On March 21, the Russian State Duma rejected a bill on banning the disposal of industrial and consumer waste in the Arctic Region during the first reading.

The legislation was drafted by deputies from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia: First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Natural Resourses, Property and Land Relations Vladimir Sysoyev and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection Kirill Cherkasov.

The main goal of the legislation was to ban the disposal of waste in the Arctic Region.

"This law will become one of the first legislative regulations aimed at protecting the Arctic environment and will put an end to the upward trend in the generation of waste, without any detrimental effect on the environment of the region," Vladimir Sysoyev said.

According to Vladimir Burmatov, head of the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection, the law did not stipulate any sources of funding and needed to be completely redrafted.

"Where will the waste be dumped and who will cover these expenses? This draft law is not about environmental protection; on the contrary, it could result in the emergence of a large number of unauthorized landfills," Burmatov said. "The problem of the disposal of waste in the Arctic cannot be solved with a simple ban."

Taxpayers will be the ones who have to cover the expenses for the disposal of waste, the deputy added. "We are talking about up to 2.5 million people who will have to pay 30 to 50 percent more tax than the people living in neighboring regions," he said.