Will it be possible to build near Lake Baikal?

How did the bill pass the first reading?

The bill included amendments to the Town Planning Code, laws on environmental expertise, on the protection of Lake Baikal and other acts. It allowed, until December 31, 2024, to build objects “for the modernization and expansion of transport, industrial and other infrastructure” in specially protected natural areas without conducting a state environmental review. That is, in reserves, including in the area of Lake Baikal, it was actually allowed to cut down forests and build anything - the list of objects was unlimited.

The government explained the need for this law by increasing "the stability of the construction industry in connection with the macroeconomic and foreign policy situation." Some committees of the State Duma criticized this initiative. The Environmental Committee concluded that "most specially protected natural areas will be subject to serious negative impacts from industrial activities, the damage from which will be irreparable." And the Committee on Agrarian Issues did not agree with the provision that the construction would not require approval from the Federal Agency for Fishery, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Natural Resources and regional authorities.

What has changed in the second reading?

Environmental impact assessment remains mandatory for construction in specially protected natural areas, but with an exception: for the main infrastructure, such as roads, it will not be needed.
The wording “and other infrastructure” was removed from the bill, which made the list of possible construction objects vague. Instead, construction was limited to "priority projects" that are being implemented in accordance with Russia's socio-economic and spatial development strategies, as well as infrastructure facilities.

The list of such objects is clearly defined . It already included roads and railways, ports and airfields, but the amendments adopted in the second reading added to it:

main gas pipelines, oil pipelines, oil products pipelines and other main facilities, the construction of which is carried out according to a comprehensive plan for the modernization and expansion of the main infrastructure;
social infrastructure, that is, schools, hospitals, clinics - if there is a shortage of such facilities in the region and their construction is financed from the budget or at the expense of companies in which the state owns at least 50% of the authorized capital;
industrial facilities that are being built for “the introduction and development of import-substituting, resource-saving, environmentally friendly technologies, the production of products that have no Russian analogues, the production of innovative, energy-efficient building materials”;
At the same time, according to the amendments, it is forbidden to build social and industrial facilities on agricultural land, reclaimed lands (that is, those whose properties are improved through irrigation, drainage and other works), as well as on lands of protective forests and specially protected natural areas.
Only objects that are needed to increase the capacity of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways can be built on Baikal. In fact, this amendment consolidates an already existing provision: such an exception was introduced into the federal law on the protection of Lake Baikal back in 2020.

What happens after the law comes into force?

According to Greenpeace expert on specially protected natural areas, Mikhail Kreindlin, with the adoption of the law, the situation will become "no worse than it was." “The ban on the construction of industrial facilities on the lands of specially protected natural areas (SPNA) is even more strict than it was before. Previously, there was no direct prohibition in the law, ”Kreindlin told Kholod. At the same time, he clarifies that mainly protected areas of federal significance, such as nature reserves and national parks, fall under this provision. Regional protected areas may belong to lands of a different category, for example, forest fund or settlements. In this case, construction will be regulated by their regime.

“The problem that appeared in the law is that the main facilities do not require state environmental expertise. According to them, an environmental review is not carried out even in federal protected areas, if they are legally built there, ”explains Kreindlin. He suggests that some dangerous projects, such as the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline through the Tunkinsky National Park, will be implemented without environmental expertise. The gas pipeline will cut the park in half, and its construction will lead to deforestation and change in animal habitats.

Will it be possible to build near Lake Baikal?

How did the bill pass the first reading?

What has changed in the second reading?

Environmental impact assessment remains mandatory for construction in specially protected natural areas, but with an exception: for the main infrastructure, such as roads, it will not be needed.
The wording “and other infrastructure” was removed from the bill, which made the list of possible construction objects vague. Instead, construction was limited to "priority projects" that are being implemented in accordance with Russia's socio-economic and spatial development strategies, as well as infrastructure facilities.

The list of such objects is clearly defined . It already included roads and railways, ports and airfields, but the amendments adopted in the second reading added to it:

main gas pipelines, oil pipelines, oil products pipelines and other main facilities, the construction of which is carried out according to a comprehensive plan for the modernization and expansion of the main infrastructure;
social infrastructure, that is, schools, hospitals, clinics - if there is a shortage of such facilities in the region and their construction is financed from the budget or at the expense of companies in which the state owns at least 50% of the authorized capital;
industrial facilities that are being built for “the introduction and development of import-substituting, resource-saving, environmentally friendly technologies, the production of products that have no Russian analogues, the production of innovative, energy-efficient building materials”;
At the same time, according to the amendments, it is forbidden to build social and industrial facilities on agricultural land, reclaimed lands (that is, those whose properties are improved through irrigation, drainage and other works), as well as on lands of protective forests and specially protected natural areas.
Only objects that are needed to increase the capacity of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways can be built on Baikal. In fact, this amendment consolidates an already existing provision: such an exception was introduced into the federal law on the protection of Lake Baikal back in 2020.