Ministry of Environment approves methodology of determining amount of damage caused to land and soil during martial law
On 4 April 2022, the Ministry of Environment issued Decree No.167 approving the Methodology for determining the amount of damage to land and soil due to emergencies and/or armed aggression and hostilities during martial law.
According to the Methodology:
- soil is considered to be polluted if negative qualitative changes are detected in its composition. The changes may be due not only to the introduction of new pollutants in the aeration zone, but also to the content of hazardous substances, which exceeds the maximum permissible concentration
- land is considered to be littered if on the land plot there are foreign objects, materials, waste and/or other substances without appropriate permits, which appeared as a result of emergency situations and/or armed aggression and hostilities
The extent and volume of soil pollution and/or land littering are determined by the authorized bodies of the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine, in particular, but not exclusively, through:
- inspection of land plots
- obtaining data from remote land sensing
- study of the obtained soil samples
- processing the conclusions of any examinations, explanations, certificates, documents, materials, information obtained from any sources, operational notices from individuals and legal entities, etc
If there is information about the amount (volume, weight) of the pollutant that has penetrated into a certain layer of soil, the area and depth of impregnation are determined.
The amount of damage due to soil pollution/land littering is determined by the formulas approved in the Methodology.
The basis for calculating the amount of damage from soil pollution/land littering is the normative monetary valuation of land (NMV), the soil/land of which has been polluted/littered. Data of such normative monetary valuation of the land plot are taken from any sources.
If the normative monetary valuation of the land plot is not done, or if it is not possible to obtain data on the normative monetary valuation of the land plot, the NMV is calculated as an average normative monetary estimate of the area of arable land for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea or for the region (for the city of Kyiv, the average normative monetary valuation of the area of arable land in the Kyiv region is used), multiplied by a factor of 300.
The authorized bodies of the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine have the right to provide copies of calculations together with the case materials used for these calculations to state authorities, local governments and law enforcement agencies.
At the same time, it should be noted that for other cases of pollution and littering of land resources not related to armed aggression and hostilities, the amount of damage is determined in accordance with the Methodology for determining the amount of damage caused by pollution and littering of land resources approved by Decree of the Ministry of Environment No.171 dated 27 October 1997.
For more information, please contact Asters` Counsel Anzhelika Livitska and Associate Victoria Kurus.
