Azernews.Az

The Regulation on the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources has been amended, and the ministry’s authority has been expanded, AzerNEWS reports.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed the relevant decree.

According to the decree, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, through its subordinate bodies, both within and outside its structure, will be able to provide an opinion on the expediency of replacing these lands with less suitable or unsuitable land for agriculture, on the feasibility of replacing them with land plots for the extraction of minerals, on the compliance of confirmed reserves of minerals and their development with the legislation on subsoil, as well as on the compliance of changing the category of lands with the legislation on environmental protection, in cases provided for in Part 1 of Article 57 of the Land Code, as well as in cases where it is necessary to involve additional land plots in the agricultural cycle for the construction of objects of defense and security importance on forest fund lands, and to ensure food security.

Amendments have also been made to the "Statute of the State Ecological Expertise Agency".

Thus, when a change in the category of land for the extraction of minerals is required, the Agency will be able to provide an opinion on the compliance of the approved reserves of minerals and their development with the legislation on subsoil, as well as the change in the category of lands with the legislation on environmental protection.