Nesterova I.A. Administrative environmental offenses // Encyclopedia of the Nesterovs

Every year, environmental problems are accumulating in the world. In Russia, the fight against violations in the field of ecology has become a very important aspect of administrative and other branches of law. In this light, the question of the application of the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (CAO RF) in the field of environmental protection and nature management is of great interest.

Environmental offenses and administrative liability

In modern Russian law, environmental crimes are subject to administrative liability in accordance with the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Chapter 8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation "Administrative offenses in the field of environmental protection and nature management" is responsible for administrative environmental offenses. It includes 42 articles that unite 70 independent administrative offenses.

If you carefully study the compositions presented in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, then questions arise related to what the crimes relate to. Whether they belong to the field of environmental protection or to the field of nature management.

Violation of legal norms in the field of ecology leads to environmental offenses. This is another kind of illegal behavior of people or their associations.

An environmental offense is a guilty, unlawful act or omission that infringes on the environmental legal order established in the Russian Federation and causes harm to the natural environment or actually creates a threat of such infliction.

A distinctive element of the composition of an environmental-administrative offense from an environmental crime is that its subjects can be both individuals and legal entities, including business entities of various forms of ownership and subordination, as well as foreign organizations and citizens.

The current legislation regulates the age of bringing to administrative responsibility for environmental crimes.

The age at which a person can be held administratively liable for environmental offenses, subject to physical health and sanity, is 16 years.

Article 9 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On Environmental Protection" states: "The harm caused to the health and property of citizens by the negative impact of the environment as a result of economic and other activities of legal entities and individuals is subject to compensation in full."

Administrative environmental offenses have an objective and subjective side. The subjective side characterizes the mental attitude of an individual to the committed act and its consequences and has a certain specificity.

D.Yu. Gladyshev characterizes the subjective side of an environmental and legal violation as the mental attitude of the offender to his unlawful behavior, which can manifest itself in action or inaction.

The intent of an administrative environmental offense can be intentional or negligent.

In the process of studying the features of administrative environmental offenses, a difference was established between an environmental-administrative offense and other types of environmental-legal violations. The differences are not only in the subject and the subjective side, but also in the level of public danger.

Types of administrative environmental offenses

Administrative responsibility is established for violation of the rules for the protection and use of certain natural resources and natural complexes

Types of administrative responsibility for environmental offenses:

• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of land is established for damage to land;
• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of subsoil is provided for violation of the requirements for the protection of subsoil and hydro-mineral resources;
• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of waters is regulated for violation of the procedure for granting for use and the regime for the use of land and forests in water protection zones and coastal strips of water bodies;
• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of resources of natural complexes is established for violation of the rules (standards, norms) or license conditions regulating activities in inland sea waters, in the territorial sea, on the continental shelf and (or) in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation;
• liability for violation of the regulatory requirements for the protection of atmospheric air is provided for violation of the rules for the protection of atmospheric air;
• responsibility for violating the rules for the protection and use of forest resources is established for violating the procedure for allocating cutting areas, surveying logging sites in forests that are not included in the forest fund, violating forest use rules, violating the rules for secondary forest use, violating fire safety rules in forests;
• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of wildlife is provided for the destruction of animal habitats;
• responsibility for violation of requirements in the course of work in the field of hydrometeorology, monitoring of environmental pollution and active impacts on hydrometeorological and other geophysical processes.

The point of view of I.B. Kalinin, who proposed the classification shown in the figure below.

According to I.B. Kalinin, "this classification is based on a system of social relations that arise in the process of resource use."

A significant drawback of this concept is that, based on such an important object of environmental and legal relations as nature management, it does not affect such objects of the offense as the environment as a whole and its individual elements.

For a more complete study of the types of environmental and administrative offenses, it is necessary to proceed from the following classification, dividing administrative environmental violations into two main groups:

1. Offenses against property rights in the field of the environment (Articles 7.1-7.11, 8.6, 8.26, 8.28 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) and the right to receive reliable information about the state of the environment (Articles 8.5, 10.7 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation);
2. Offenses against the established rules of environmental protection and nature management. In this group, it is possible to single out both offenses that can have various elements of the environment as their object, and those that affect only specific elements. Universal offenses are contained in articles 8.1-8.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

In administrative and legal science, a number of special violations are distinguished, which are presented in the figure below.

The basis of the division in this case is the object of the offense, but the purpose of the classification is to distribute the elements of the system of administrative offenses in the field of environmental protection in a certain logical sequence, which allows us to more clearly explore this institution of administrative law.

