“Gavigudet” Attended the Meeting of the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament
“Gavigudet” Attended the Meeting of the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament
Today, on June 26th, we attended the meeting held by the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, where the following topics were discussed:
– The report of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia on the enforcement of the legislative regulations related to the self-monitoring process of the release of harmful substances into the atmospheric air by Rustavi enterprises in the Law of Georgia on “Atmospheric Air Protection” enacted on June 1, 2021.
– Hearing information about the state of enforcement of the applicable offenses (Articles 1524-1529 of the Code) regarding the handling of dusty material provided by the “Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia”.
Deputy Minister Nino Tandilashvili made a report at the session about the legislative regulation related to self-monitoring and the state of its implementation.
According to Tandilashvili, out of 26 regulatory objects with obligations, 15 enterprises are currently active, 5 enterprises have temporarily suspended the production process, and 6 of them are not functioning at all.
Out of 15 operating enterprises, 12 enterprises have implemented a continuous monitoring system, and 3 enterprises, which are not functioning today, have already purchased self-monitoring systems and are in the process of installation.
In total, 18 of the 26 enterprises with obligations have purchased self-monitoring systems.
As Tandilashvili mentioned, the remaining enterprises must complete the online monitoring system by the end of this year.
The mayor of Rustavi, Nino Latsabidze, commented on this issue and requested to set the public dates when the remaining enterprises are obligated to install the self-monitoring system.
As important as this comment is, it is quite late, especially considering that as early as 2 years ago, for about 6 months, our movement has been requesting for this plan-schedule to be made public, and as a result of great efforts, including the public protest of June 5, 2021, we were able to make the Ministry to prepare and provide an accurate plan-schedule. We received the first such plan-schedule right after the protest, and since then we have been gradually providing information to the population about the dates and fulfillment of these deadlines.
It is a pity, that Rustavi City Hall did not become interested in clarifying and publicizing these dates until now, when most of the enterprises have already installed or purchased the system. If this had happened earlier and if the cooperation with civil society had been much more active, today we think, we would have had a better result.
During the reporting, Tandilashvili also mentioned, that in 2020-2022 in Rustavi, 165 inspections of 108 regulatory objects were carried out, and a total of 35 administrative correspondences were submitted to 27 objects and specific measurements were determined.
Regarding the amendment to the Law of Georgia On Environmental Protection in 2020 (according to which the Department of Environmental Supervision was given the function of immediate action in case of detecting the event of a significant violation), it was said that during the past 2 years, a total of 22 protocols were issued for non-fulfillment of self-monitoring obligations for 18 enterprises throughout Georgia by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Regarding the temporary suspension of the production process in the city of Rustavi, the Department of Environmental Supervision restricted the operation of 117 facilities, and 5 regulated facilities were suspended. Specifically: “White Hat” LLC, “Ecooil” LLC, “AMB Alloys” LLC, “New Technologies” LLC, “Mega Cement”LLC.
In addition, Nino Tandilashvili drew attention to the “Industrial Emissions” draft law, which involves the improvement of the entire technological cycle of production in order to minimize the pollution of environmental components from the industrial sector.
Let us remind you, that the law on “Industrial Emissions” should have been adopted in 2021, although the draft law is still being processed by the Parliament at this stage.
As for the changes related to the handling of dusty materials subject to the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia, in the case of Rustavi, among the actions implemented by the City Hall is the structural and infrastructural improvement of municipal supervision, which means that the employees of the municipal inspection were equipped with the appropriate equipment that would enable them to see violations on the spot throughout the city.
In the fining part, the court jurisdiction has been removed so that the municipality has the direct right to impose fines
Also, an informational campaign was started with those contractors who carry out certain works in the municipality. Also, specific enterprises were identified, whose activities include bringing dusty materials in the city. As Nino Latsabidze pointed out, the informational campaign is at the final stage and after that, the constant control of actions will begin.
The dust from the factories in Rustavi has been a problem for a long time during the storage of raw materials and the transportation of products. Recently, intensive constructions have been added, and we hope, this law will be properly enforced.