Basic Principles and Methods of Environmental Protection Planning in the USSR

Abstract

This chapter elaborates basic principles and methods of environmental protection planning in the USSR. In the USSR, the rational use of natural resources and the prevention of environmental pollution form one of the basic tasks of the State, the most important elements of which have been elevated to the rank of constitutional principles of the Soviet State and are embodied in Article 18 of the USSR Constitution. Tasks relating to the protection of the environment and the rational use of resources are binding and individualized: that is, they are assigned to specific executing agencies, and are provided with the necessary resources. Furthermore, these tasks are framed so as to ensure the continuity and co-ordination of current (annual), medium-term and long-term plans, thus making it possible to reconcile the solutions of urgent and long-term problems in the best possible way. The State planning of measures for environmental protection and for the rational use of natural resources in the USSR makes it possible to ensure that the work of implementing specific organizational and practical measures to preserve and improve the country's natural environment is carried on in businesslike fashion.