Literature

1. The Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993, taking into account the amendments introduced by the Laws of the Russian Federation on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of December 30, 2008 N 6-FKZ, of December 30, 2008 N 7-FKZ // Parliamentary newspaper, N 4, 23-29.01. 2009
2. Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses of December 30, 2001 N 195-FZ, as amended. dated 12.03.2014 with amend. and add., intro. in force from 04/01/2014 // "Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation", 01/07/2002, N 1 (part 1), art. one.
3. Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation of July 24, 2002 N 95-FZ, as amended. dated 04/22/2013 // Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 07/29/2002, N 30, art. 3012
4. Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" dated January 10, 2002 N 7-FZ (current version, 2016)// / Consultant Plus. Prof. version - - M, 2016.
5. Gladyshev D.Yu. Some features of legal liability for environmental offenses // Legal technique Issue No. 6 / 2012 - P. 126-129
6. Ermakova L. Environmental offenses: Concept and distinctions // Ecological law. - 2004. - No. 4. - S. 8-9.
7. Kalinin I.B. Natural resource law - Tomsk: Publishing House Vol. university, 2009
8. Pakalov D.S. Environmental offenses: structure and causes // Gaps in Russian legislation. Legal Journal Issue No. 1 / 2012. S. -226-228

Environmental offenses entail disciplinary, administrative, criminal liability.

Disciplinary responsibility comes for environmental offenses committed in connection with the performance of labor, official duties.

It is regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. By virtue of Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the following disciplinary measures may be applied: remark, reprimand, dismissal from work in case of systematic failure to comply with the requirements of environmental legislation.

Labor relations of persons working at transport enterprises, the nuclear industry and other organizations whose activities pose an increased danger are regulated by the Charters on discipline and other acts. For committed environmental offenses, employees of such enterprises are subject to special disciplinary responsibility. So, in accordance with clause 10 of the Charter on the discipline of employees of organizations with especially hazardous industries in the field of the use of atomic energy, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 10, 1998. No. 744, the following types of disciplinary sanctions are applied: a warning about incomplete service compliance; transfer with the consent of the employee to another, lower-paid job or another, lower position for a period of up to three months; transfer, with the consent of the employee, to work not related to work in a particularly hazardous production in the field of the use of atomic energy, taking into account the profession (specialty) for a period of up to one year; dismissal from the position held, related to work in a particularly dangerous production in the field of the use of atomic energy, with the provision, with the consent of the employee, of other work, taking into account the profession (specialty); dismissal for a single violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of the use of atomic energy from among the offenses provided for in Art. 61 of the Federal Law "On the Use of Atomic Energy", if the consequences of this violation pose a threat to the safety of the organization and pose a danger to human life and health.

If, as a result of an environmental offense, harm was caused to an enterprise (organization), an employee may also be held liable in the manner prescribed by Articles 232, 233, 238-248 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Administrative liability occurs in the event of an environmental offense and is regulated by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (CAO RF).

Administrative responsibility for:

Offenses in the field of protection of ownership of natural resources: unauthorized occupation of a land plot (Article 7.1. of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), use of subsoil without a license for the use of subsoil or in violation of the conditions stipulated by the license for the use of subsoil, and (or) the requirements for approval in the prescribed manner of technical conditions (Art. 7.3. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); unauthorized development of mineral deposits (Article 7.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), unauthorized extraction of amber (Article 7.5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), unauthorized occupation of a water body or use of it in violation of the established conditions (Article 7.6 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); unauthorized occupation of a forest fund site or a forest site that is not included in the forest fund (art.

7.9. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); unauthorized assignment of the right to use land, subsoil, forest fund plot; a forest plot not included in the forest fund or a water body (Article 7.10 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); use of wildlife objects without permission (Article 7.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); damage to a hydraulic, water management or water protection structure, device or installation (Article 7.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); destruction of special signs - boundary and other information signs, monitoring wells, objects of the observation network, etc. (Article 7.2. Administrative Code of the Russian Federation);

Offenses in the field of regulation of environmental relations: violation of the legislation on environmental expertise (Article 8.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); concealment or distortion of environmental information (Article 8.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the procedure for granting for use and the regime for the use of land plots in water protection zones and coastal strips of water bodies (Article 8.12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the procedure for allocating cutting areas, surveying logging sites in forests that are not included in the forest fund (Article 8.24 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); disobedience to the lawful order of an official of the body exercising state supervision (control) (Article 19.4. of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), failure to comply on time with a legal order (decree, presentation of the body (official) exercising state supervision (control)) (Article 19.5. of the Code of Administrative Offenses) of the Russian Federation), failure to take measures to eliminate the causes and conditions conducive to the commission of an administrative offense (Article 19.6. of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), failure to provide information (information), incl. environmental (Article 19.7. of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the deadlines for considering applications (petitions) for the provision of land plots or water bodies (Article 19.9. of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); violation of the rules for the extraction, production, use, circulation, receipt, accounting and storage of precious metals, precious stones or products containing them (Article 19.14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), non-compliance with the procedure for state registration of rights to real estate or transactions with it, incl. h. in relation to natural resources (Article 19.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation);

