AZE.US
Azerbaijan has introduced numerical thresholds for environmental impact assessments covering large livestock, poultry and aquaculture projects, replacing broader terms with measurable limits.
President Ilham Aliyev signed the legislation adopted by the Milli Majlis on Oct. 13. The law was published on the president’s official website on Oct. 27.
The amendments affect the laws on the suspension of business inspections and on environmental impact assessments. They specify when an agricultural project must undergo an environmental impact assessment, commonly known as an EIA.
Livestock Threshold
A livestock project will require an EIA when its planned capacity reaches the equivalent of at least 1,000 head of cattle.
For the calculation, five sheep or goats count as one head of cattle. Each other hoofed animal, including a horse, camel or pig, counts as one head of cattle. All animals at a farm are included regardless of age.
Poultry Threshold
The threshold for poultry operations is the equivalent of at least 40,000 chickens.
One ostrich counts as 25 chickens, one turkey or goose as five chickens, and eight quail as one chicken. Each bird of another species counts as one chicken. Birds still in the incubation stage are excluded.
Aquaculture and Agroparks
Fishery infrastructure, including aquaculture farms, must undergo an EIA when planned annual production reaches 500 metric tons or more.
Agroparks are subject to the requirement when any covered activity meets or exceeds its respective livestock, poultry or aquaculture threshold.
Projects below those limits are not automatically subject to the mandatory EIA category established for these farm types. The change does not remove other environmental, health or operating requirements that may apply to the business.
The legislation also adds fisheries-related inspections to the permitted exceptions under Azerbaijan’s suspension of business inspections and repeals a separate item in the EIA law’s list of covered activities.
Vesti Baku reported that the criteria were developed with reference to approaches used by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank and European Union directives, with regulatory attention focused on larger operations carrying greater environmental risk.
Sources: Vesti Baku; President of Azerbaijan.