The public danger of environmental crimes is considered. It is argued that this legal category is subject to change due to so-cio-political and economic transformations of society. It is noted that the public danger of encroachments on the natural envi-ronment and the established procedure for the use of natural resources is increasing, which is associated with the increasing role of nature in the life of society, the growing need to preserve it in the highest quality condition. It is indicated that public danger directly influences the construction of elements of environmental crimes, as well as the determination of the type, size and dura-tion of punishment for their commission. The fact is stated that the social danger of the acts in question is influenced not only by the fact of its harmfulness, but also by other circumstances, in particular, the repetition of the commission. General conclusions are made that there is a need to specify the assessment categories characterizing the harm caused by environmental crimes; ac-tive use of mechanisms of administrative prejudice, special recidivism and other forms of recording the repetition of environ-mentally hazardous behavior; the need to formulate elements of crimes involving delayed environmental harm as elements of a real threat; it is necessary to take into account the consequences of the “first” level in crimes where the main harmful impact is indirect; There is an urgent need to tighten sanctions for environmental crimes in proportion to the increased importance of protected social relations.