Offenses in the field of environmental protection and individual natural resources; non-compliance with environmental requirements in the implementation of urban planning activities and the operation of enterprises, structures and other objects (Article 8.1. Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); non-compliance with environmental and sanitary and epidemiological requirements when handling production and consumption waste and other hazardous substances (Art. 8.2. Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for handling pesticides and agrochemicals (Art. 8.3. Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), damage to land (Art. 8.6. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); non-fulfillment of obligations for land reclamation, mandatory measures for land improvement and soil protection (Article 8.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); use of land for other purposes, failure to fulfill obligations to bring land into a condition suitable for use for its intended purpose (Article 8.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for protecting the right of way of roads (Article 11.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the requirements for protection of subsoil and hydro-mineral resources (Article 8.9 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for the protection of water bodies (Article 8.13 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for the operation of water management and water protection facilities, devices (Article 8.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); violation of the rules for the disposal of waste and other materials in internal sea waters, in the territorial sea, on the continental shelf and (or) in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation (Article 8.19 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for the protection of atmospheric air (Article 8.21 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) , commissioning of motor vehicles in excess of the established standards for the content of pollutants in emissions or noise levels (Article 8.22. Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), operation of motor vehicles in excess of the standards for the content of pollutants in emissions or noise levels (Article 8.23. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), illegal logging, damage to forest plantations or unauthorized digging of trees, shrubs, lianas in forests (Article 8.28. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); destruction of forest infrastructure, as well as hayfields, pastures (Article 8.30 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); violation of the rules of sanitary safety in forests (Article 8.31 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of fire safety rules in forests (Article 8.32 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for protecting the habitat or migration routes of animals (Article 8.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the established the procedure for the creation, use or transportation of biological collections (Article 8.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), the destruction of rare and endangered species of animals or plants (Article 8.35 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for the protection of fish stocks (Art. 8.38. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for the protection and use of natural resources in specially protected natural areas (Article 8.39 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), failure to comply with the requirements of the norms and rules for the prevention and elimination of emergency situations (Article 20.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation);

Violations in the field of nature management: use of land for other than its intended purpose, failure to fulfill obligations to bring land into a condition suitable for use for its intended purpose (Article 8.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the requirements for the rational use of subsoil (Article 8.10 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules and requirements for conducting work on the geological study of subsoil (Article 8.11 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for water use (Article 8.14 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), violation of those regulating activities in inland sea waters, the territorial sea, on the continental shelf and (or) in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation of standards (norms, rules) or license conditions (Article 8.17. Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for conducting resource or marine scientific research in internal sea waters, in the territorial sea, on the continental shelf and (or) in the exclusive economic zone RF (Article 8.18 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for the use of forests (Article 8.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), unauthorized use of forests, violations e rules for the use of forests for agriculture, the destruction of forest resources (art. 8.26. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for the use of wildlife objects (Article 8.37 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of requirements in the implementation of work in the field of hydrometeorology, monitoring of environmental pollution and active influence on hydrometeorological and other geophysical processes (Article 8.40 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation); violation of the rules for the use of airspace (Article 11.4. Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); violation of the rules of navigation (Article 11.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation);

Violations in the field of transformation, reclamation of natural resources: carrying out reclamation work in violation of the project (Article 10.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules for the operation of reclamation systems and separately located hydraulic structures (Article 10.10 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), violation of the rules of reforestation, rules of afforestation, rules for forest care, rules for forest seed production (Article 8.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Administrative penalties are applied by officials of state environmental control bodies, sanitary and epidemiological supervision and bodies exercising control over the use and protection of certain natural resources: state land control, geological control, forest protection, state hunting supervision and others.

The following administrative penalties apply to offenders:

· a warning;

· confiscation of hunting, fishing and other tools for committing an environmental offense, including vehicles used in committing an offense;

confiscation of illegally obtained products;

deprivation of the right to hunt;

· suspension and annulment of a license to carry out licensed types of environmental activities, licenses to use natural resources;

Suspension, termination of work, activities of enterprises (organizations), individual workshops, units and other objects;

· Termination of nature management, withdrawal of natural resources from users.

The subjects of administrative responsibility are citizens of the Russian Federation, foreigners, stateless persons, Russian and foreign legal entities, officials of enterprises (organizations), state authorities, local governments.

Criminal liability is regulated by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of 1996. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has Chapter 26 Environmental Crimes, which contains articles providing for criminal liability:

· Article 246 for violation of the rules of environmental protection in the course of work;

· Article 247 – violation of the rules for handling environmentally hazardous substances and wastes;

· Article 248 - violation of safety rules when handling microbiological or other biological agents or toxins;

· Article 249 - violation of veterinary rules and rules established for the fight against plant diseases and pests;

· Article 250 – water pollution;

· Article 251 – air pollution;

· Article 252 – pollution of the marine environment;

· Article 253 – violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation on the continental shelf and on the exclusive ecological zone of the Russian Federation;

· Article 254 - damage to the land;

· Article 255 - violation of the rules for the protection and use of subsoil;

· Article 256 – illegal extraction (catch) of water ecological resources;

· Article 257 - violation of the rules for the protection of aquatic biological resources;

· Article 258 – illegal hunting;

· Article 259 - destruction of critical habitats for organisms listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation;

· Article 260 - illegal logging of forest plantations;

· Article 261 – destruction or damage of forest plantations;

· Article 262 - violation of the regime of specially protected natural areas and natural objects.

