Public hearings are back on the agenda

The State Duma has developed a draft law returning the practice of mandatory public hearings and public discussions as part of urban planning activities in the Russian Federation. In 2022, at the suggestion of the Russian government, the parliament passed a law giving regions the right to approve construction projects without such procedures. So the White House decided to support the industry after the introduction of international sanctions. The authors of the proposed amendments point out that after that a number of regions actually canceled the hearing procedures, which “may lead to social tensions.” Svetlana Razvorotneva, deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on construction and housing and communal services, supported the idea, believing that the opinion of residents should be listened to, and not “drive discontent underground.”

The draft amendments to the legislation were developed by the deputies of the Duma faction “New People”. Their essence is to return to mandatory public hearings and public discussions of urban planning projects. The explanatory note states that in 2022 a law was passed giving the regions the right to “independently make decisions on the need to hold public hearings in the field of urban planning regulation.” “A situation has arisen in which a number of regions have actually canceled hearings and discussions,” it notes. The authors emphasize that this practice is contrary to the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation, “leads to the violation of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens” and “may lead to social tensions.” According to Kommersant, the bill is scheduled to be submitted to parliament on July 13.

In March 2022, we recall, at the suggestion of the government of the Russian Federation, Law No. 58 “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” was adopted. In Art. 7 of this document described “features in the implementation of urban planning activities”, including the opportunity for the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation and regional authorities to approve projects without public discussions or public hearings. The White House then explained the need for such an exception by the desire to support the construction industry after the introduction of international sanctions.

Note that according to Art. 5.1 of the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation, public discussions or public hearings were to be held both on draft general plans, rules for land use and development, and on smaller occasions, for example, when approving projects for planning a territory, its land surveying, landscaping rules and issuing permits for the use of a land plot or capital construction object. At the same time, the authorities are not obliged to take into account the results of the hearings: from Art. 5.1, it follows that the organizer of the procedure is only obliged to reasonably point out “the expediency or inexpediency of taking into account the proposals and comments made”.

Initially, Law No. 58 allowed the regions to refuse hearings only until the end of 2022. However, in December last year, federal law No. 519 was adopted, extending the moratorium until 2023. The government of the Russian Federation again associated this with the desire to “extend measures to reduce the negative consequences of unfriendly actions of foreign states and international organizations.”

“We are introducing a bill to make public hearings mandatory. For example, in Moscow they were canceled due to the pandemic. Then they returned it, but made it recommendatory,” says State Duma Vice Speaker Vladislav Davankov (“New People”).

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing Svetlana Razvorotneva (ER) told Kommersant that she supports the idea of ​​returning public hearings. “Crisis is crisis, but the industry is now on the rise, and cities should hear the opinion of residents. Driving discontent and dissent underground is not the right way,” she said. The deputy cited as an example the case of the construction of a bridge in her district of Nagatinsky Zaton in Moscow, the project of which was corrected only after an appeal to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, but not based on the results of the hearings. “If the results of public hearings were listened to more actively, there would be fewer strange decisions and less intervention by the heads of the subjects would also be required,” summed up Ms. Razvorotneva.

Alexander Voronov