Forest fires will be extinguished with fines: new initiatives of deputies
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Forest fires continue to rage in Siberia, the South Urals and the Far East. More than 20 dead in the Kurgan region. Moreover, not all fires can be called natural. In the Sverdlovsk region, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, by May 10, 24 criminal cases had already been initiated for violation of fire safety rules and 205 protocols on administrative offenses had been drawn up. The head of the Duma Committee on Ecology, Dmitry Kobylkin, promises tougher penalties for those responsible for fires.
Kobylkin, while in the Tyumen region, said: “There is an acute issue of toughening responsibility for citizens and legal entities that violate fire safety rules and those responsible for fires.” And he promised that the Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, headed by him, “will introduce appropriate legislative initiatives.” Specifically, nothing is known about the possible content of these initiatives, so it makes sense to look at what punishments are already provided for those whose fire or unextinguished cigarette led to catastrophic consequences.
The last time laws toughening liability for violations that could potentially lead or led to fires were adopted last year. As a result, Article 8.32 of the Code of Administrative Offenses promises citizens for “simply” violating fire safety rules in forests a fine of 15 to 30 thousand rubles, officials – from 30 to 50 thousand rubles, and legal entities – from 100 to 400 thousand rubles. If the violation was expressed in burning brushwood, forest litter and dry grass in areas directly adjacent to the forest and not separated from it by a fire-resistant mineralized strip at least half a meter wide, fines for citizens grow, for example, up to 30-40 thousand rubles. If the case was under the conditions of a special fire regime or an emergency situation (such a situation has already been announced in several Russian regions), the fines are even greater. And if, as a result of a violation, a fire broke out that caused serious harm to someone’s health, from a citizen they will take from 50 to 60 thousand rubles, from an official – from 100 to 200 thousand rubles, from an organization – from 1 million to 2 million rubles.
If, through the fault of a person, a fire broke out not in the forest and dry grass was burned or barbecues were fried on a site in a settlement, another article of the Code of Administrative Offenses at number 20.4 promises for violation of fire safety requirements “a warning or a fine” on citizens from 5 to 15 thousand rubles, for officials – from 20 to 30 thousand rubles, and for organizations – from 300 to 400 thousand rubles. Violation committed in an emergency situation or a special fire regime, and here raises the amount of the fine. If the case ended in a fire and there are dead, the citizens face a criminal case.
What about the Criminal Code? Article 219 of the Criminal Code threatens with a maximum of three years in prison for violation of fire safety requirements “by the person who was responsible for their observance” – if, through negligence, serious harm was caused to human health. The death of a person through negligence as a result of a violation promises up to five years in prison. If there are two or more dead, the maximum term of imprisonment is increased to 7 years.
Moreover, the “person who was responsible” for observing fire safety rules is not necessarily the head of some organization or his deputy responsible for fire safety. The decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of June 5, 2002 explains that under this article, “property owners, including dwellings, tenants, tenants, etc.” must also be held responsible. So, a fire that started due to your negligence on your site or in your apartment, which spread to neighboring plots or apartments, may end up in criminal liability just for the 219th (according to judicial statistics, in the last two years, it has been annually convicted of 11 people).
Destruction or damage by negligence of someone else’s property as a result of violation of the rules for handling fire or other sources of increased danger is punishable under Article 168 of the Criminal Code. Moreover, the SC explains, improper handling of fire near combustible materials, and the use of a tractor in the forest without a spark arrester, unattended stoves, bonfires, or unplugged electrical appliances or gas burners can be considered negligent treatment. According to judicial statistics, in total, 143 people were convicted under Article 168 of the Criminal Code in 2021, and 155 people in 2022, how many of them carelessly handled fire, is not specified.
But is it worth tightening the laws even more?
The deputy head of the Duma Committee on Ecology, Oleg Lebedev (KPRF), in a conversation with MK, believes that it is worth it. The deputy recalled that he personally twice over the past 10 years introduced bills that proposed more severe punishment for “bonfires in the forest.” But by increasing the fines, it is necessary to “seriously promote, by all available means, a responsible attitude to one’s behavior, because many people do not even suspect that it is impossible and dangerous to kindle fires in the forest, and to burn dry grass too,” Mr. Lebedev believes. .
The first deputy head of this committee, Alexander Kogan (ER), called the proposal to toughen penalties for careless handling of fire “reasonable” and recalled that the fire in the village of Sosva, Sverdlovsk Region, started from one of the local sawmills. First of all, responsibility should be toughened for “officials who are responsible for fire safety,” the deputy believes. But the matter, in his opinion, is not only in the amount of the fine: “in accordance with the current legislation, the person guilty of starting a fire must compensate for the damage caused, and this damage can already amount to tens of millions of rubles. The problem is that proving guilt is not so easy – and this is another area that needs to be worked on. A system for monitoring the situation “from satellites, with the help of video recording, camera traps at the entrances and exits to the forests, this will help in the search for the guilty,” United Russia believes, can help the case.
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Forest fires will be extinguished with fines
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