lecture 2.

General characteristics of public administration in the field of ecology

Management is a set of measures to regulate the state of the system in order to maintain its
stability. The concept of environmental management came into use in the former USSR in the
late 80s and early 90s. In the works of the Club of Rome, the problem of governance (including
global) is one of the central ones.

The substantive meaning of environmental management is revealed in the specific forms of

its organization and the selected system of influences.

The purpose of management is to ensure safe and sustainable (balanced) development.

The nature of management systems is determined primarily by the goal set, but it also
depends on the characteristics of a particular territory, which affects the specifics of
environmental management and requires regionalization of environmental management systems.

Environmental management systems also depend on the chosen methods of influence -

management methods. The choice of management methods is determined on the basis of
information and regulatory support for the management process.

Thus, the organization of an environmental management system includes:

- formation of environmental policy;

- specifying the goals and objectives of environmental policy, setting priorities;

- development of a strategy for environmental management;

- selection of management methods;

- creation of institutional infrastructure to ensure management in the field of environmental

management.

Environmental management involves managing the actions of people included in the

natural systems of certain territories.

Issues of organizing management in the field of nature conservation and environmental

management are extremely relevant for the modern development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
One of the most important sectors of the economy, the use of natural resources is a constant
source of environmental pollution and a threat to the health and environmental well-being of the
population. Determining a rational procedure for environmental management, creating an
optimal legal framework for the effective management of natural resources - these are tasks that
must be provided for in the current legislation and which are the subject of study of our course.

The problem of public administration in the field of ecology was constantly addressed by
legal scholars who studied general issues of the theory of nature conservation and rational
environmental management, as well as representatives of the resource branches of environmental
law. Each study is of significant scientific value, because, complementing and developing the
general theory of management, in sectoral legislation scientists highlight specific features of the
management mechanism - unique forms and methods of management, which are the most
dynamic characteristics of this social phenomenon.
 Issues of organizing management have become particularly relevant at the present time in
connection with economic transformations in the state and the diversity of forms of ownership.
Under these conditions, the changes taking place in our republic have affected all areas of public
life, including the sphere of public administration. The previously existing administrative-
command management system has been replaced by a more flexible apparatus, in which
authoritative methods and forms of management are replaced by economic levers of influence on
the subjects of social relations.

The emergence of a non-state form of ownership, the development of private

entrepreneurship, and the democratization of life in our republic are forcing a significant system
of government bodies to change the nature of their activities. At the present time, when
organizing the management process, the state needs to use such forms of influence on new
economic formations, which, although not in the sphere of public administration, are
nevertheless obliged to obey state guidelines. And this should be especially regulated in the field
of ecology, where the priority of the environmental interests of citizens and the state should be
above the economic interests of the same state, enterprises and private entrepreneurs.

All this suggests that the legal mechanism of public administration in the field of ecology
should be considered from the perspective of the current situation in the republic.

So, what is meant by state management of nature conservation and use of natural
resources? It is impossible not to pay attention to the differences in the points of view of
scientists on this issue. Kolbasov O.S. Understands public administration as the organizing
activities of specific government bodies. Other scientists believe that a prerequisite for
characterizing the essence of public administration is the “doctrine of management as the
influence of the control system (subject of control) on the control system (object of control. It is
easy to see that these definitions are more likely to correspond to the essence of the command-
administrative control system that previously existed in our state. The current reform of society,
the strengthening of democratic tendencies in all spheres of social and economic life of the
republic forces us to interpret the concept of “management” more broadly, including in its
characteristics “executive and administrative activities of state bodies.” Here, in our opinion, the
position of Mukhitdinov N is modern. .B., analyzing this problem in relation to mining law. He
believes that “to denote the management activity of the state, it is more appropriate to use the
term “executive and administrative activity”, as broader than “impact”. His arguments are based
on the fact that management involves not only influencing the participants in social relations, but
also regulates the interaction between them.

This “executive and administrative” activity of authorized government bodies is aimed at

the practical implementation of the state’s function of ensuring a favorable quality of the
environment on the basis of the organization.

Thus, on the basis of the above definitions, we will formulate the concept of public
administration - this is the executive and administrative activities of state bodies aimed at
ensuring environmental order in the interaction of society with the environment, the
implementation of environmental rights and compliance with these responsibilities of state
entities.
 The activities of government bodies in the field of ecology are carried out on the basis of
certain guiding principles, in accordance with which the environmental policy of the state is
formed. These guiding ideas, which concentratedly express the essence, basic properties, and
internal unity of the state in achieving a certain goal, are called the principles of public
administration. The principles of public administration are determined by the economic and
social laws of development of a given society and, as a rule, are laid down in the current
legislation. By analyzing the law “On Environmental Protection” and other acts, it is possible to
determine a system of principles of public administration in the field of ecology:

- priority of protecting human life and health, preserving and restoring the environment
favorable for the life of the population;

- state ownership of natural resources; state-controlled private land ownership;

- a balanced solution to the environmental problems of the development of society while

solving the problems of the socio-economic development of the state;

- application of economic management methods through the introduction of economic

incentives to ensure environmental order;

- wide involvement and active participation of citizens, the population, public associations
and local governments in solving environmental problems.

