Ara Mkrtchyan, Deputy Minister of Environment of the RA, submitted for debate in the second reading the package of draft laws on Making Amendments and Addenda to the RA Water Code and on Amending the Law on the RA National Water Programme.
The Ministry of Environment of the RA, together with its Government partners, has carried out a number of works aimed at identifying existing problems in flood risk management, prevention, emergency rescue and rehabilitation operations and finding appropriate solutions to them.
After the first reading, the NA Civil Contract Faction submitted a proposal. The Deputy Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Babken Tunyan noted that it was much more logical for an economic entity to have the opportunity to apply for and receive a temporary water use permit for carrying out design work before undergoing an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) examination and regarding the amount of water to be used in a given area. And only after the completion of the EIA examination will this permit become legally binding.
It was noted that this will exclude cases when an economic entity, having undergone an EIA examination and spent resources and time, finds out that this work was pointless, since the possible amount of water used is not sufficient for the implementation of the project. This will also provide greater flexibility to investors and contribute to the speed of processes, which is extremely important from the point of view of improving the investment environment and economic growth.
The legislative package on Making Amendments and Addenda to the Law on Waste, on Making Addendum to the RA Code on Administrative Offenses proposes to fix the requirements for licensing the use and activity of hazardous waste and the main regulations of the process, clarify the powers of the Government and the authorized body. The proposed amendments will fix the authorizing norms for the adoption of regulatory legal acts regulating the sector, clarify the processes of passporting, registration, and submission of statistical reports of hazardous waste.
According to Ara Mkrtchyan, Deputy Minister of Environment of the RA there were no substantive amendments to the draft law after the first reading.