The Minister of Ecology spoke at a briefing today about measures to reduce anthropogenic pressure on the air.
Minister of Ecology Alexander Shadrikov spoke about the implementation of measures to reduce anthropogenic pressure on atmospheric air in the Republic of Tatarstan at a briefing at the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan today.
He reported that the monitoring of atmospheric air in the Republic of Tatarstan by the Ministry of Ecology is carried out using 17 automatic stations for monitoring atmospheric air pollution, 6 mobile laboratories and manual sampling.
In 2024, more than 4 million 300 thousand measurements were performed. 1,660 excess permissible concentrations of pollutants were recorded.
"This increase was due to the excess detected at 2 stations located in the northern part of Kazan. There are 1,252 recorded exceedances. Almost all of these excess amounts - 99.7% - are accounted for by hydrogen sulfide," the Minister of Ecology told reporters.
He recalled that a complex of industrial and other facilities is located in the northern part of Kazan. According to the consolidated database, 71 enterprises are located here.
38 enterprises are objects of federal state environmental supervision, 33 enterprises are objects of regional state environmental supervision. Regional enterprises account for 2% of the total mass of emissions (677.4 tons per year).
Taking into account the recorded excess of hydrogen sulfide, in order to strengthen regulatory measures, in December last year, Resolution No. 1116 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan was adopted.
"According to Resolution No. 1116, before making a decision on the construction or expansion of new production facilities, it is necessary to analyze the impact on atmospheric air using a system of summary calculations.
If calculations show that a new production facility may worsen air quality, then construction is not allowed without making changes to the design documentation, up to a revision of the location of the new production facility," Alexander Shadrikov emphasized.
This approach will reduce not only the impact on atmospheric air, but also the impact on soil, groundwater and surface waters, flora and fauna.
The main tool for performing the analysis according to Resolution No. 1116 is a system of summary calculations of atmospheric air pollution in Kazan and adjacent territories.
The consolidated database is updated annually. Currently, the system accounts for 1,200 stationary sources of emissions and 402 pollutants.
Summary calculations allow you to model concentrations anywhere in a city or industrial hub, as well as determine the contribution of each enterprise and their sources.
In accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, all coordination of work is assigned to the Ministry of Ecology.
The Ministry sends the results of the analysis for each facility to the authorized bodies for consideration when issuing permits and making management decisions.
There is already such a practice in the Republic. A similar resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers has been implemented at the Nizhnekamsk Industrial Hub since 2016.
Since 2016, an analysis of the feasibility of creating new production facilities and expanding existing ones in relation to 81 facilities has been carried out in this industrial zone.
Based on the results of the analysis, the largest enterprises of the Nizhnekamsk industrial hub, such as Nizhnekamskneftekhim, TAIF—NK, TANECO, Nizhnekamsk TPP, and the Alabuga SEZ, made changes to their design documentation and, even before the construction of new facilities, provided for measures aimed at reducing the impact on atmospheric air.
Thanks to joint efforts over the past 7 years, the number of complaints from citizens related to air pollution in Nizhnekamsk has decreased by 32 times. (If in 2018 the number of such requests was 583, then by the end of 2024, 18 requests were received).
This positive experience has been implemented by the Ministry of Ecology in Kazan since this year. The work under the new Cabinet Resolution is also aimed at achieving the goals and objectives of the national Environmental Well-being project.