The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast
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FEDERAL LAW MAKES USE OF TOMSK INITIATIVE
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law which freezes until 2019 significant burdening of small business by infrastructural facilities. In accordance with federal law No. 416 dated December 7, 2011 On water supply and disposal, starting July 1, 2015 all legal entities would have to build own wastewater treatment facilities. It took the Oblast deputies two years to get the rule withheld.
The Economic Policy Committee of the Tomsk Oblast Duma first raised the alarm in 2013 when the law on water took force. Starting July 1, 2015 the law bound all legal entities with water disposal contracts to treat their effluents before they reach the centralized water disposal system.
The Tomsk Oblast Duma deputies made a number of requests to the federal authorities asking to make the regulation less stringent and allow companies to contract a wastewater treatment facility instead of building their own treatment plant.
On June 24, at the session of the Russian Federation Council Tomsk Oblast Duma representative Igor Chernyshev presented to his peers information prepared by the Government of Russia about the negative implications of the rule if it took force on July 1, 2015. He was supported by Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian Government in the Federation Council Andrey Yatskin and Speaker of the Upper House of the Russian State Duma Valentina Matviyenko.
At the same time instructed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev the Ministry of Economic Development was working on proposals to put off until January 1, 2019 non-tax payments for entrepreneurs and companies and hold back the enforcement of new allowable discharge rates for the centralized waster disposal systems as well as the obligation to build local wastewater treatment facilities.
Based on those proposals, amendments to the water law were approved by the Russian State Duma and the Federation Council and enforced by federal law No. 221-FZ of July 13, 2015.
