Azerbaijan changes standards of payment for emission of pollutants in environment

By Trend

The standards of payment for the emission of pollutants in the environment have been changed in Azerbaijan, Trend reports via the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.

Resolution No. 308 of the Cabinet of Ministers on amendments to 'Resolution No. 122 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated March 3, 1992 on the application of payments for natural resources, payments for emission of pollutants in the environment and the use of means from the collection of the specified payments' was adopted.

As a result of the development of various sectors of the economy in the country, the impact on the environment is also increasing. In order to comply with the established environmental and technological requirements for economic and other activities, the implementation of measures for the protection of the environment and the reproduction of natural resources, it became necessary to update the standards for payment for environmental pollution.

The current prices were approved according to the economic indicators of 1992, which doesn’t meet the modern requirements, nor correlate with the economic development of the country.

Over the past period (since 1992), Azerbaijan acceded to the UN Basel Convention ‘On Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal’ (law dated February 16, 2001).

Besides, in order to improve the system of accounting and registration of waste, Resolution No. 13 dated January 25, 2008 approved ‘Procedure for Certification of Hazardous Waste", and Resolution No. 41 of the Cabinet of Ministers dated March 30, 2003 – ‘Procedure for Conducting an Inventory of Waste Generated in Process of Production’. These procedures also use the classification system of the Basel Convention.

Improving the waste management system in accordance with international requirements is of great importance for the country. However, previously the hazard characteristics of wastes were determined using the interim classification system of 1985. This system didn’t fully cover the harmful effects of waste on the environment and human health.

Resolution No. 308 was adopted in order to adjust the standards of payment for the emission of pollutants in the environment in accordance with the new economic conditions and regulation of the activities of nature users in the field of environmental protection, increasing their responsibility for disposal, dumping and discharge of waste.