Penalties for violating environmental regulations to increase

According to the document, the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change was instructed, together with the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to submit to the Cabinet of Ministers by September 1, 2023 draft NPAs providing for:

· classification of crimes related to damage to the environment and the environment, destruction or damage to objects of flora and fauna, to the category of serious crimes;

· an increase in the amount of fines for:

- violation of the requirements of the imposed moratorium on cutting down valuable species of trees and shrubs that are not included in the State Forest Fund;
- pollution or clogging of water, violation of the water protection regime in watersheds, as well as violation of the requirements for the conditions for the permissibility of wastewater discharge into water bodies by 5 times;
- cruelty to animals by 10 times and the deprivation of the persons who committed this offense of the right to keep animals;

· an increase in the amount of penalties for damage caused to the wildlife as a result of illegal hunting of animals listed in the Red Book of Uzbekistan by 10 times, as well as the amount of penalties for damage caused by damaging plants to the point of stopping their growth or destruction - by 5 times;

· application of fines for violation of environmental protection requirements in the process of collection, transportation, placement, disinfection, storage, disposal, processing and sale of industrial, household and other waste, as well as for the release of solid household and construction waste in unidentified places and the discharge of liquid household waste - with an increase in their size by 10 times;

· determination and application of compensation payments for environmental pollution and waste disposal on the territory of Uzbekistan, as well as the establishment of quotas for the use of all flora and fauna at the legislative level.

According to Norma, within the structure of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change, an inspection of state environmental control is being created without the status of a separate legal entity.