State of implementation of the decision III/6f regarding Ukraine (MOP 2, June, , 2008, Riga, Latvia)

 The Committee notes that the Ministry of Environmental protection of Ukraine is to draft legislation to fulfil the Ruling of the cabinet of Ministers dated 27 December 2008 #1628-p. The Government of Ukraine has not advised however, specifically how it intends to address a number of Committees concerns…In particular the Committee would like to review, at earliest appropriate opportunity, the draft legislation on the following points: Findings of the twenty-third meeting of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (Geneva, 31 March to 3 April, 2009)

Ukrainian Party took the following legislative measures  - Developed and is in the process of expert consultations the draft of the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approval of the provision and dissemination of environmental information”.  Draft Decree takes into account the paragraph a and b of the findings of the twenty-third meeting of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee: a) public authorities obtain environmental information relevant to their functions, executive authorities and its local agencies, enterprises, institutions and organizations collect systemize and analyze the environmental information in their possession pursuant to the authority and its objectives

Ukrainian Party took the following legislative measures b) information within the scope of article 4 of the Convention is provided regardless of its volume Environmental information is provided in full, regardless of the volume, not later than one month after the request, unless the volume and complexity of gathering the volume and complexity of gathering the requested information do justify an extension of this period to two months after the request after the request

Ukrainian Party took the following legislative measures C) wording concerning the detailed requirements for informing the public, as required under the article 6, paragraph 2 of the Convention, about the initiation of the procedure and possibilities for the public to participate. In particular: i) The required form of the public notice; i) The required form of the public notice; ii) The required contents of the public notice ii) The required contents of the public notice iii) How in the case of projects having transboundary impact, iii) How in the case of projects having transboundary impact, the public concerned abroad is to be notified, in accordance with paragraph 2 (e) of article 6.  - Developed and is in the process of expert consultations the draft of the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approval of public participation in decision-making in the field of environmental protection”.  - Developed and is in the process of expert consultations the draft of the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approval of public participation in decision-making in the field of environmental protection ”.

Ukrainian Party took the following legislative measures “ Statement of the draft decision… as well as the notification on the public discussion should be placed in nationwide printed media -The notification on public discussion, unless otherwise provided by applicable law, must contain information about: (a) The proposed activity and the application on which a decision will be taken; (b) The nature of possible decisions or the draft decision; (c) The public authority responsible for making the decision; (d) The envisaged procedure, including, how and when this information can be provided: (i) The commencement of the procedure; (ii) The possibilities for the public to participate; (iii) The time and venue of any envisaged public hearing; (iv) An designation of the public authority from which relevant information can be obtained and where the relevant information has been deposited for examination by the public; (v) An designation of the relevant public authority or any other official body to which comments or questions can be submitted and of the time scheduled for comments or questions; and (vi) An description of what environmental information relevant to the proposed activity is available; And (e) The communication the planned activity is subject to a national or transboundary environmental impact assessment procedure.” “It is prohibited to appoint public discussions at working days and working hours or otherwise, which makes impossible for public to participate “ which makes impossible for public to participate “

Ukrainian Party took the following legislative measures D) specific timeframes for the public consultation process. In particular: The time for public to study the information on the projects and to prepare to participate effectively The time for public to prepare and submit comments.

Ukrainian Party took the following legislative measures  Where within 45 days from publication of a statement about the need for public discussion Is received from the public concerned, the coordinator of the draft decision should ensure its implementation. The coordinator of the public discussion appoints a date and venue for public debate and informs the subjects of public debate, not later than 45 days of public debate, not later than 45 days prior to its conduct through the media, which in its circulation and the location is appropriate with the volume and location of the interested public. (alternative-the national media).

Ukrainian Party took the following legislative measures The coordinator of the draft decision determines the duration of public discussions, depending on the type of target solution. Duration of public discussion, Duration of public discussion, may not exceed: may not exceed: 3 months - for international, national, regional programs, plans, strategies, concepts, projects, regulations, activities, which make or may have a negative impact on the environment, or decisions on the costs associated with implementation of environmental measures through the State Fund for Environmental Protection  2 months - for local programs, plans, strategies, decision-making regarding the costs associated with implementation of environmental activities by local funds of Environmental Protection ; 1 month – for the issuance of relevant documents on the use of natural resources on the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into the environment as well as decisions on activities that make or may have a negative impact on the environment

Ukrainian Party took the following legislative measures E) Sufficient time is available for public officials to take any comments into account in a meaningful way. The progress and results of the public discussion are registered in the protocol of the public discussion which is signed by the participants and the coordinator of the public discussion  The comments and suggestions from the public concerned received as the result of public discussion or submitted according to the Law of Ukraine “On public submissions” (N 394/96-ВР from ) to the decision maker or the coordinator of public discussion must be considered in draft decision in a meaningful way. The decision maker, after determining the appropriate decision on the issue under consideration is to inform the public concerned about it through the media in the period which must not exceed 30 days. Decision maker provides the information about the final decision which must I Decision maker provides the information about the final decision which must I nclude the data (or the publicly available source of data) as for the consideration of the public comments by the decision maker.

Legislative Change .... - Paragraph f) to i) consider the issue of the EIA legislation C Currently under development is the set of changes and amendments to the EIA legislation, with the aim of harmonization with the Convention. The assistance in the following area as well as the issues mentioned above is expected to be provided within the Framework Contract with EU “As for the assistance to Ukraine in the implementation of Aarhus and Espoo Convention”.

Capacity Building Activities  4 regional seminars are planed to be held by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine and USAID.  2 Seminars were already held in Zaporizhzha (October) and Lviv (December)  Regional NGOs and local authorities from 6 regions of Ukraine (Dniproperovsk, Kharkiv, Lugansk, Poltava, Zaporizhzha, )were invited to Zaporizhzha in order to participate on the following topics:  The role of publicity in the sphere of waste management  The analyses of the Aarhus Convention implementation in Ukraine  Draft decrees of the Cabinet of Ministers on “On approval of public participation in decision-making in the field of environmental protection” and “On approval of the provision and dissemination of environmental information”.  Draft decrees of the Cabinet of Ministers on “On approval of public participation in decision-making in the field of environmental protection ” and “On approval of the provision and dissemination of environmental information”.

Next steps planned   Improve the EIA legislation.   Pass the Law of Ukraine “On the ratification of the amendment to Aarhus Convention (concerning GMOs)”   Pass the amendment to the article 25 of the Law of Ukraine “About the Environmental Protection” as for the definition of environmental information   Conclude the consultations on the draft Decrees and pass the Decrees “On approval of public participation in decision-making in the field of environmental protection ” and “On approval of the provision and dissemination of environmental information”.   Other legislative activities necessary to bring the Ukrainian Party into full compliance with the Convention   Conclude 2 more regional seminars, which were mentioned above   Prepare the seminars for the judges and civil servants