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Efficiency and professionalism are the most important criteria for evaluating our work with clients. An early request to GRATA for professional legal assistance on complying with environmental law will save you money and time in addition to protecting your business’ reputation.

Environmental Due Diligence

Environmental due diligence (EDD) is designed to evaluate potential liability costs associated with environmental issues and is an important part of most merger and acquisition procedures.

Environmental due diligence is a relatively new discipline. Although prior to the 1980s it was virtually unheard of, today it is an integral part of the transaction process undertaken predominantly by purchasers, but increasingly by vendors as well. The process has evolved over the past twenty years and may now include analysis of health and safety (H&S), employees’ exposure to toxic materials, product liability, etc.

Property owners, developers, sellers and buyers understand the need to protect themselves from future liabilities.  Environmental due diligence simply assures that the land being purchased does not pose potential risks or environmental hazards which may affect the area’s development or its future inhabitants.

Corporate business decisions with regards to complying with environmental requirements should be based on reliable information on the actual state of affairs of a company. Environmental due diligence, performed by GRATA's experienced staff, is an instrument for detecting any violations of environmental law in the company's activities, providing recommendations for their solution, and preventing any such violations in the future.

Environmental Disputes. Answers and Solutions

Environmental disputes are becoming an ever more common phenomenon which large businesses involved in subsoil and the processing of raw materials and construction must deal with.  In most cases, environmental disputes arise between natural resource companies and the authorised body in the field of environmental protection.  Although the disputes often concern reimbursement for environmental damage, such disputes can arise on other grounds stipulated by the law.  The RK Environmental Code dated 2007 has fundamentally expanded the rights of individuals and public associations in environmental matters, which causes further environmental disputes.  Furthermore, environmental disputes can arise from civil law relationships, connected with compensation for injury or material damage resulting from violations of environmental law.  In such cases, fact-finding on the environmental violation and its consequences becomes a critical factor, and the qualified legal opinion of experienced professional environmental lawyers becomes all the more necessary.

In practice, environmental disputes mostly arise as a result of gas-flaring by subsoil companies, emissions surpassing the maximum allowable level, the discharge of pollutants as well as unwarranted waste disposal. There also have been cases concerning special water use that lacked special permission.

Subsoil Use Disputes.

Subsoil companies are often involved in environmental disputes covered by the Law on Subsoil Use of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Such disputes usually arise in connection with a cancellation of a contract by a competent state body.  Disputes can arise for other reasons, including the infringement of a subsoil user’s rights by another subsoil company, the untimely issue of permits by a competent body, etc.

The lawyers of GRATA are happy to offer you the following services for the judicial defence of your interests in the settlement of environmental disputes in the field of subsoil use:
- Pre-trial dispute resolution in the field of subsoil use;
- Intermediation of a company’s interests in courts;
- Consulting on legal matters arising during judicial proceedings.

Environmental Consulting

Environmental consulting is becoming an increasingly marketable kind of legal service for big business operations connected with the exploration, exploitation and export of nature resources, the circulation of chemical and radioactive materials, the construction of heavy industrial projects, and production and consumption waste operations.

Environmental infringements can result in heavy fines, suits, compulsory budget payments, and the revocation of necessary licences and permits.

The expansion of any business always faces many obstacles, including the need to obtain permits and approvals from state authorities, the observance of environmental protection measures and compliance with many other requirements of environmental law.

GRATA's environmental consultancy will help detect and prevent problems, preserve the company's good reputation, and avoid any unnecessary expenses. We are happy to offer you environmental consultancy services including but not limited to:
-    Consultation on environmental permits;
-    Consultation on waste disposal (document examination in waste disposal, analysis of individual problematic situations, analysis of civil cases and administrative offence cases materials with the aim of judicial defence perspective assessment).

Environmental Requirements in Contractual Practice

Environmental requirements are imposed by Kazakhstani legislation not only to business activities in general, but also to specific raw material, products, and equipment. It should be noted that these requirements are imposed generally to suppliers or contractors, which manufacture or sell certain products, raw material or equipment. The violation of the specified requirements may, however, obstruct the use of such goods by entities that purchase them.

For instance, import and export of ozone-destroying substances and products that contain such substances, work performance using such ozone-destroying substances, repair, assembling, and maintenance of equipment containing such substances are allowed only under a special permit from environmental authorities. For the unimpeded permitting it is necessary to demand from the seller in advance the certificate of conformity issued by an accredited authority in RK or a foreign company. In the latter instance, the certificate should be recognised in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the manner prescribed by law. Lack of such a certificate may result in impossibility to import by a buyer of purchased equipment to the RK.

Sometimes the nonconformance of materials or equipment to the environmental requirements may result not only in impossibility of use thereof but also in brining a buyer to the legal responsibility for the mere fact of storage thereof. For example, sometimes after purchasing construction materials thee indicate nonconformance to the Radiation Safety Standards. The storage of unused materials results in the risk of brining of their owner to the civil law liability for environmental damage – disposal of radioactive construction materials with the equal disposal of radioactive wastes.

That is why when signing and executing agreements the companies may need the following legal services:

• development of a complete list of the environmental requirements of Kazakhstani legislation, which are imposed to import, export from the RK, storage, operation or disposal of a certain kind of products, materials or equipment;
• analysis of agreements and assessment of legal consequences of their implementation, which may arise from the environmental requirements of Kazakhstani legislation to products, materials, and equipment;
• development of a complete list of permits required for the import, export from the RK, storage, operation or disposal of certain kind of products, materials or equipment.

GRATA Law Firm LLP has the considerable experience in rendering such services, and will be happy to provide assistance for your businesses.

Participation in State Environmental Inspections

Almost every company, which is related to the subsoil use, periodically deal with environmental inspections. For that reason all the businessmen need to know the requirements of the legislation imposed both to the inspections procedure and to the response activities.

This will allow choosing for them the most useful tactics:

• first, before an inspection to prevent the most common violations (because the regulatory authorities usually direct specifically to the detection of violations);
• secondly, to stand against the violation of their rights and create all the conditions so that they can further contest the illegal actions of inspectors and protect themselves from unproven bringing to legal responsibility and other enforceability measures.

The Environmental Law team of GRATA will be glad to offer you the services on representing your company’s interests during inspector’s and prosecutor’s environmental inspections. In particular, our lawyers may assist during inspections, assess the legality of the state inspector’s or prosecutor’s actions, provide comments on behalf of the company, make objections, consult the company’s employees that participate in the inspection, assess the results of the inspection and legal consequences thereof for the company, as well as advise on the advisability of appealing the inspection results.