The government has approved standards for automatic control of quota emissions

The White House approved the introduction of automatic control of industrial emissions as part of the federal project “Clean Air” – a decree published yesterday requires it for 70% of emissions of priority pollutants as part of an experiment on emission quotas in 12 industrial cities of the Russian Federation. According to Kommersant’s sources, relevant Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko managed to convince the industrial lobby, which insisted on reducing emissions coverage to 50–60%, that the necessary equipment was available in the Russian Federation, and the acceleration of investments and preferential treatment made capital investments in environmental modernization interesting for companies and regions.

Government Resolution No. 39 of January 22, 2024, signed by Mikhail Mishustin on the specifics of the creation and launch of automatic control systems (ACS) for emissions of priority pollutants at quota-based facilities of the first and second categories of negative environmental impact (NEI) will enter into force within the framework of the federal project “Clean Air”. effective September 1 and will be in effect for six years. It requires SAC coverage of 70% of such emissions and data transfer to the Rosprirodnadzor NVOS facility register – accounting can be either separate by emission sources and pollutants, or unified. The procedure for creating the SAC includes an inventory of sources at which emissions of 14 priority pollutants (sulfur and nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and hydrogen halides, ammonia, etc.) exceed the levels approved by the same resolution, preparation of accounting programs, design, installation and commissioning of systems, metrological control measuring instruments and putting the SAC into operation. Technological interruptions in the operation of systems should not exceed 28 calendar days per year, and requirements for automatic measuring instruments have also been introduced.

The resolution as a by-law to Federal Law No. 177, signed in April 2023, on tightening control over the obligations of industrialists to reduce pollution in 12 environmentally unfavorable cities of the Russian Federation (later it was decided to expand the experiment to another 29 cities) has been discussed since the spring of 2023. The industrial lobby tried to achieve a reduction in the coverage of such systems from 70% to 50–60% of “priority” emissions (see “Kommersant” on May 29, 2023), citing a shortage of equipment and the fact that the 70% standard leads to an explosive increase in the number systems and costs. The Ministry of Natural Resources insisted that for most companies, control of main sources will cover not 70%, but 90% of their emissions.

According to a Kommersant source familiar with the discussion of the project, Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko, who oversees the environment, has held a series of meetings with large businesses and SAC manufacturers and suppliers over the past six months, “literally bringing them together manually” and convincing them that There are technologies and equipment manufacturers in the Russian Federation, and at the last of these meetings, “some industrialists convinced others that the installation of SAC at their facilities was already underway, and the fears were unfounded.” Manufacturers of such equipment count on increased demand for their products and support the issuance of the resolution: thus, according to Zaira Makhacheva, general director of TLP Management, the document “will have a significant impact on the development of domestic environmental technologies and mechanical engineering. Everything that is proposed to be done is feasible and will be implemented, will support import substitution programs and the development of the environmental industry.”

It should be noted that the revision of the position of the industrial lobby was facilitated by strengthening supervision over emission reduction programs (see “Kommersant” dated April 20, 2023), a discussion about fines for exceeding quotas (up to 5% of the company’s turnover) and the introduction of environmental supervision and control over their achievement from under the moratorium on inspections.

The requirements for SAC will also apply to facilities in 29 new cities of the emission quota experiment, when priority pollution is identified there and quotas are established. As Kommersant’s interlocutors say, who participated in discussions of the act with business on the side of regulators, regional authorities themselves are now asking to include them in the experiment: agreements between companies with the Ministry of Natural Resources, Rosprirodnadzor and constituent entities of the Russian Federation on the modernization of industrial facilities against the backdrop of growing investment provide the regions with an influx of capital investments, and companies — access to preferential financing and investment regimes and protection from fines and payments for non-investment assessments.

Oleg Sapozhkov