President Mirziyoyev signs law on heavy financial sanctions for environmental damage

The legislation, announced by the Ministry of Justice’s legal information channel, aims to ensure that penalties for ecological damage are proportionate to the harm caused, addressing a gap in previous regulations where low fines often failed to deter polluting activities.

Under the new law, the scale of financial sanctions will be tied directly to the estimated environmental damage. Companies found violating regulations during riverbed cleaning or bank reinforcement works will be required to pay three times the value of the assessed damage. A particularly strict measure has been introduced for the protection of flora; organizations that fail to take necessary measures to protect and preserve trees on their territory or assigned plots must compensate the state at five times the amount of the damage.

The legislation also targets water pollution with significant severity. Separate financial sanctions are being introduced for polluting water resources and violating wastewater discharge requirements. These penalties will equal ten times the amount of standard environmental impact compensation payments. The law is scheduled to come into full effect three months after its official publication.

The introduction of these measures follows a presidential meeting on April 30, where officials discussed proposals to ensure ecological sustainability. During the session, it was noted that the previous disproportionate nature of fines made it more profitable for some enterprises to pay a penalty rather than address the root cause of their violations. To rectify this, administrative fines and compensatory payments for environmental damage have been consolidated into a single financial sanction.

Furthermore, the new system streamlines enforcement procedures. In cases where an enterprise admits its guilt, the Committee for Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change will be authorized to apply the sanction independently. However, should a dispute arise regarding the violation or the amount of the penalty, the matter will be resolved through the judicial system. This reform aligns Uzbekistan’s environmental protection norms with international practices, targeting illegal mining, water pollution, unauthorized tree felling, and excessive atmospheric emissions.