Soil Quality Norms
The legal regulation of soil pollution begins with the system of environmental quality norms under the Georgian Law on Environmental Protection. According to Article 29 of the law, the environmental quality norms are: the maximum permissible norms for the concentration of substances harmful to human health and the natural environment and for the quantities of microorganisms in atmospheric air, water and soil; the maximum permissible norms for noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields and other physical impacts; and the maximum permissible norms for radiation exposure. Soil is named directly in this list, which means that the assessment of land pollution is made precisely against these limit norms. The quality norms are determined once every 5 years, by a statute developed and approved, in agreement with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, by the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs — the agreed competence of the health and environment ministries ensures that the normative values simultaneously protect both the human being and the soil as a component of the natural environment.
Norms for the Use of Chemical Agents in the Environment
One of the main sources of soil pollution is agricultural chemistry, and that is precisely why Article 31 of the law regulates the use in the environment of mineral fertilizers, plant protection agents, growth stimulators and other chemical agents: these norms are established in such a way that no threat is created to human health, to the plant and animal world, or to the soil. The norms for the use of chemical agents, together with the rules for their transport, storage and use, are developed once every 5 years and approved by statute of the Ministry of Environmental Protection in agreement with the health ministry — the management of the agrochemical load is thus constructed as a competence shared between two agencies. By the same article, for the purpose of the optimal use and consumption of chemical substances, the reduction of related risk, and accounting and control, a unified state registry of chemical substances is established, whose compilation procedure is determined by Georgian legislation. This registry is the instrument through which the state sees which substance circulates in the environment and in the soil, and in what volume.
Ecological Requirements towards Waste
Article 34 of the law regulates the waste regime and is decisive for soil protection: the subject of activity is obliged to ensure the prevention, collection, recovery and placement of waste in compliance with environmental, sanitary-hygienic and epidemiological norms and rules. The placement and burial of waste is permitted only in specially defined places, while the placement of radioactive and other hazardous waste occurs only in specially designated places. The placement of any waste in the sea and in other water bodies is prohibited. This last prohibition is particularly important for territories where soil pollution is considered together with water bodies: pollutants pass from the soil into the water, and the law protects both environmental components with unified prohibitions. Waste management issues, including the import, export and transit of waste, are regulated in the manner established by Georgian legislation.
State Control and Compensation of Damage
Article 57 of the law forms the system of state control: in the sphere of environmental protection and the use of natural resources, within the limits of the powers conferred by legislation, control is exercised by the Ministry, the Department, the Agency of Protected Areas and the Agency of Nuclear and Radiation Safety within the Ministry's system, and the state forest management organ. To ensure control, the Department carries out inspection, which covers scheduled or unscheduled inspection and viewing. The basis for an inspection is an individual administrative-legal act issued by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture or the head of the Department; appealing the act does not suspend the inspection, while a viewing does not require the issuance of an act. In the border strip, the periods of inspection are agreed with the border police. Liability for an offense does not release the offender from the obligation to compensate damage caused to the environment. The limitation period for a claim for damage caused to the environment is ten years from the moment the right of claim arises — and that right arises when the controlling organ learns of the damage and of the person obliged to compensate it. The ten-year period applies to cases of soil pollution as well and gives the injured party a sufficient horizon of time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the environmental quality norms?
Three groups of maximum permissible norms: concentrations of harmful substances and microorganism quantities in air, water and soil; physical impacts; and radiation exposure. Soil is named directly in the list.
How are these norms determined and renewed?
The quality norms, like the norms for the use of chemical agents and the rules of their transport, storage and use, are determined once every 5 years, by a statute.
Where may waste be placed?
Only at specially designated sites, in observance of environmental, sanitary and epidemiological norms; radioactive and other hazardous waste — likewise only at specially designated sites. Placing any waste in the sea and other water objects is prohibited.
Who exercises state control?
The ministry, the department, the Agency of Protected Areas, the Agency of Nuclear and Radiation Safety and the state forest management body. Its inspection covers planned or unplanned checks and viewings; a check requires an individual administrative-legal act, whose appeal does not suspend the check.
Within what period may damage caused to the environment be claimed?
The limitation period is 10 years from the moment the right of claim arises; it arises when the controlling organ learns of the damage and the person obliged to compensate it.
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