Environmental audit: analysis, problems and prospects

The author has analyzed the Russian federal and regional legislation, the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, dedicated to environmental audit. An analysis of the legislation showed the lack of a full-fledged Russian federal regulatory legal act regulating environmental audit issues, uniformity at the level of regional legislation, and the existence of foreign legislation on environmental auditing. Taking into account the role of environmental audit in preventing and minimizing environmental and legal risks, the article substantiates the need to adopt a federal regulatory legal act on eco-audit in the form of a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. The necessary issues to be included in the legal act on eco-audit are indicated. The particular attention in the structure of this act is drawn to the requirements for environmental auditors and environmental audit organizations, which guarantee the quality of environmental audit activities. One of such requirements may be either licensing, or membership in a self-regulatory organization of eco-auditors, or state accreditation of eco-auditors. When drafting this act, the positive foreign legislative experience on eco-audit should be taken into account.