Information on waste generated as a result of war: the issue of legal protection

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the state of legal provision of access to information about waste generated as a result of war, the identification of problematic aspects in this area and the development of proposals for overcoming them.
 The relevance of the study is due to the need to develop a legal field that would take into account a new phenomenon for Ukraine - the treatment of waste generated as a result of war and allow to ensure the implementation of the constitutional right of everyone to access information about such waste in the context of access to environmental information as effectively as possible.
 The work analyzes the amendments to the legislation on environmental information. A conclusion was made about the expediency of the existing changes in terms of clarifying the meaningful content of the term «environmental information», including by supplementing it with «waste information» and its compliance with international acts. The updated legislation on waste management was studied. A conclusion was made about the beginning of the formation of special secondary legislation on the management of waste generated as a result of war.
 It was determined that even under martial law, environmental information, including waste information, cannot be restricted. Access to it may be difficult for objective reasons (due to technical reasons, in temporarily occupied territories, etc.). Public access to environmental information is one of the factors in the effective development of reconstruction plans (especially at the local level), ensuring proper control over the implementation of measures, preserving people’s lives and health.
 It is proposed to speed up the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the State System of Environmental Monitoring, Information on the State of the Environment (Environmental Information) and Information Support for Management in the Field of the Environment» without reference to the end of martial law as such, which will serve quality update of legislation on access to environmental information. The need to define and establish at the level of the Law of Ukraine «On Waste Management» the concept of «waste generated as a result of war», as well as the provision of this category in the National List of Waste, is substantiated. Inconsistency of the Regulation on data sets to be made public in the form of open data of the Law of Ukraine «On Waste Management» in the part of the list of such data on waste was established. The need to eliminate this shortcoming is argued.