In addition, Article 358 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for criminal liability for ecocide - the mass destruction of flora or fauna, poisoning of the atmosphere or water resources, as well as the commission of other actions that can cause an ecological catastrophe.

Criminal liability is provided for violating the environmental rights of citizens and public associations. Thus, under article 140 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, criminal liability arises for the unlawful refusal to provide citizens with environmental information, for the provision of incomplete or deliberately false environmental information, under article 149 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - for unlawfully obstructing the holding of a meeting, rally, procession, picketing or participation in them, or coercion to participate in them, under Article 141 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - for obstructing the exercise of the right to participate in referendums on environmental issues and Article 142 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - for falsifying documents of such referendums, knowingly establishing their results incorrectly, violating the secrecy of voting.

Crimes that are not directly related to environmental crimes, qualified under Art. 215 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - for violation of safety rules at nuclear power facilities, if this could lead to radioactive contamination of the environment, art. 220 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - illegal handling of nuclear materials or radioactive waste, art. 236 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules, art. 237 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - concealment of information about circumstances that create a danger to the environment, art. 243 - destruction or damage to natural complexes or objects taken under state protection.

Citizens of the Russian Federation, foreigners, stateless persons, officials and employees of enterprises (organizations) of all forms of ownership and subordination, officials of public authorities and local governments can be held criminally liable for environmental crimes.

Environmental crimes entail the application of various criminal penalties:

correctional work,

deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities,

· deprivation of liberty.

Most often taking place in the field of nature management and environmental protection. Administrative responsibility is expressed in the application by the competent authority of the state of administrative penalties for committing an environmental offense. Regulated by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and environmental legislation. A special chapter is devoted to administrative offenses in the field of environmental protection and liability for their commission ( ch. 7) Code of Administrative Offenses.

Administrative responsibility, in contrast to disciplinary responsibility, occurs not only for officials and citizens, but also for legal entities.

The Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses provides for the following types of administrative penalties for committing administrative offenses:

1. Warning;

3. Paid seizure of an item that was an instrument of committing or a direct object of an administrative offense;

4. Confiscation of an item that was an instrument for committing or a direct object of an administrative offense;

5. Deprivation of a special right granted to this citizen ( driving license, hunting license);

7. Administrative arrest.

At the same time, it is provided ( Art. 25 of the Code) that the paid seizure and confiscation of items that are important in the field of environmental protection, especially wild fauna, can be applied as main and additional administrative penalties, while other administrative penalties can be applied only as main ones.

For one administrative offense, a main or main and additional penalty may be imposed. When imposing an administrative penalty, the nature of the offense committed, the personality of the offender, the degree of his guilt, property status, circumstances mitigating and aggravating responsibility are taken into account.

The Law "On Environmental Protection" provides for the following types of environmental offenses that entail administrative liability:

1. Failure to comply with standards, norms and other environmental quality standards;

2. Failure to fulfill the obligations to conduct the state environmental review and the requirements contained in the conclusion of the environmental review, as well as to provide deliberately incorrect and unreasonable expert opinions;

3. Violation of environmental requirements during planning, feasibility study, design, placement, construction, reconstruction, commissioning, operation of enterprises, structures, production lines and other facilities;

4. Pollution of the environment and causing damage to human health, flora and fauna, property of citizens and legal entities as a result;

5. Damage, damage to natural objects, including natural monuments, depletion and destruction of natural reserves and natural ecological systems;

6. Violation of the established procedure or rules for obtaining, collecting, harvesting, selling, buying up, acquiring, exchanging, sending, importing and exporting objects of flora and fauna, their products, as well as botanical, zoological and mineralogical collections abroad;

7. Failure to comply with mandatory measures to restore the disturbed natural environment and the reproduction of natural resources;

8. Failure to comply with the instructions of the bodies exercising state environmental control;

9. Violation of environmental requirements for the neutralization, processing, disposal, storage or disposal of industrial and household waste;

10. Failure to comply with environmental requirements when using in the national economy and burial of radioactive materials, chemical and other harmful substances;

11. Exceeding the established levels of radiation exposure, etc.

One of the most common measures of administrative responsibility for environmental offenses is a fine. The specific amount of the expected fine depends not only on the nature and type of the offense committed, the degree of guilt of the offender and the harm caused, but is also determined by the powers granted to the relevant body imposing the fine.

Penalties for administrative environmental offenses are imposed by specially authorized state bodies in the field of environmental protection, regulation of the use of natural resources in accordance with their competence. The right to apply these measures is vested in special commissions under the executive authorities, internal affairs bodies, officials of control and supervisory bodies. Measures of administrative responsibility are applied without recourse to the court and according to a prohibited procedure. Penalties are most clearly and actively applied for violation of water legislation

The amounts of fines collected are transferred to special accounts of state environmental funds. As usual, a decision to impose an administrative fine can be appealed to a court or arbitration court. The payment of a fine does not release the perpetrators from the obligation to compensate for the harm caused by the offense.

