Case: appeal of the Conclusion on environmental impact assessment of the planned activity “Development of the Eastern section of the Bilyayivskie primary kaolin deposit, construction of a mining and beneficiation complex with a capacity of 100,000 m3/year, change of purpose of land plots with an area of about 95 hectares”.
Region: Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia region, Vilniansk district.
The essence of the case: protection of the right to safe and healthy environment, as well as the right to participate in environmental decision-making.
Parties: Plaintiffs – Roman Valentynovych Kononenko, Dmytro Valeriyovych Burkot, defendant – the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, a third party without independent claims on the part of the Defendant – “Bilyaiv Enrichment Plant” LLC.
The essence of the problem: the Ministry of Environment, in violation of the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Impact Assessment”, issued a conclusion based on results of the review of Environmental Impact Assessment Report “Development of the Eastern section of the Bilyaiv deposit of primary kaolins, construction of a mining and enrichment complex with a capacity of 100,000 m3/year, changing the purpose of land plots with an area of about 95 hectares”, which violated the plaintiffs’ right to safe and healthy environment, as well as the right to participate in environmental decision-making.
Basic facts:
On February 21, 2019, the notification No. 20192212919/8833 was published on the official website of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine about the planned activity, which is subject to environmental impact assessment, of “Bilyaiv Enrichment Plant” LLC. According to the notification, the planned activities include:
-development of the Eastern section of the Bilyaiv deposit of primary kaolins within the license area of 382 hectares with the aim of extracting kaolin as a raw material for production of enriched kaolin for use in the ceramic and paper industry;
– construction of a mining and enrichment plant for production of high-quality kaolin and feldspar with a capacity of 100,000 m³/year;
– change in purpose of land plots with a total area of about 95 hectares from agricultural land to land for the placement and operation of the main and auxiliary buildings and structures of enterprises, which is related to the use of subsoil (for the purpose of developing a deposit and building a mining and enrichment plant).
Despite very resolute opposition of the citizens of Vilniansk district against the planned activities of Bilyaiv Enrichment Plant LLC, numerous significant comments to the Report submitted by the plaintiffs during public discussions, on June 7, 2019, the Ministry of Environemntal Proteciton and Natural Resources issued an Environmental Impact Assessment Conclusion, which recognized the planned activities as permissible and such that comply with the norms of environmental legislation.
The plaintiffs consider this conclusion to be illegal that was adopted in violation of the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Impact Assessment”. It violates the rights to safe and healthy environment and interests of the citizens of Vilniansk.
In order to protect their violated rights and interests, the Plaintiffs appealed to the court with a lawsuit, in which they request:
– to recognize as illegal and cancel the Conclusion on environmental impact assessment of the planned activity “Development of the Eastern section of the Bilyaivske deposit of primary kaolins, construction of a mining and enrichment plant with a capacity of 100 thousand m3/year, change of purpose of land plots with an area of about 95 hectares” dated 06.07.2019 No7 -03/12-20192212919/1, adopted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and published in the Environmental Impact Assessment Register on June 12, 2019 under No. 20192212919/12375.
The Plaintiffs submitted their initial claims to the Zaporizhzhya District Administrative Court individually. However, these cases were transferred to the District Administrative Court of Kyiv, which, by a decision dated August 13, 2020, combined them into one proceeding.
On November 4, 2021, the District Administrative Court of Kyiv issued a decision, which satisfied the request of the Limited Liability Company “Bilyaiv Enrichment Plant” to appoint an engineering and environmental expert and stopped the proceedings in the case until the expert’s opinion is received.
The Plaintiffs successfully appealed against the above-mentioned Decision. On February 7, 2023, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal canceled the appointment of an engineering and environmental examination.
Currently, the case is being considered in the Kyiv District Administrative Court.
EPL filed an application to join the case as a third party on the side of the Plaintiffs but this application has not yet been considered.
It is also worth noting that since 2019, not a single meeting has been held on the merits of the dispute.
Supplements:
Resolution of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv dated August 13, 2020 on the consolidation of cases for joint consideration https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/90979196
Resolution of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv dated November 4, 2021 on the appointment of an engineering and environmental expert in the case and suspension of the proceedings in the case until the expert’s opinion is received. https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/102357556
Resolution of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal dated December 1, 2022 on the opening of appeal proceedings on the appeal of PERSON_1 and PERSON_2 against the decision of the District Administrative Court of the city of Kyiv dated November 4, 2021. https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/107626953
Decision of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal dated February 7, 2023 on the cancellation of the decision of the District Administrative Court of the city of Kyiv dated November 4, 2021. https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/108855635
