidelines on air pollution, surface and ground water, wildlife recultivation and protection of natural resources. It is intended for use by environmental authorities.

Engineering and Design Norms VNTP 3-85 (1985).

Issued 1985 in USSR. The VNTP Norms are presently used by the Kazakhstanian authorities.

Includes various design requirements that should be followed in the preparation of any project, including safety, fire prevention and environmental issues (air, land and water protection).

Instructions for Environmental Protection during Onshore Drilling of Oil and Gas Wells - RD 39-022-90.

Issued 1990 in USSR. The VNTP norms are presently used by the Kazakhstanian authorities.

They include various design and operation requirements that should be followed for onshore oil and gas projects, including coordination with local authorities, protection of the vegetation, proper fuel storage, minimization of off-road traffic, prevention of soil contamination and environmental education of employees.

GOST 17.1.3.06-82 (ST SEB 3079-82).

General requirements for groundwater protection.

GOST 17.1.3.05-82 (ST SEB 3078-81).

General requirements for the protection of surface and ground water from contamination by oil and oil products.

GOST 17.1.3.10-83 (ST SEB 3545-82).

General requirements for the protection of surface and groundwater from contamination by oil and oil products during pipeline transport.

GOST 17.1.3.12-86.

General rules for prevention of contamination of water for onshore oil and gas drilling and production.

GOST 17.1.3.13-86 (ST SEB 4468-84).

General requirements for the protection of surface water from pollution.

GOST 17.4.3.02-85 (ST SEB 4471-87).

Requirements for soil preservation.

GOST 17.5.3.04-83 (ST SEB 5302-85).

General requirements for recultivation of land.

GOST 17.5.3.06-85.

Requirements for protection of fertile soil horizon.

GOST 17.2.3.02-18.

Rules for determination of emission limits for industry.

GOST 12.1.003-83.SSBT.

General requirements for noise protection.

GOST 12.1.005-76.SSBT.

General sanitary-hygienic requirements for the atmosphere in working areas.

GOST 12.1.007-76.SSBT.

Classification and general safety requirements for harmful materials.

GOST 12.1.008-76.SSBT.

General biological safety requirements.

GOST 12.3.002-75 (ST SEB 1728-79).SSBT.

General safety requirements.

GOST 25-440-82.

General vibration guidelines.

GOST 27436-87.

Permissible levels for traffic noise and methods of measuring.

GOST 19880-74.

General guidelines for electric equipment.

GOST 26-14-2007-83.

General technical requirements for gas and dust cleaning equipment.

SN 245-71.

Sanitary norms for designing industrial enterprises.

SNIP 11-32-74.

Norms of designing and constructing sewage facilities and exterior pipelines.

SNIP 11-31-74.

Norms for designing and constructing water supply systems and water pipelines.

SNIP II-35-76.

Design norms and rules for heating buildings.

SNIP 1.02.01-85.

Instruction for writing the chapter "Environmental Protection" in a Project Plan.

VSN 39-86. Instruction on Project Documentation for the Installation of Oil and Gas Wells, Moscow, VNIIVENG,1987.

Russia

Laws and standards

The issues, related to the use and protection of water resources of the Russian federation, are regulated by the water legislation of the Russian Federation, consisting of the “Water Code of the Russian Federation” and federal laws and other legal acts, that are adopted in accordance with that Code, as well as laws and other legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation. Water legislation of the Russian Federation regulates relations in the field of protection and use of water bodies in order: to provide citizens with clean water; to maintain optimum conditions for water use; to guarantee the quality of surface and ground water, so that it meets the sanitary and environmental requirements; to protect water reservoirs from pollution, littering and exhaustion; to prevent or mitigate damage caused by water and preserve the biodiversity of aqueous ecosystems.

The “Water Code of the Russian Federation”, adopted in October, 1995, subdivides water bodies into: surface waters; inland marine waters; territorial s of the Russian Federation and ground water.

