In 2006, the Russian Regional Environmental Centre carried out a project «Further Strengthening of Environmental Enforcement and Compliance in the North-Western Region of the Russian Federation within the Framework of the Environment Strategy for the Countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA)».
The project was aimed at reforming the environmental enforcement and improving the compliance with the environmental norms, as well as at strengthening the relevant corresponding institutions in the North West Russia taking into consideration the objectives of the EECCA Environment Strategy. Financial support for the project was provided by the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety of Germany.
Methods and Practices of Environmental Enforcement and Compliance in the North-Western Region of the Russian Federation».
Its main idea and objective was to promote exchange of experience in the field of environmental enforcement and to identify opportunities for improving compliance with the regulatory environmental requirements, strengthening the potential of the environmental supervisory agencies, reforming regional instruments of environmental policy and organization of basic training of specialists, practitioners and inspectors, as well as dissemination of the available experience in the field of environmental enforcement and compliance in various regions of Russia.
In the course of the implementation of the project, the control and enforcement instruments were applied, that had been developed in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) and in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
The project made a contribution to the «improvement of the environmental legislation, policy and institutional framework» as defined in the EECCA Environment Strategy as Goal No.1. The work performed in connection with the project was closely related to the activities of the network for implementation of the Environmental regulation programme
in EECCA (REPIN) and in close cooperation with the Secretariat of the Task Force for the Implementation of Environmental Action Programme for EECCA (EAP Task Force), OECD as well as with regional and global environmental enforcement and compliance networks.
Within the framework of this project, an international seminar was held in Novgorod the Great «Improvement of environmental enforcement and compliance methods at North-West region of Russia”. The participants of the seminar defined regional priorities in the field of environmental enforcement and compliance. A special subject for the discussion was training of inspectors.
Pursuant to the recommendations made at the seminar, a training course for inspectors and staff members of the environmental protection bodies of the North-Western region of Russia and for experts and specialists of the Rostekhnadzor and Rosprirodnadzor agencies was organized in cooperation with the OECD EAP Task Force in the Great Novgorod on July 4-6, 2006.
Training was provided by highly qualified OECD experts and specialists commissioned by the Government of the Netherlands. The training course was also supported by the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety of Germany. Materials relating to issues of environmental enforcement and compliance prepared by the EAP Task Force and other international partners of the Russian Regional Environmental Centre were disseminated in the North-Western and Central regions of Russia.
The project also included the development of a special web site () which has been designed to promote also the dialogue between state authorities and the public, and improve the transparency and accountability of the inspection process.