Legal issues of prevention and response to accidental spills of petroleum products

Abstract

The subject of this research is a set of legal norms that regulate social relations in the area of prevention and response to accidental spills of petroleum products. The goal of this work consists in formulation of theoretical and practical conclusions and recommendations aimed at the improvement of legal regulation in this sphere. The relevance of the selected topic is defined by the fact that accidental spills of hydrocarbons is an urgent concern for the Russian Federation. The official data indicates over 17,000 accidents occurred at enterprises of the fuel and energy complex in 2019. The due regulation of prevention and response to spills of petroleum products is definitely one crucial elements in ensuring environmental security of the Russian Federation. The article examines the legal support issues with regards to prevention and response to accidental spills of petroleum products. Based on the analysis of the effective legislation, the author makes a number of conclusions and recommendation. It is noted that the norms regulating the relations in this sphere are for the most part dedicated to the issues of localization and elimination of the spills of petroleum products, i.e. measures taken after the spill. Such crucial problem as the prevention of spills of petroleum products and environmental damage is not given due attention in the legislation. The author also formulates the principle of advanced development of environmental legislation, according to which the legislative and technical regulation of the activity posing heightened risk to the environment and (or) associated with the use of natural resources should be proactive.