Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

 11.3. 
 Process of enforcement of environmental 
legislation
 11.3.1.  Approaches to elaboration of legal documents
First, environ mental law contains regulations that focus on 
quantifiable and stationary  sources  of pollution. These  are mainly 
standards  for  the  companies  that  operate  different  stationary 
industrial (technological) equipment. Since the operation of such 
equipment leaves a more or less extensive environ mental impact, 
they are called polluting activities. State exercises control over 
the polluting activities: they are permitted only if the company 
previously obtained a relevant permit from a competent national 
environ mental authority. Moreover, the law requires the competent 
national environ mental authority to issue such a permit on condition 
that the emissions of pollutants into the environ ment would be 
maximally reduced.
Second, environ mental law includes mandatory regulations, 
which require the state to take complex steps to achieve certain 
Environmental quality 
is affected by different 
factors – pollution, 
excessive deforestation, 
land cultivation and 
unreasonable fertilisation, 
the use of substances 
or organisms foreign to 
the natural environment. 
To encompass all these 
and other factors, 
several approaches and 
measures are used in the 
legal regulation of envi‑
ronmental protection.

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11. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: LEGISLATION, POLICIES, INSTITUTIONS
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objectives  defined  by  law.  For  example,  EU  legislation  requires 
from the new Member States that water in their natural and 
artificial water bodies must be in good condition by 2015. The water 
condition is defined as good if it does not endanger the survival of 
diverse aquatic ecosystems even if the effects of human activities 
can be detected. This kind of regulation is also referred to as the 
ecosystem approach. The objectives in other environ mental areas 
are set forth in a similar way: to mitigate climate change and 
reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as to facilitate the removal 
and recycling of waste (for example, packaging waste recovery 
standards).
Third, there are also regulations for various state and local 
government decision-making processes. For example, to decide on 
where  to  locate  a  waste  disposal  landfill,  a  special  procedure  has 
to  be  carried  out  –  the environ mental impact assessment for this 
land fill.  During  this  process,  the  potential  impact  is  assessed  and 
actions for the reduction of this impact are planned, and alternative 
landfill sites are ascertained. A decision on locating the landfill at 
a particular site can be taken only after the environ mental impact 
assess ment. Such regulation is necessary in order to ensure that 
every decision, whose implementation may affect the environ ment, 
would be taken on the basis of sufficient information regarding its 
possible impact on the environ ment, to take into account environ-
mental considerations in addition to the economic and social 
ones, to make such decision-making transparent and to facilitate 
the interested public to become involved in the decision-making 
process and influence it, in particular the residents in the vicinity 
of the planned object who may be directly affected by the project in 
question.
All  three  approaches  are  used  in  the  normative  regulation  of 
environ mental protection. However, going back to the beginnings 
of environ mental laws, it is possible to trace their changes and 
Development s over time. Initially, environ mental legislation was 
focused on controlling the pollution from industrial enterprises. 
Then it became clear that other economic activities also degrade 
the environ ment – agricultural and forestry practices, uncontrolled 
use of chemical substances and products, construction works at 
environ mentally sensitive areas, such as the sea coast and river 
banks and lake shores. Therefore, the legislature began to set forth 
the objectives to be attained within specified periods of time and to 
require  complex  measures  –  gathering  and  analysis  of  information 
on the actual situation of the environ ment, planning and execution 
of measures required for the attainment of objectives set. Moreover, 
such a planning process should be transparent, involving the 
community as well.

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