RA Ministry Environment proposes to make the use of underground artesian waters in the Ararat Valley without a water use permit, drilling a well or reopening a closed well a criminal offense. The Ministry came up with a legislative initiative to prevent illegal water use of underground water resources.
The package of draft laws "On Amendments and Addenda to Water Code of the Republic of Armenia", "On Amendments and Addenda to Code of the Republic of Armenia on Administrative Offenses", "On Amendments to Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia" is circulated on the unified website for the publication of drafts of legal acts.
With the legislative amendment, in particular, it is proposed to make an addition to Article 375 of RA Criminal Code, according to which the use of underground artesian waters in Ararat Valley, as well as drilling a well or reopening a liquidated well for this purpose, will be punished "with a fine of twenty times to forty times, or with public works for a period of one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty hours, or with short-term imprisonment for a period of one to two months, or with imprisonment for a maximum period of four years".
And in general, in the case of illegal water use of surface waters, according to the proposed amendments to Law "On Administrative Offenses", a fine is provided for citizens in the amount of two hundred to four hundred times the minimum wage, and for officials - in the amount of five hundred to eight hundred times the minimum wage."
March 02, 2023 at 16:26