Bringing to responsibility in the form of a fine, regardless of its amount, does not relieve the guilty person from the obligation to compensate for the harm caused. This is due to the fact that the fine, although it is of a material nature, is a measure of punishment, not compensation for harm; the amount of the fine does not go to the victim to compensate for the harm, but is directed in accordance with the Law to special accounts of off-budget environmental funds.

The current legislation provides for liability for environmental offenses committed in the field of the use of natural reserves and the preservation of the environment. In accordance with the laws and regulations of law, they are singled out as independent offenses and crimes.

concept

Environmental offenses or crimes are actions or omissions that are contrary to the established requirements of environmental law. In practice, this is expressed as a guilty illegal environmentally unsafe or harmful action that encroaches on the established procedures in the field of environmental safety in the use of natural resources and environmental protection.

Environmental offenses are characterized by causing environmental damage in the course of illegal actions.

The essence of the concept is reflected in the fact that the offender took any actions or inactions in relation to the factors that led to changes in the state of the natural environment, as well as the commission of offenses defined by environmental legislation.

The concept of an environmental offense in its content defines some illegal actions for which punishment should follow. For such violations, in accordance with the law, criminal, administrative, disciplinary and civil liability is provided.

Types of environmental offenses

There are 3 types of environmental offenses. This is:

• Committed by the legitimate owners of natural resources.
• Made by nature users.
• Committed by persons who do not belong to any of these subgroups.

The next criterion is the state of natural objects, in relation to which environmental violations were identified. This is:

• Corruption.
• Destruction.
• Damage.

According to the object of encroachment, the types of environmental offenses are distinguished into: mountain, land, water, forest.

Classification

If objects of encroachment of a group of homogeneous offenses are singled out as part of an offense, the following classification takes place:

• Illegal destruction and damage to natural resources, such as pollution, clogging of water, destruction of forest areas, significant damage to agricultural land.
• Violation and ignoring the rules for transferring ownership of natural resources associated with the possibility of causing damage to the environment. Such violations include the introduction into operation of technical structures and enterprises that damage the environment.
• Inaction or non-compliance with the established rules for the conservation of natural resources.
• Deliberate use of various natural resources for their own selfish purposes. For example, collecting wild rare plants.

Corpus delicti

Environmental offenses include:

• Clogging or depletion of groundwater and sources, causing harm to them, resulting in a change in their natural qualities. Especially if it carries a danger to the animal and plant surroundings.
• Violation of the norms of permissible emissions into the atmosphere of various harmful substances or improper operation of technical devices and structures, resulting in pollution or changes in the properties of the air.
• Pollution of seas and water sources due to the discharge of substances and materials that have a harmful effect on human health or other living resources.
• Poisoning or contamination of land with harmful products of economic activity due to the improper use and application of fertilizers or pesticides, as well as resulting from their careless transportation.
• Destruction or damage to the natural or artificially created forest fund as a result of improper or inaccurate handling of fire or other sources of potential danger.
• Illegal deforestation or destruction of certain types of their plant part, committed on a significant scale, violating the overall balance of the natural environment.
• Illegal hunting or extermination of animals, causing damage on a large scale, as well as using vehicles or explosives, poison gases used against the fauna of forests and reserves.
• Illegal fishing of fish or marine mammals, as well as vegetation, if they entail causing major damage and are carried out using self-propelled vehicles, chemicals or explosives.
• Production of logging, construction of illegal building structures (dams, bridges), if they entailed the mass death of fish and other creatures of the aquatic environment.
• Production of environmentally hazardous waste, its improper transportation and storage, as well as disposal by means of release into the environment.
• Illegal or careless handling of radioactive materials.
• Violation of safety and sanitary rules, which are established by the current federal legislation.

Responsibility for environmental offenses

The rules established by the current legislation regarding the prevention, detection and suppression of violations in the field of nature conservation are also a way of control. Responsibility for committing environmental offenses is assigned in the course of legal proceedings or may be determined by regulatory authorities.

Environmental control is carried out not only by the state and is divided into several types:

• State.
• Industrial.
• Public.
• Municipal.
• General.

Each of these types of control is carried out in order to:

• Supervision by individuals and legal entities of compliance with environmental legislation and its norms.
• Compliance with all provided requirements and regulatory documents.
• Ensuring ecological safety and security of the natural environment.

Thus, environmental supervision is one of the means of managing the protection of the natural environment and:

• carried out by special bodies and persons of the environmental inspection on behalf of the state;
• is over- and extra-departmental in nature;
• is one of the functions of environmental management of the state;
• associated with the use of various measures of administrative coercion.

Types of liability for environmental offenses

State control is carried out on the basis of the legal framework by special state bodies that have the authority and are called upon to ensure regular and systematic environmental supervision.

Production control is carried out in order to ensure the execution of economic processes or production activities, as well as various measures aimed at protecting the natural environment and rational use of its resources. Business entities provide information about the organization to the executive authorities, which conduct regular inspections in accordance with the procedure established by law. Such control is carried out by the environmental service of a legal entity, which acts exactly in accordance with the letter of the law and whose function is aimed at eliminating the negative consequences of the organization's production activities. Criminal or administrative liability is applied to the enterprise and its managers, and disciplinary liability for environmental offenses is applied to employees.

