Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

New draft law on "Environmental Responsibility" approved at the Georgian Government session

New bill on environmental responsibility aims to legally regulate the prevention and mitigation of environmental damage.When the bill is approved, a legal basis will be created due to which, all enterprises, including small, midium and large scale companies will be obliged to take appropriate measures to reduce / eliminate damage to the environment,  in case of significant damage caused to the environment. However, the companies / enterprises must mobilize solid financial resources to carry out these activities in the shortest possible time.
 
The current legislation is entirely based on monetary liability for the damage to the environment. The sums paid for the damage to the environment goes to the state budget and it has no definite purpose to carry out measures to ensure the restoration of the damaged environment.
 
Unlike the current regulation, new bill introduces a completely new mechanism of environmental liability, which will be not necessarily monetary expenses for the compensation of damages, but implementation of measures for reducing / eliminating the damage caused to the environment. A natural person who has caused the damage to the environment is obliged to pay the costs and restore the damage.
 
The bill will be enforced and obligation to implement the measures to reduce / eliminate the damage to the environment will be applied in cases of significant damage, although, in the cases of minor damage, the amount will be determined in accordance with the Technical Regulation of the Government of Georgia on ‘’Monetary Compensation for Environmental Damage’’. The sums paid as a result of monetary damages will go to a specially created account. The funds raised in this account will be used for restoration of the damaged environment.
 
The bill introduces important mechanisms, which will make the control procedures for large industrial enterprises even more efficient. At the same time, the bill includes changes in the legislation on violations, according to which, high penalties will be imposed on enterprises that pollute the air with harmful substances.
The adoption of the bill will enable to establish a system of environmental responsibility, which will be close to the European standards and will be based on the "polluter pays principle" aiming to prevent and eliminate / mitigate /  an  environmental damage.