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Duma passes bill on state ecological monitoring

The monitoring will be implemented by the federal and regional authorities of the Russian Federation

MOSCOW, November 2 (Itar-Tass) —— The State Duma passed on Wednesday a bill to establish a new unified state ecological monitoring system that must go into operation as of January 1, 2012.

The monitoring will be implemented by the federal and regional authorities of the Russian Federation. They must establish and ensure the functioning of observation networks and information resources “in the framework of subsystems of the unified state ecological monitoring system.” A large part of this work rests on the Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Agency (Rosgidromet).

The bill envisages dividing the monitoring system into 14 subsystems, including the monitoring of atmospheric air, land, wildlife, forests, mineral wealth, water sources. Several special subsystems will be set up to monitor the situation with Lake Baikal, as well as in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation and on the continental shelf.

Special attention is given to monitoring radiation levels. According to law, bodies authorized by the Russian government and the Rosatom state corporation will monitor radiation levels. The uniform radiation monitoring system will receive information from agencies managing the use of nuclear energy and organizations operating nuclear facilities.

The information support for the entire system presupposes setting up the unified state databank of ecological monitoring. It will combine the data on the state of the environment, as well as the data of state and production ecological monitoring and registration of facilities that have a negative effect on the environment.

The bill specifies that the Russian system must be integrated with international monitoring systems. This is also Rosgidromet’s responsibility.

Yevgeny Tugolukov, the head of the State Duma Committee on Natural Resources and Ecology, believes that “the unified fund of objective data on the actual state of the ecosystems of our vast country is essential to making adequate managerial decisions.” “The proposed system will ensure creating the information basis for effective actions of the state and will enable citizens and public organizations to get an objective picture of the state of our natural resources,” the MP holds.

According to the feasibility studies, there will be no need for allocating additional funds from the budget of the Russian Federation. This work will be done by the authorities within the limits of the number of their staff and the budget allocations of the Russian government.

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