One of the frequently asked questions is whether garages or open parking lots used only for parking (storage) as well as for entry and exit of vehicles are considered “sources of environmental pollution”. The reason for such a question is that operators of all environmental pollution sources are required to have them registered with the environmental authorities (Article 69.2 of the Federal Law on Environmental Protection No. 7-FZ dated 10 January 2002).
“Sources of environmental pollution” are defined by the law as construction or other unit or a combination of units with a common purpose or those inextricably linked together, whether physically or technically, and located within one or several land plots.
According to Art. 4.2 of Federal Law N 7-FZ, all sources of environmental pollution are to be assigned to category I, II, III or IV, depending on the level of negative impact on the environment (category I being the most environmentally hazardous). The criteria for determining category of a facility are approved by Decree No. 1029 of September 28, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as the Criteria). If an object (unit or facility) does not satisfy any of the Criteria, the operator is not obliged to register it as a source of environmental pollution.
In accordance with Art. 1 of the Law, a “stationary source of environmental pollution” is a source of pollution of the environment whose location can be defined by the common state system of coordinates or which can be moved by means of a mobile source of environmental pollution; a “mobile source of environmental pollution” - a vehicle whose engine is a source of environmental pollution during its operation.
According to the letter of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation of September 18, 2015 N 12-44 / 22962 open parking lots and similar territories are not, by themselves, considered “stationary sources of environmental pollution”.
However, if a garage or any other building or structure is used for an activity and is equipped by an exhaust ventilation pipe, such a pipe will be considered as a stationary source of environmental pollution. Operation of this pipe will therefore require an air emission permit (paragraph 1 of Art. 14 of the Federal Law of 04.05.1999 N 96-FZ "On Ambient Air Protection").
An air emission permit sets maximum allowable emissions (“PDVs”) for stationary pollution sources.
Therefore, if an operator of a garage or a building performs an activity that involves the operation of stationary pollution source, such an operator (a company or a sole trader) is required to have this garage or building registered as a source of environmental pollution with the environmental authorities and to obtain an air emission permit.
Reference: Letter N РН-04-03-27/2839 of 14 February 2018