Problems of competence of local self-government bodies in the field of environmental protection and environmental safety in the Russian Federation under present-day conditions

Introduction.  The  competence  of  local  selfgovernment  has  been  the subject  of  research  by  Russian scientists since the early 1990s. Despite the large number of works related in one way or another to the issues of competence of local self-government and municipal bodies, the volume of issues of local importance and the difficulties in solving them require a comprehensive study of this issue. The competence of local government is complex and consists of its own competence, delegated competence and optional competence. Environmental protection and environmental safety issues are an important and integral part of the competence of local self-government.

Materials and Methods. When preparing a scientific publication, various general scientific and private scientific methods of scientific knowledge were used. Among the special methods are the method of interpreting legal norms, the formal-legal method, the legal-technical method, and the comparative-legal method. The legislative acts of the Russian Federation devoted to the organization and implementation of local self-government, the protection of the environment and wildlife, forest and water bodies, land, atmospheric air, as well as environmental safety were studied. The literature on the general theory of municipal law and on the environmental powers of local self-government of Russian authors of the 1990s-2000s, 2010s, as well as the present has been studied.

Analysis. The competence of local self-government directly depends on the legal act that establishes the method of determining the competence and the body of the municipality whose competence is specified, as well as the type of municipality. Implementing municipal administration, local governments, among other things, resolve issues of local importance and exercise separate delegated powers in the environmental sphere and in the field of environmental safety. The competence of local self-government in this area is established both by the Federal Law “On General Principles of Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation” and by a large number of legislative acts that relate to the field of environmental law. Moreover, local governments do not have such powers as “protecting the environment” or “ensuring environmental safety,” since these powers are complex and include a number of other, clearly defined issues of local importance, issues of competence of local governments. Probably, for this reason, in modern legal science, several main areas of study of the competence of local governments in this area are distinguished.

Results. Based on the results of the study, the following conclusions can be drawn. The powers of local governments in the field of environmental protection and environmental safety are a set of rights and obligations aimed at protecting natural resources, ensuring environmental safety, managing and disposing of waste, and participating in environmental rule-making within their competence. The competence of local authorities in Russia in the field of environmental protection and environmental safety under consideration is decentralized and derivative. In general, local governments play a key role in solving local environmental problems in Russia, but their effectiveness is limited by the fragmentation of legislation and resource shortages of municipal budgets.

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