Environmental Commission of the Lenoblast Assembly approved changes to the forest law

In the new composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad region, permanent commissions began their work. The first meeting was held under the leadership of Alexander Timkov. At the meeting, amendments to the regional law on forest relations were discussed. This is reported by IVBG.ru.

The parliamentarians considered the draft amendments to article 1 of the regional law “On the regulation of certain issues in the field of forest relations in the Leningrad region”. The authors of the initiative, Mikhail Kolomytsev and Andrei Gardashnikov, proposed adding a new paragraph to the regional law. The purpose of the amendment is to bring the regional legislation in line with the updated norms of the Forest Code of Russia.

At the end of last year, changes were made to the Forest Code of the Russian Federation regarding the harvesting of wood by state institutions engaged in the protection and restoration of forests. According to part 6 of article 29.1 of the Forest Code, some of these institutions are granted the right to cut wood without an auction and outside the general order. This innovation is due to the need to perform tasks such as extinguishing fires, construction and repair of roads, as well as the activities of forestry enterprises and the implementation of state projects.

Previously, such organizations did not have the opportunity to receive income from timber harvesting, even if it was about the disposal of old, parched trees. Now the law allows them to engage in this type of activity, but with a mandatory condition: the list of such institutions must be approved by the governor of the region and agreed with the federal body. This authority is assigned to the Governor of the Leningrad region in the framework of the new bill.

The authors of the initiative argue that the adoption of the law will allow, firstly, to bring regional legislation in line with federal legislation, and secondly, to provide state institutions with stable conditions for work and income from forest restoration.

Stanislav Eremeev expressed support for this initiative, noting: “If we do not adopt these amendments, we risk hopelessly lagging behind world trends.” I therefore consider it appropriate to support this initiative.” As a result of the discussion, the parliamentarians recommended that the Legislative Assembly consider the bill at the next meeting and adopt it in the first and third readings.