The legal pillars of air quality compliance
Compliance connected with air quality is bounded by four institutions: the accounting of indicators, the monitoring system, the qualitative norms, and state control. This page explains how the four work together and what a business whose activity affects air quality should expect.
Accounting, assessment and monitoring
The accounting, reporting and assessment of the qualitative and quantitative indicators of the state of the environment cover the compilation of cadastres of the state of the environment and of natural resources, statistics, inventory, passportization and cartography. State accounting, reporting and assessment are guided and coordinated, within its competence, by the ministry together with the ministry of displaced persons, labour, health and social protection and other agencies. This analytical base is precisely the starting point on which the assessment of quality stands.
The system of monitoring the state of the environment is a combination of the analysis and forecasting of information obtained through observation. The general coordination of the system is exercised by the ministry, and the results of monitoring are accessible to the public. The legal regime of the system and the types of monitoring are determined by Georgian legislation. Air quality compliance is thus publicly measurable — and these monitoring data are often the starting point of a dispute or an audit.
Qualitative norms
The qualitative norms establish the permissible limit norms for the concentration of harmful substances and quantities of microorganisms in atmospheric air, as well as the norms for noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields and radiation impact. These norms are determined once every 5 years by the relevant regulation approved, in agreement with the environmental ministry, by the health ministry. The assessment of compliance rests precisely on these limits.
State control
State control in the sphere of environmental protection and the use of natural resources, except oil, gas and natural hydrogen, is exercised by the ministry, the department, the agencies of protected areas and of nuclear and radiation safety, and the state forest management body. The department carries out inspection — scheduled or unscheduled checks and surveys; the basis of a check is an individual administrative-legal act, whose appeal does not suspend the check. The imposition of liability does not release the perpetrator from compensating damage.