The set of quality standards for the environment primarily includes sanitary-hygienic norms. Observation of those standards guarantees safe and optimum conditions for human life. The indices are maximum permissible concentrations (MPC) of pollutant in the environment. At present MPCs for more than 1,000 chemicals in water, 250 in the atmosphere and more than 30 in soil have been adopted.

According to the Law of the Russian Federation “On the sanitary-epidemiological well-being of the population” of April 19,1991, special norms and acts set criteria of safety and/or harmlessness of environmental factors and habitats and specify requirements for favorable conditions for the population.

Among the regulating acts pertaining to water quality are:

Statute on the state sanitary-epidemiological standardization, adopted by the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of June 5, 1994 No 625;

State standard 2874-82. Drinking water. Hygienic requirements and quality control.

State standard 17.1.3.08-82. Environmental protection. Hydrosphere. Rules for water quality control.

State standard 17.1.4.01-80. Environmental protection. Hydrosphere. General requirements to the methods for the identification of oil products in natural and waste waters.

State standard 17.1.5.01-80. Environmental protection. Hydrosphere. General requirements for methods for bottom sediments sampling in water objects for pollution analysis.

State standard 17.1.5.05-85. Environmental protection. Hydrosphere. General requirements to the methods for the sampling of surface and water, ice and precipitation.

State standard 2874-82. Drinking water. Hygienic requirements and quality control.

Sanitary norms and rules “Requirements for the water quality of decentralized water-supply. Sanitary protection of sources.” Sanitary Norms and Rules 2.1.4.544-96;

Hygienic norms - ?? 2.6.1.054-96 “Norms of radioactive safety” (NRS-96).

State standard 2761-84. “Sources of centralized economic-drinking water supply. Hygienic and technical requirements and rules of selection”;

Guidelines on drinking water quality control. World Health Organization. (Geneva, second annotated edition, 1994)

At present hygienic requirements for drinking water are determined by the State standard 2874-82. It will be replaced by the sanitary rules and norms “Drinking water. Hygienic requirements for the water quality of centralized drinking water supply systems” (Sanitary Norms and Rules 2.1.4.559-96.

The complete list of documents, regulating water quality, contains several hundreds of titles.

Depending on basic requirements to drinking water, that should be safe in terms of epidemiology and radioactivity, harmless in chemical composition and possess favorable organoleptic qualities, its quality characteristics should be determined in four major field:

1. Microbiological indices show if the water meets adopted standards by total content of microorganisms of the bacillus group.

2. The chemical composition of drinking water is standardized by concentrations of substances of anthropogenic origin, distributed; toxic compounds, most frequently occurring in natural waters on the territory of the Russian Federation; pollutants, coming to water supply sources as a result of human economic activities, as well as chemical compounds, coming into water or forming there during water treatment. Among standardized chemical indices are total mineralization, oxidation, concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons, surface active substances (SAS), phenols, heavy metals, some chloroorganic pesticides, etc.

3. Radioactive safety of drinking water is determined by the ability to meet standards of total alpha- and beta-activity (0,1 and 1,0 Bk/l respectively).

The organoleptic qualities of water are determined by characteristics such as smell, taste, color and turbidity, absence of film on the surface and water organisms that can be seen with the naked eye.

According to the water legislation of the Russian Federation, discharge of waste water (recycled water) into water objects (both inland and marine waters) is one of the types of special water use and is only allowed with a special permit (license). The admissible composition of discharged water is regulated by the requirements for the water quality for discharge into surface or marine water bodies. For that purpose maximum permissible discharges (MPD) of substances are calculated for each discharge. Observation of those standards should secure the adequate water quality of a water body. MPDs are set under consideration of the category of water use, background concentrations of various substances in a water body, its assimilating ability and hydrological regime.

Climatic, hydrological and sanitary conditions, oceanographic characteristics (deep currents, density and temperature stratification, turbulent diffusion, etc.) should be taken into account in the course of construction of deep outlets of wastewater into coastal waters of s.

The measures for the protection of water bodies in the Russian Federation are regulated by the Rules of Protection of Surface Waters (1991) and the Rules on Protection of Coastal Marine Waters from Pollution (1984). Unified norms of water quality in water bodies were established for conditions of economic-drinking, municipal and fishery water use.

