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Introduction of the Sub-Committee of Environment, the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments |
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| Environmental Status Marine environment |
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| Despite its progress in industrialization and agricultural development, Russia still uses outdated drainage and treatment facilities, thus water pollution has become major issue in many areas. Furthermore, through exploitation of underground resources, minerals such as lead, copper, zinc and cadmium are being discharged into the rivers and sea influencing the deterioration of water and sediment qualities. This has become a recent source of concern in relation to the adverse effects these discharges may have on ecosystems. In the sea area near Vladivostok, high levels of pollutants are being detected inside marine organisms, consequently marine pollution has become a serious issue. | |||||||||||||||||
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| River environment | |||||||||||||||||
| Water quality River water quality data is limited, yet the available data displays high fluctuations, as such it is difficult to conclude any trend. However, Razdolnaya River in the southern coastal area and Bolshaya Aleksandrovska River in western Sakhalin are known to be moderately polluted (Fig. 1). |
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| Note : Water quality monitoring points for Amur River, Razdolnaya River, Bolshaya Aleksandrovska River were in Nikolayevsk na Amure (1996), Terekhovka (1998) and Korsakovka village (2001), respectively. Parenthesis indicates the survey year. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Status of sewage treatment In far-east Russia, sewage is discharged without any adequate treatment and water pollution is a serious issue in the bathing areas near Vladivostok. Installation of adequate treatment facilities is an urgent requirement. |
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| Atmospheric environment | |||||||||||||||||
| Along the Sea of Japan coastline, air quality is monitored in 6 cities*. Each of these cities has serious air pollution problems and in Rudnaja, Pristan, Dalnegorsk and Vladivostok lead pollution is a major problem. Recently, the emission of harmful substances seems to be decreasing in far-east Russia. However, this reduction is not due to improvements in treatment technology or from enhanced conservation efforts via the government and private sector, but is mainly due to the decline in industrial production. If the existing system is not improved and if industrial production recovers, air pollution may well increase from its current situation. | |||||||||||||||||
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| * : Monitoring is conducted in Vladivostok, Ussurisk, Artem, Dalnegorsk, Rudnaja Pristan and Nakhodka. There are 6 monitoring points in Vladivostok and one monitoring point for each of the other cities. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Environmental Administration | |||||||||||||||||
| Administrative structure The environmental administrative structure in Russia is quite complicated with various ministries and departments involved in environmental matters. The Ministry of Natural Resources plays a central role in environmental matters. It is responsible for developing environmental policies, monitoring wild life at the nature conservation areas, collecting related data on air, water and toxic wastes as well as supervising enterprises and local governments on their environmental conservation measures. |
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| Environmental laws and regulations “The State Environmental Protection Act”, enacted in 2002 is the basic environmental law detailing eight fundamental environmental principles as stated in the first chapter. It presents an outstanding contrast to the legal system of the former Soviet Union in regard to the environment, such that environmental rights are recognized, a principle of sustainable development is introduced, attention to economic interests is clarified and principal of payment for the use of nature are taken into consideration. In addition, Russia has a great number of laws and by-laws, which provide detailed articles with regard to natural resources and other specific issues. |
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 Informational
Interchange on Environmental Protection among Local Governments in
North East Asia Region |
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