PRESIDENTIAL DECREE OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

of May 31, 2023 No. UP-81

About measures for transformation of the sphere of ecology and environmental protection and the organization of activities of authorized state body

In recent years in the country complex measures for providing ecological safety, improvement of ecological situation, the prevention of harmful effects of waste on human health, rational use of natural resources, creating favorable conditions for improvement of quality of sanitary and ecological situation are consistently carried out.

In scales of the country the national project "Yashil Macon" is implemented, the termless moratorium on cutting down of valuable types of the trees which are not entering into the state forest fund is effective.

At the same time owing to carelessness of heads of regions, bodies of ecology and environmental protection, law enforcement agencies of the republic for last period massive faults are allowed in the field of, irreplaceable damage is in some cases caused to the nature and society. In particular:

in regions, especially in the cities, the situation on air pollution in regions, especially in the cities more and more worsens, system work on decrease in loading of emissions in the atmosphere is not organized;

as a result of illegal cutting down about 44 thousand, including almost thousand valuable types of trees, in the period of the imposed moratorium imposed on cutting down of trees and bushes, the nature damage on 36 billion sum is caused to 9,5;

covering of root system of trees concrete and asphalt, installation on them different electric lamps and advertizing devices are the reason of serious damage of trees;

in society the quantity of cases of ill treatment of animals, including domestic and homeless animals increases, there is no modern system of their identification, chipization, vaccination and sterilization;

increase in cases of uncontrolled and unsystematic pasture of the cattle in the protected natural territories, use of underground waters without scientific reasons is led to violation of ecosystems, growth of degradation and desertification of big land, as a result - climate change impact amplifies, there is threat of life and to human health;

in 2022 on 27 facts of environmental offenses criminal cases on which punishment measures only in the form of easy financial penalties are applied were brought;

discrepancy of condition of the operating polygons to ecological and health requirements, and also not implementation in their activities of technologies of conversion and utilization generate threat of their transformation in the future into problem at the level of environmental disaster.

For the purpose of cardinal improvement of ecological situation by creation of the modern mechanism of environmental monitoring on the basis of digital technologies, further increase in ecological culture, preserving biodiversity and regulation of activities for the address with waste, planting of trees and bushes, creation of green zones, implementation of new procedures for their protection, and also ensuring execution of the Presidential decree of the Republic of Uzbekistan of January 25, 2023 No. UP-14 "About First-priority Organizational Measures for Effective Establishing Activities of Republican Executive Bodies":

1. Considering the new tasks and functions assigned by this Decree to rename the Ministry of natural resources into the Ministry of ecology, environmental protection and climate change (further - the Ministry).

2. To the ministry together with the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs till September 1, 2023 to introduce the drafts of regulatory legal acts providing to the Cabinet of Ministers:

a) reference of the crimes connected with causing damage of ecology and the environment, destruction or drawing damage to objects of plant and animal life to category of serious crimes;

b) increase in the size of administrative penalties for violation of requirements of the imposed moratorium on cutting down of valuable types of the trees and bushes which are not entering into the state forest fund, by 5 times. At the same time establishment in additional procedure for the obligation on landing instead of illegally the cut-down tree of saplings of compensation tree in that place where the cut-down tree, and also introduction of application of financial sanctions against legal entities in the amount of 100-fold to the 300-fold size of basic settlement size burgeoned;