Legal regulation of ecological rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated territories in Ukraine: problems and ways to solve them

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the research is to identify the shortcomings of the current legislation of Ukraine in the field of ecological rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated territories, as well as to provide proposals for possible ways to overcome them. Methodology. The methodology includes a comprehensive analysis and generalization of the available scientific and theoretical material and the formulation of relevant conclusions and proposals. During the writing of the article, both general scientific methods of scientific knowledge and special-legal ones were used, including formal-legal, structural-functional, systemic and other methods. Results: in the process of research, it was established that the current legislation of Ukraine in the field of ecological rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated territories contains norms of a local nature, which determine the legal regime of the territories affected by the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. At the same time, radioactively contaminated territories in Ukraine are the territories of former uranium mining and processing plants, tailings storage facilities (Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions). Based on this, the expediency of supplementing the Law of Ukraine "On the Use of Nuclear Energy and Radiation Safety" with the section "Radioactively Contaminated Territories" was determined, the effect of which would extend to the entire territory of Ukraine. In addition, the article proposes to give the land plots on which uranium production waste storage sites, buildings and structures contaminated with natural radioactive substances, which due to their ecological danger cannot be used in economic activities, the legal status of those that are not subject to taxation, as well as to establish additional subsidies from the State Budget of Ukraine for the relevant local budgets in order to compensate for the loss of revenues of local budgets as a result of the exemption from taxation of land plots that are radioactively contaminated. Originality. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the possibility of using the obtained results for further scientific developments in the field of legal regulation of ecological rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated territories. Practical significance. The results of the research can be used in law-making activities with the aim of improving the provisions of the current legislation of Ukraine in the field of ecological rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated territories.

Keywords

• environmental legislation
• natural environment
• environment
• ecological rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated territories
• uranium mining and uranium processing industry
• taxation
• tax benefits