NATIONAL CASPIAN ACTION PLAN (NCAP) OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE FIELD OF NATURE USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, MOSCOW, 2003, BRIEF ENGLISH VERSION (SUMMARY)

National Caspian Action Plan (NCAP) is developed within the framework of implementation of a national component of the international project “Caspian Environment Programme” (CEP) as a basis for correlation of actions for solving of national and transboundary environmental problems of the Caspian Sea, taking into account opportunities and priorities of social and economic development of the Caspian regions of the Russian Federation

The objective of NCAP is to define strategic directions of planning and implementation of environmental protection measures in the Caspian region of the Russian Federation on solving of a complex of national and transboundary environmental problems of the Caspian Sea and its coast, and also concrete measures, including investment and technical projects necessary for realization of planned strategy to concentrate national efforts on solving of the specified problems.

The realization of measures included in NCAP based on correlation of efforts determined at a federal level and in the Caspian regions of the Russian Federation, support of private sector and investments of international financial organizations.

The unity of the Caspian Sea ecosystem puts the solving of environmental problems of the Caspian region of the Russian Federation in direct dependence on conditions of environment of all Caspian and efficiency of cooperation of the Caspian states on its preservation. Therefore specific role in formation and realization of NCAP play Transboundary diagnostic analysis (TDA) and Strategic Action plan (SAP), which alongside with system of national action plans make the basic resulting documents of the first phase of the Caspian Environment Programme.

NCAP is based on the recommendations of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on maintenance of ecological safety of the Caspian region of the Russian Federation, Governmental decisions, provisions of the National action plan on environmental protection and Ecological doctrine of the Russian Federation, National strategy and Action Plan on preservation of a biological diversity. Concrete NCAP actions are envisaged by the appropriate Federal target programs and documents on planning of development of the Caspian regions of the Russian Federation.

Priority problems requiring special attention within the framework of NCAP are the following:

• rational management of commercial bioresources, especially - sturgeons, on the basis of conservation of a biodiversity;

• ensuring of ecological safety of economic activity, including control of pollution (including oil pollution) and emergency response;

• sustainable and conditioned water supply of the population and economic activity;

• environmentally-sound sustainable development of coastal zones, combating desertification and land degradation;

• improvement of environmental management in the Caspian region, including development of a network of especially protected natural territories and water areas adequate information maintenance of decision-making, public participation.

The process of reconsideration and change of NCAP is connected to a cycle of realization of the Federal Target Programs, national environmental protection action plans, appropriate programs and action plans adopted in the Caspian regions of the Russian Federation, and also tasks coordinated in SAP and within the framework of other regional initiatives on environmental protection.

Priorities of environmental policy in the Caspian regions of the Russian Federation are the following:

• implementation of national ecological strategy, action plans on environmental protection and appropriate sections of the Federal Target Programs;

• preservation and rational management of commercial bioresources, especially - sturgeons, on the basis of conservation of a biodiversity;

• improvement of systems of nature use and environmental management;

• strengthening of normative and legal base on ensuring realization of sustainable development strategy of the Caspian region;

• improvement of economic instruments on rational nature use and environmental protection, development of environmental insurance and market of environmental services;

• development of institute of the property on natural resources, systems of the account, economic estimation of natural resources and licensing of nature use, obligatory licensing of environmentally dangerous types of activity;

• maintenance of environmentally-sound sustainable development of coastal zones, combating desertification and land degradation, sustainable and conditioned water supply of the population and economic activity;

• development of new methods and technologies of environmental protection, reproduction and rational use of natural resources, application of resources- end energy-saving technologies, use of secondary resources, safe wastes recycling;

• increase of efficiency of state environmental expertise, introduction in practice of EIA procedures, development of systems of the environmental control;

• development of systems of information maintenance of nature use and environmental protection management on the basis of monitoring of statement of environment, use and protection of natural resources;

• development of technologies of liquidation of pollution and rehabilitation of territories with dangerous changes in environment;

• ensuring of ecological safety of oil-field development, maintenance of high preparedness to emergency response in the cases of oil-spills;

• control of reduction of environmental impact from dangerous and largest sources of pollution;

• introduction of effective environmental protection management systems at the enterprises, including the international standards of technological processes and production made;

• strengthening of activity on preservation of a biological and landscape diversity, development of a network of especially protected natural territories and water areas;

• support of public environmental organizations and attraction of NGOs to the solving of environmental problems;

• formation of an effective system of continuous environmental education, wide distribution of urgent information on a statement of environment, support growth of environmental culture;

• development of international cooperation on solving of environmental problems of the Caspian Sea.

The following general political and organizational measures are determined as the urgent:

• estimation of natural-resources potential for definition of priorities of nature use and environmental protection activity within the framework of realization of strategy of transition to sustainable development in the Caspian region;

• development on the basis of provisions of the Concept of national safety of the Russian Federation, programme of maintenance of environmental safety of the Caspian regions of the Russian Federation;

• development and realization of environmental protection measures in the Caspian region with taking into account the obligations of the Russian Federation within the framework of the international multilateral environmental agreements and conventions.

