Оn draft version of new Guidelines for calculating harm to aquatic biological resources

UDK: 574.6:622.276

Key words: guidelines, aquatic biological resources, legal regulation, oil and gas deposits, continental shelf, compensation measures

Authors: M.V. Medyakina (Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, RF, Moscow), S.A. Gromykin (Posneft Oil Company PJSC, RF, Moscow)

The paper presents brief information on a draft version of new Guidelines for calculating harm to aquatic biological resources. At the present time Guidelines for calculating harm to aquatic biological resources? Approved by the Order of the Federal Agency for fishery № 1166 ,25 November 2011, is subject to critics both from the side of oil and gas companies and territorial departments of the Federal Agency for fishery. A lot of suggestions were made by oil and gas companies and other companies in the period of 2015-2016 for improvement of the Guidelines In July 2016, the Draft passed the procedure of Estimate of the Regulatory Impact and is currently being reviewed in the RF Ministry of Agriculture to be approved under the established procedure. The key objective of the new revision of the Guidelines is to develop a maximum accurate assessment of impacts from intended activities on aquatic bioresources. The Draft Guidelines includes inputs from Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography and other fishery research institutes for the period 2012 - 2016 related to calculation of the amount of damage to aquatic bioresources resulting from implementation of the intended activities affecting aquatic bioresources and their habitats, and some suggestions from business. When adopted, the new Guidelines will simplify the process of assessment of impacts on bioresources and of sourcing the input data. The new revision of the Guidelines will contribute to transparency of the calculations of compensation for damage to aquatic bioresources and to optimization of the companies’ associated costs, including of the companies implementing offshore projects.
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