Categories of water

The use of water bodies or their parts as sources of drinking water supply for commercial purposes, including water use at enterprises of the food industry, relates to commercial use of drinking water.

Municipal water use includes the use of water bodies for recreational purposes and relates to all parts of water bodies, located within the limits of settlements.

Fishery water use includes the use of water bodies as fish habitats, for reproduction and migration of fish and other aquatic organisms. Fishery water bodies or their parts may be qualified as one of three categories:

“Highest Category” is required for spawning grounds, mass breeding and wintering depressions of especially valuable and valuable fish species and other commercial aquatic organisms, as well as protective zones of farms for breeding of fish, aquatic animals and mariculture;

“First Category” is for water bodies, used for conservation and reproduction of valuable fish species that are highly sensitive to concentrations of dissolved oxygen in water;

“Second category” designates water bodies for other fishery purposes.

Rules for MPCs of water bodies for fishery are stricter than for other purposes. The dependence of MPCs on the use of water becomes stricter in the following order: for commercial drinking water (I); for cultural-municipal purposes (II); for fishery use (III). Thus, MPC for oil products for water bodies of types I/II and III are 0,1 and 0,05 mkg/l, respectively. Wastewater, containing substances, for which MPCs have not yet been established or for which no analytical methods exist are banned from being discharged into any water body.

Wastewater, including treated waste water, may not be discharged into water bodies of the highest category for fishery use, as well as into marine water bodies for fishery, reproduction and conservation of valuable fish species or on migration routes of fish.

Concentration standards of many water pollutants, adopted in Russia, even for commercial drinking or municipal purposes, are stricter than in most other countries..

In Eastern Europe unified criteria of water quality in water bodies were established for about 40 harmful substances, while presence of such pollutants as phenols, oil products, copper, zinc, chromium, iron is determined in each country according to values of domestic standards.

It should be mentioned that the majority of environmental standards, applied in the Caspian littoral states that were FSU republics have been harmonized by the standards adopted before 1992. This is an important factor that facilitates further harmonization of the legal framework in these countries.

Turkmenistan

Applied and envisioned sets of environmental standards

The departments of the Ministry of Water Economy (Minvodhoz) regulate the distribution of water to velayats and etraps. Water for domestic use is regulated by municipal-services of authorities as agreed with Minvodhoz, the corporation Turkmengeology and the Ministry of Environment.

The Ministry of Melioration and Water Economy and its subsidiaries in the velayats manage the water resources together with the industrial associations “Remvodhoz” (the former regional administration of irrigation systems) and “Remvodstroy” a construction and maintenance organization.

Water quality is categorized in terms of usage: drinking water, water for irrigation, waste water. The Ministry of Nature Use and Environmental Protection regulates the use of superficial waters according to the Instruction NVN 33-5.01.02-83. The use of ground water is regulated by “Turkmengeology”.

The quality of water for irrigation in regard to mineral content and pollution is regulated GOST 17.1.2.03-90 “Protection of Nature and Hydrosphere. Criteria and Parameters for Quality of Water for Irrigation.”

The quality of drinking water is regulated by GOST 2974-82 “Drinking Water. Criteria for pollution of surface water”.

The quality of collector-drainage water in regard to danger for watering of cattle, bathing, fishing in collectors, etc., is regulated by

GOST 17.1.3.04-82 “Protection of nature. Hydrosphere. General requirements for the protection of surface and ground water from pollution by pesticides”

GOST 17.1.3.05-82 “Protection of nature. Hydrosphere. General requirements for the protection of surface and ground water from pollution by petroleum and petroleum”;

GOST 17.1.3.11-84 “Protection of nature. Hydrosphere. General requirements for the protection of surface and ground water from pollution by mineral fertilizers”

The index of pollution of water (IPW) is defined by the concentration of dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, phenols, petroleum, nitrates and nitrites.

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Section 9

Section 10

Section 11

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