As the legal instruments (measures) is recognized expedient:

• modify existing and\or elaborate and adopt of the new normative -legal acts to improve an ecological situation on water area in a coastal zone of the Caspian, promoting preservation of bioresources of the sea minimized costs of development, use and transportation of the hydrocarbons;

• provide the specifications for all kinds of possible pollution of marine environment in concrete hydrological conditions in view of the data of ecotoxicology, connected to damaging physiological impact of over admissible concentrations of some polluting substances and their complexes;

• ensure development of normative-legal base of strengthening of the state control of the marine environment protection in the Caspian region prevention of its pollution;

• use special environmental and fishing requirements at realization of geological study, exploring and production of the hydrocarbons in a reserved zone of Northern Caspian;

• improve control on environmental and economic activity conditions of in the Caspian region with taking into account international legal aspects.

For provision of economic incentives of environmental protection activity, environmental monitoring and information maintenance the following urgent measures are necessary:

• take into account charges on implementation of environmental monitoring and special environmental researches while estimation of an economic efficiency of the projects on use of the Caspian resources;

• include in environmental monitoring a system of local monitoring in zones of the raised hazard and regional long-term monitoring;

• develop methodology of organization of the control and realization of system monitoring of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea;

• organize realization of works on study of a background condition of the marine environment in the Northern part of the Caspian Sea (including seabed sediment) and level of pollution of the marine environment in the areas of oil- and gas-well drilling in this region;

• develop proposals on creation and conducting of databases (banks) of on environmental conditions of the Caspian Sea and pollution with account of necessary funds and resources for realization of these proposals;

As concrete measures of environmental protection activity it is expedient:

In the field of preservation of bioresources:

• liven up the activity on prevention uncontrollable introduction of alien species into the Caspian Sea;

• analyze thermal, acoustic and other kinds of impact of oil-extracting structures on hydrobionts, including frightening off impact of underwater pipelines on migratory fishes and, first of all, sturgeons;

• promote the development of a uniformed network of an exchange of information in a mode of real time on a sturgeons catch quotas, export licenses for sturgeons and production from them, including caviar, and also exchange of the data of customs statistics about volumes;

• undertake additional measures on suppression of illegal catch, transportation, and also illegal revolution of water bioresources in the region (and beyond its bounds, in accordance with CITES);

• undertake additional measures on maintenance of protection of sturgeons spawning and hibernation in the lower Volga up to Volgograd;

• prepare, in accordance with established procedure, for consideration by the Government of the Russian Federation the proposal on entry in to force of state monopoly on production of the sturgeons;

• define, in accordance with the scientific recommendations, volume of a capital investments and sequence of construction and reconstruction of sturgeon hatcheries and construction of special live-fish ships for safe transportation of sturgeon fry;

• ensure realization of rational fishery passings in lower Volga and other rivers with regulated run-off;

• ensure realization of scientific researches aimed at definition of stocks of water bioresources, estimation of fishery impact, and development of scientifically reasoned unexhausted regime of withdrawal of bioresources by fishery.

In the field of preservation of biodiversity and development of system of protected territories:

• promote creation in the Northern part of the Caspian Sea of new natural reserves, including interstate;

• note the necessity of preservation of the status of reserved, resort, sanitary etc. zones in conditions of escalation of works on prospecting and operation of the sea oil and gas fields, and also necessity of development of especially protected natural territories, formation of a sufficient network of ecocorridors and other measures (including development of biosphere reserves and ecological tourism), ensuring preservation of a biological and landscape diversity of the Caspian;

• assess existing system of especially protected natural territories and water areas of the Caspian region and preparation proposals for the Government of the Russian Federation on its improvement.

In the field of prevention of oil pollution and emergency response:

• develop system of measures on prevention and liquidation of consequences of possible emergencies at prospecting, extracting and transportation (including by oil-tankers) of oil on shallow water areas of the Caspian Sea and on adjacent to the basin sites of a land on the basis of detailed research of the possible consequences of such incidents;

• provide implementation of necessary measures on increasing efficiency of port structures on the collection and treatment of waste waters and waste from ships, and also for strengthening of equipment and increase of preparedness of emergency response services on oil spills in Northern Caspian;

• recommend to apply the “zero run-off” concept in Northern Caspian, promote development of complex environmentally-sound technologies of public arrangement and environmental protection activity at development of oilfields on shallow waters of the Northern Caspian;

• recommend to the appropriate bodies of Governmental to consider opportunity of development of economic instruments ensuring competitiveness of introduction of the “zero run-off” technologies (such as increase of the rates of payments for pollution of marine environmental at drilling and operation of oil-wells, toughen of norms of environmental safety on realization of economic activity on the Caspian etc.);

• ensure the constant control of an environmental situation in water area of the Caspian Sea and to adopt necessary measures within the limits of the competence on liquidation of consequences of the revealed pollution.

The list of concrete measures on preservation of an environment in the Caspian region of the Russian Federation till 2006 stipulated as the priority appropriate Federal Target Programs is given in NCAP tables. The concrete contents of NCAP measures is regularly corrected accordingly to the procedure envisaged by NCAP.

The introduction of NCAP can be considered as a major element of internal ecological policy. It will allow to structure the process of decision-making, to make it clearer and clear for the population, more objectively to define priorities and basic directions of activity; will promote attraction of the investments in environmental protection. NCAP in Russia should become a core of association of interests of various target groups in the Caspian region.