Municipal control is carried out in the entrusted territory by local self-government bodies in the manner prescribed by law, in accordance with regulatory legal acts.

Legal responsibility

Types of liability for environmental offenses: disciplinary, administrative or material, as well as in the case of crimes - criminal. Bringing to any of the types of such liability does not exempt the subject from compensation for harm and other types of monetary penalties and compensation.

The subjects brought to criminal, disciplinary and material liability may be only natural persons. Whereas administrative liability for environmental offenses, as well as civil law, comes for individuals and legal entities.

According to the current legislation, persons who have reached the age of 16 can be held liable. Under civil law, minors have limited liability from the age of 15 to the age of 18. And on the onset of adulthood - full.

Criminal liability for environmental offenses occurs in the case of a completed crime and cannot be awarded for an attempt to commit or prepare it, as well as an attempt to commit a crime if it has not been completed.

List of crimes

In accordance with the Criminal Code, the following environmental crimes are subject to punishment:

• Violation of the rules for the safe use of microbiological agents or toxins that have caused harm to human health, the spread of various epidemics, as well as serious consequences, including the death of a person.
• Deviation from the norms of conducting veterinary activities, which entailed the spread of epizootics or other serious consequences, which are in the nature of an epidemic and cover entire livestock in large territorial areas.
• Violation of the rules established in the protection of fish stocks, resulting in the mass death of a population of fish or other aquatic creatures, as well as a significant destruction of their food stocks.
• Destruction of habitats of animals and organisms that are listed in the Red Book.
• Violation of the established regime of territories or objects under protection, and causing significant damage to these natural resources.
• Violation of the established rules as a result of the implementation of production activities or the performance of other works that entailed a change in the radiation level and damage to human health or to the mass destruction of populations of animals and other organisms.
• Violation of the methods and rules of storage, disposal of harmful compounds and wastes that can pose a threat to people or the natural environment and entail pollution and poisoning that has caused harm to human health or led to the mass destruction of animals. And also if they were committed in areas with an environmental emergency or disaster and caused the death of a person or mass epidemics.
• Pollution of water resources, resulting in damage to fish stocks, flora and fauna, as well as nearby forest or economic lands, especially if human health has been harmed or death has occurred.

• Pollution of the atmosphere by the release of toxic substances into the air, which entailed serious consequences.
• Damage to the land, which caused significant damage to natural resources, animals and people living in these territories.
• Violation of the established rules for the protection and use of the bowels of the earth, including illegal mining of minerals or violation of the rules for their use or construction, causing irreversible damage to the environment.
• Illegal hunting aimed at causing major damage or extermination of populations of animals, birds, as well as carried out on the territory of nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries.
• Illegal felling of trees and shrubs that has led to the extinction or threat of extinction of certain species.
• Destruction of forest plantations and massifs as a result of the careless use of fire.

The onset of administrative responsibility

Administrative liability for environmental offenses occurs in accordance with the commission of illegal actions intentionally or through negligence.

Violators of administrative proceedings are punished in the form of a fine, warnings, confiscation, seizure of tools and deprivation of special rights of individuals to carry out a certain type of activity in connection with which the damage was caused.

The list of violations fully complies with criminal offenses with the difference that administrative environmental offenses did not harm human health or did not lead to the destruction of plant and animal resources, but, nevertheless, caused significant damage or were aimed at achieving certain criminal offenses, but have not been fully implemented.

Environmental assessment

To identify and establish violations and crimes, an environmental expertise is created, which is aimed at preventing and identifying adverse environmental impacts. Legal liability for environmental offenses arises based on the results of its implementation.

State expertise can only be carried out by the federal executive branch. All types of urban planning documentation for various projects, regardless of their purpose and application, must undergo a mandatory environmental review, in accordance with the paragraphs of the federal law "On Environmental Review". In case of discrepancies, legal liability for environmental offenses arises.

The environmental assessment is based on the following principles:

• Identification of potential environmental hazards for the natural environment from any planned economic and other activities.
• Obligation to conduct an examination before the start of decision-making on the construction and implementation of the project to which it is directed.
• The complexity of assessing the interactions or the resulting consequences for nature from economic or other activities.
• Obligation to take into account the requirements provided during the environmental impact assessment and their implementation.
• Reliability and completeness of the information provided.
• Independence of expert opinion of ecological expertise.
• The scientific accuracy and validity of the conclusions drawn and the legality of the opinions provided based on the results of the environmental impact assessment.
• publicity of the results.
• Bearing responsibility by the participants of the examination for its organization and high-quality execution.

Legal liability for environmental offenses may arise as a result of an expert opinion when violations of existing norms and rules are revealed. Depending on what kind of violations were committed, the method and type of liability awarded is determined.

Disciplinary liability for environmental offenses is provided for in the form of a severe reprimand, remarks in a personal file. As well as the dismissal of an official or employee of the organization.

