The Environmental Decision
The legal core of the industrial activity permit is Article 35 of the Georgian Law on Environmental Protection: for the purpose of taking into account the ecological, social and economic interests of society and the state, and of protecting human health, the natural environment and cultural and material values, an environmental decision is necessary for conducting activity on the territory of Georgia. For the purpose of identifying and studying the possible impact on the environment, before the issuance of the environmental decision the environmental impact assessment procedure is carried out in accordance with the Environmental Assessment Code, and the issues related to the issuance of the decision are determined by that Code. An amendment to the law adds a further step: for activity subject to the integrated environmental permit envisaged by the Georgian Law on Industrial Emissions, an integrated environmental permit is necessary, a regime that entered into force on 1 September 2026; the activities subject to that permit and the issues related to its issuance are determined by the Law on Industrial Emissions. Thus, for an industrial object the environmental decision is the administrative basis without which the commencement of activity is not lawful, and it is preceded by the impact assessment — an independent analytical stage that gives the decision its factual foundation.
General Requirements during the Activity
Article 39 of the law shapes the regime of the ongoing activity. In the course of the activity the requirements of ecological safety and the protection of the population's health must be fulfilled, and the measures for environmental protection, the rational use of natural resources and the restoration of the environment, together with the financial means needed for their implementation, must be provided for. The subject of activity is obliged to have, agreed with the relevant state organs, operational and systematic measures for the prevention of technological accidents and natural catastrophes and for prophylaxis, and action plans for the time of accidents and catastrophes; to create and keep in readiness a service equipped with technical means for the liquidation of accidents; and to notify the relevant state organs and the population in due time of every expected and occurred technological accident and natural catastrophe. Note that the plans must be operational and systematic — a one-off document is not sufficient, they must be kept in an updatable state. The duty to inform the population is especially weighty where the enterprise is located near a settlement or a sensitive ecosystem; the legal regime of fulfilling these conditions is regulated by Georgian legislation.