These are the most specific principles of public administration in the field of
environmental law. But it should be taken into account that in the field of environmental
management, general principles of management are also applied: legality, planning,
subordination, etc.

Methods of carrying out management activities are generally accepted in the legal
literature; they denote forms and methods of management.

Forms of public administration are expressed in three main types:

1) law-making - development and adoption by state bodies of regulations aimed at

regulating management relations;

2) law enforcement is the activity of the state aimed at implementing management

regulations through the adoption and implementation of specific actions;

3) law enforcement is the activity of the state to take punitive measures against persons
who have violated or failed to comply with the requirements provided for by state regulations.

Methods of public administration at the present time take into account the specifics of the
presence of multiple forms of ownership and, as a consequence of this, a plurality of subjects.
Therefore, in the modern period, government bodies use both the imperative method (the method
of mandatory instructions, the exact execution of orders of government bodies) and the method
of recommendations (a method in which the implementation of government decisions is possible
in several variations, taking into account any conditions). In environmental practice, the method
of state sanction is common, a method in which the decision of a non-state body acquires legal
force after its approval by the state. An example is the conclusion of a public environmental
assessment, which becomes mandatory after its approval by the state.

One of the central links in characterizing the management process is the concept of
“function”. The functional approach helps to understand the specifics and content of
management activities. The function of public administration is understood as “objectively
determined types of power planning, organizing and regulatory influences of the state, differing
from each other in subject, content and method of preserving and transforming managed objects
or its own control components.” The implementation of each function is possible based on the
application of environmental legislation. The functions of state environmental management are
an element that connects the content of management activities with the system of state governing
bodies.

Today, the following functions of public administration in the field of ecology can be
distinguished:

1. Standardization of environmental quality;

2. Implementation of environmental monitoring;

3. Maintaining environmental and natural resource inventories;

4. Conducting an environmental assessment;

5. Environmental control organizations;

6. Collection of environmental fees and taxes;

7. Application of punitive measures for violation of decisions of state bodies in the field of
ecology.

The study of 1, 2, 4 and 5 functions of public administration in the field of ecology is the
essence of the special disciplines of the specialty "ecology" - "Environmental regulation and
examination", "EIA methods", "Ecological monitoring", "Methods and instruments of
environmental control", 6 and 7 – “Environmental Law”, so we will look at them very briefly
below. Now we will consider the issues of maintaining environmental and natural resource
cadastres.

Here are excerpts from the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 15, 1997 N 160-
1 On Environmental Protection (as amended by the Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated
December 24, 1998; dated May 11, 1999 N 381-1; dated November 29, 1999). N 488-1; dated
06/04/01 N 205-II; dated 12/24/01 N 276-II; dated 08/09/02 N 346-II; dated 05/25/04 N 553-II;
dated 09.12.04 N 8-III; dated 20.12.04 N 13-III) concerning environmental management:

Article 17. State regulation of environmental management

To ensure state regulation of environmental management, its state structure is carried out,
schemes for the integrated use, reproduction and protection of natural resources are drawn up,
state accounting and state cadastres of natural resources are maintained, state monitoring of the
environment and natural resources is carried out.
 Article 18. State structure of environmental management and schemes for the integrated
use, reproduction and protection of natural resources

The state system of environmental management is a system of measures aimed at

organizing the rational use, reproduction and protection of natural resources.

In cases provided for by law, schemes for the integrated use, reproduction and protection
of natural resources are drawn up.

Article 19. State accounting and state cadastres of natural resources

In order to determine the quantity and quality of natural resources used for the needs of the
population and sectors of the economy, state records and state cadastres of natural resources are
maintained, which are a collection of information about their condition, use, reproduction and
protection.

Test tasks for self-control:

[q][+]3:1: Users of natural resources can be

[a] Constant

[a][+] Everything in the complex

[a] Temporary

[a] Primary

[a] Secondary

[q][+]3:1: Environmental management is divided into

[a] Temporary

[a][+] General and special

[a] Primary

[a] Secondary

[a] Constant

[q][+]3:1: Types of activities subject to licensing

[a] Use of natural resources

[a][+] Everything in the complex

[a] Carrying out emissions

[a] Waste disposal

[a] Environmental auditing activities

[q][+]3:1: An agreement (contract) for the use of natural resources is

[a] Auditing activities

[a][+] Permit for use of natural resources

[a] Monitoring

[a] Expertise

[a] Regulation of the natural environment

[q][+]3:1: The conditions and procedure for issuing licenses are regulated

[a] Ministries

[a][+] Legislation

[a] Maslikhat

[a] Akim

[a] Local authorities