The issues of preserving the environment, as well as flora and fauna, should become the concern not only of regulatory authorities, but also of each person individually. This is especially true of economic facilities and enterprises operating in the entrusted territories. Caring for the environment is not limited to caring for your own backyard. While carrying out our professional activities, we should never forget that by preserving the environment, we give the future to our children.

This is the type of legal responsibility that most often takes place in the field of nature management and environmental protection. Administrative responsibility is expressed in the application by the competent authority of the state of administrative penalties for committing an environmental offense. Regulated by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the RSFSR and environmental legislation. So, in Art. 84 of the Law of the RSFSR "On the Protection of the Environment" not only formulates the composition of administrative offenses, but also determines the subjects of administrative responsibility, as well as the amount of administrative fines that can be imposed on offenders.

The issue of the concentration of legal regulation of administrative responsibility in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the RSFSR is discussed, as is done with respect to criminal liability in the Criminal Code. However, in relation to administrative responsibility, the existing practice seems to be preferable for a number of reasons. The first is related to the presence of significant gaps in environmental legislation. So far, many environmental requirements, both material and procedural, have not been formalized in the form of legal ones. Their normative consolidation in the actively developing legislation will require constant amendments and additions to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the RSFSR. The use of such a code would be difficult. The second reason concerns the convenience for the subjects of environmental law, to whom laws in the field of nature management and environmental protection are addressed. From the text of one act, they can learn about the environmental requirements that must be observed, and about the administrative responsibility that they will bear in case of their violation. If a decision is made to regulate administrative responsibility exclusively by the Code of Administrative Offenses, then, taking into account the gaps in environmental legislation and the prospects for its development, the elements of administrative offenses should obviously be formulated in a more general form - for example, violation of the requirements of environmental expertise, violation of the requirements of environmental certification , violation of the rules for handling production and consumption waste, etc.

In accordance with the Law "On the Protection of the Environment", the subjects of administrative responsibility are not only officials and citizens, but also legal entities, which is an innovation of this Law. Administrative liability is applied only if the offender is at fault.

In Art. 24 Administrative Code of the RSFSR establishes the following administrative penalties: warning; fine; paid seizure of an item that was an instrument of committing or a direct object of an administrative offense; confiscation of an object that was an instrument of committing or a direct object of an administrative offense; deprivation of a special right granted to this citizen, for example, the right to hunt; correctional labor, administrative arrest.

According to its objective features, an administrative offense is outwardly similar to a crime. Therefore, the Code of Administrative Offenses, as one of the preconditions for imposing administrative responsibility, provides for the absence of elements of a crime in the committed violation. The main features that make it possible to distinguish between an environmental crime and an administrative offense are, as a rule, given in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This is the repetition of an environmental offense, the presence of intent, etc.

The components of environmental offenses for which administrative liability may arise are defined in Art. 84 of the Law "On the Protection of the Environment", in Art. 125 ZK RSFSR, some other acts of legislation on the environment. In the Code of Administrative Offenses of the RSFSR, these types of offenses are contained in two chapters: administrative offenses infringing on socialist property (Chapter 6) and administrative offenses in the field of environmental protection, historical and cultural monuments (Chapter 7). In accordance with the Code, administrative responsibility is applied for:

