The government proposed to allow the storage of agrochemicals in the water protection zones of ports

The government has developed a bill that will allow the placement of storage facilities for ammonium nitrate, ammonia, methanol and potassium nitrate within the boundaries of water protection zones in the territories of seaports. Document introduced to the State Duma, follows from the electronic database of the lower house.

According to the current legislation, in Russia it is forbidden to store explosive, toxic and poisonous substances within the boundaries of water protection zones in the territories of seaports. All of them were located on the territory of the ports of Ukraine and the Baltic countries, where specialized ports were built for transshipment of these fertilizers. Now Russia does not have access to these ports.

“There is an urgent need to build specialized terminals designed for the storage and transshipment of ammonia, methanol and other chemical dangerous goods. To do this, it is necessary to remove the current regulatory restrictions, first of all, to remove the legislative restriction for the territories of seaports on the placement and storage of chemical, explosive, toxic, poisonous and poisonous substances within the water protection zone,” the government explained.

At the same time, the placement of these fertilizers on the territory of coastal protective strips will continue to be prohibited. The government will by a separate order allocate those ports on the territory of which it will be possible to build specialized terminals. The authors of the bill added that the absence of a ban on the placement of specialized storage facilities in seaports is in line with global practice.

Thanks to this bill and the placement of fertilizers along the coastline, the possible risks of a negative impact on the environment during the transshipment of dangerous goods will be minimized, as well as the time and costs for their transshipment will be reduced, while maintaining product quality, follows from the explanatory note.