• · Violation of the right of state ownership of subsoil (Article 46); on the waters (v. 47); to forests (Art. 48); on the animal world (Article 48 1);
• · unauthorized mining of amber (Article 46 1);
• · mismanagement of land (art. 50);
• · damage to agricultural and other lands (art. 51);
• · Untimely return of temporarily occupied lands or failure to bring them into a condition suitable for their intended use (Article 52);
• · unauthorized deviation from projects of on-farm land management (Article 53);
• Destruction of landmarks (art. 54);
• · Violation of the requirements for the protection of subsoil and hydro-mineral resources (Article 55);
• · Violation of the rules and requirements for conducting work on the geological study of the subsoil (Article 56);
• · illegal issuance of a license (permit), as well as an arbitrary change in the terms of an issued license (permit) to carry out activities on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation (Article 56 1);
• · Violation of existing standards (norms, rules) or license conditions governing permitted activities on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation (Article 56 2);
• · Violation of the rules for conducting resource or marine scientific research on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation (Article 56 3);
• · Violation of the rules for the protection of water resources (art. 57);
• · Violation of the rules for the disposal of waste and other materials on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation (Article 57 1);
• · Failure to comply with the obligation to register operations with hazardous substances and mixtures in ship documents (Article 58);
• · Violation of water use rules (art. 59);
• damage to water facilities and devices, violation of the rules for their operation (Art. 60);
• · illegal use of lands of the state forest fund (art. 61);
• · Violation of the established procedure for the use of the logging fund, harvesting and removal of timber, harvesting resin (Article 62);
• · illegal felling and damage of trees and bushes, destruction and damage of forest cultures and young growth (art. 63);
• · destruction or damage of undergrowth in forests (art. 64);
• · implementation of forest uses not in accordance with the purposes or requirements provided for in the logging ticket (order) or forest ticket (Article 65);
• · Violation of the rules for the restoration and improvement of forests, the use of mature wood resources (art. 66);
• · damage to hayfields and pastures on the lands of the state forest fund (Article 67);
• · unauthorized haymaking and grazing, unauthorized collection of wild fruits, nuts, mushrooms, berries (Article 68);
• collection of wild fruits, nuts and berries in violation of the established deadlines (Article 69);
• · Commissioning of production facilities without devices to prevent harmful effects on forests (Article 70);
• · damage to the forest by sewage, chemicals, harmful emissions, waste and garbage (Article 71);
• · clogging of forests with domestic waste and refuse (Article 72);
• · destruction or damage of forest drainage ditches, drainage systems and roads on the lands of the state forest fund (Article 73);
• · destruction of fauna useful for the forest (art. 75);
• Violation of fire safety requirements in forests (art. 76);
• · emission of pollutants into the atmosphere in excess of the standards or without permission and harmful physical impact on the atmospheric air (Article 77);
• · Commissioning of enterprises without compliance with the requirements for the protection of atmospheric air (Article 78);
• · Violation of the rules of operation, as well as non-use of equipment for cleaning emissions into the atmosphere (Article 79);
• · putting into operation of vehicles and other mobile vehicles with excess of standards for the content of pollutants in emissions (Art. 80);
• · exploitation of motor vehicles and other mobile vehicles in excess of the standards for the content of pollutants in emissions (Article 81);
• · non-compliance with the requirements for the protection of atmospheric air during storage and incineration of industrial and domestic waste (Article 82);
• Violation of the rules for transportation, storage and use of plant protection products and other preparations, which has caused or may cause air pollution (Article 83);
• · non-compliance with the instructions of the bodies exercising control over the protection of atmospheric air (Article 84);
• Violation of the rules for the transportation, storage and use of plant protection products and other drugs that caused damage to the animal world (Article 84 1);
• · Violation of the rules for the protection of the habitat of animals, the rules for the creation of zoological collections and their trade, as well as unauthorized resettlement, acclimatization and crossing of animals (Article 84 2);
• Violation of the procedure for the use of wildlife, as well as illegal import of animals or plants recognized as detrimental to the conservation of animal species listed in the Red Book (Article 84 3);
• · the destruction of rare and endangered animals or the commission of other actions that may lead to the death, reduction in the number or violation of the habitat of such animals (Article 84 4);
• · non-compliance with the legal requirements of officials of the bodies of protection of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation (Article 84 5);
• · illegal transfer of mineral and living resources of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation (Art. 84-6);
• · Violation of the rules of hunting and fishing, as well as the rules for the implementation of other types of use of wildlife (Article 85);
• · Violation of whaling rules (art. 86).

The Code of Administrative Offenses of the RSFSR also defines the bodies and officials authorized to consider relevant cases (Chapter 15), and the jurisdiction of such cases (Chapter 16). Cases of environmental offenses are considered primarily by courts (judges), internal affairs bodies, state inspection bodies and other bodies (officials) authorized to do so by legislative acts of the Russian Federation.

So, according to Art. 202 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the RSFSR, judges consider cases of environmental offenses under Art. 46 1 , 49, 49 1 , 56 1 -56 3 , 57 1 , 84 5 , 84 6 of the Code.

Bodies of state mining supervision in accordance with Art. 211 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the RSFSR consider cases of administrative offenses under Art. 46, 55, 56 (for violations committed in the process of mining), Art. 56 2 .

Bodies and institutions exercising state sanitary supervision consider cases of administrative offenses under Art. 77-83 (violations of sanitary and hygienic rules and norms for the protection of atmospheric air) and art. 84 (failure to comply with the instructions of the bodies exercising state sanitary supervision).

The issues of jurisdiction of cases of environmental offenses are resolved in the Code of Administrative Offenses insufficiently consistently, without full consideration of the place of specially authorized bodies in the state management of nature management and environmental protection. So, the State Committee for Ecology of the Russian Federation, which is entrusted with the implementation of state environmental control, in accordance with Art. 219 2 of the Code is entitled to consider only cases of administrative offenses under Art. 56 1 , 56 2 , 57 1 and 84 5 , i.e. related to the protection of mineral and living resources of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation.

One of the most common measures of administrative responsibility for environmental offenses is a fine. The specific amount of the fine imposed depends not only on the nature and type of the offense committed, the degree of guilt of the offender and the harm caused, but is also determined by the powers granted to the relevant body imposing the fine.

The decision to impose a fine (as well as any other decision on an administrative penalty) can be appealed to a court or arbitration court.

The Law “On Environmental Protection” emphasizes that bringing to responsibility in the form of a fine, regardless of its amount, does not relieve the guilty person from the obligation to compensate for the harm caused. This is explained by the fact that the fine, although it is of a material nature, is a measure of punishment, and not compensation for harm; the amount of the fine does not go to the victim to compensate for the harm, but is directed in accordance with the Law to special accounts of off-budget environmental funds.