NATIONAL MONITORING SYSTEM AND DEPARTMENTAL RESOURCES

The main goals of SEMS are provision of observations, collection, processing, transfer, storage and analysis of information about the state of the environment, prediction of its changes and development of scientifically grounded recommendations for the management decisions in the sphere of environment protection, rational use of natural resources and environmental safety.
The main principles of SEMS operation are defined in the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 391 dated 30.03.1998 “On Approval of Statement on the State Environmental Monitoring System”.

Functions and objectives of observations and information provision (in the state system of environmental monitoring) are fulfilled by such parties at the national level:
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine
- Hydrometeorological Service
- Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
- Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine
- Ministry of Health of Ukraine
- State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine
- State Water Resources Agency of Ukraine
- State Land Resources Agency of Ukraine
- State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine
Ministry for Regional Development, Building and Housing of Ukraine
- State Statistics Service of Ukraine

At the regional level, environmental monitoring is carried out by the following main organizations:
State regional environmental inspections (Minprirody);
Oblast hydrometeorological centres;
Oblast sanitary and epidemiological stations (MOZ);
Oblast agencies on melioration and water economy (Minagropolitiki);
Oblast agencies of forest and hunting (Goslesagenstvo);
Basin agency of water resources (Gosvodagenstvo);
Oblast agency of land resources (Goszemagenstvo);
Agencies of housing and utilities at the Oblast State Administrations;
State regional geological enterprises (Minprirody).

Each body of SEMS monitors those objects of the environment that are defined by the Statement on the state system of monitoring and statements on the state monitoring of some natural components of the environment.
The current system of environmental monitoring comprises the sub-systems of state parties of monitoring and is based on the fulfillment of the distributed functions that are defined by the Statement on the state monitoring system. Each sub-system (at the level of separate body of the monitoring system) has its own structural, organizational, scientific, methodological basis. However, each sub-system functions on the basis of single statutory, methodological and metrological provision.
In Ukraine, the work of the monitoring bodies is regulated by the statutory and methodological documents. The only principle that is adopted in these documents is the environmental (different components of environment) approach in the monitoring i.e. monitoring of air, surface waters, ground water, geological environment, etc.

Inter-institutional cooperation in environmental sector

At the regional level interaction between the environmental monitoring bodies is determined by the Regulation on informational interaction between the monitoring bodies that is adopted and approved at the level of the Regional State Administrations of the country and cities of central subordination.
Pursuant to these documents, the monitoring bodies provide the government authorities, State Agencies of Natural Resources and the Environment, Agencies on Emergency Situations, other interested organizations and enterprises with information of several types:
- Operational/updated information on threats or occurrence of natural disasters or extremely high levels of environmental pollution;
- Current information about the state of environment;
- One-time information upon requests from interested enterprises, civil society organizations and population.

The operational information is promptly communicated by the environmental monitoring bodies by means of electronic mail, telephone or fax to the officers on duty of the State Administrations, State Agencies of Natural Resources and the Environment, Agencies on Emergency Situations, as well as employees on duty of other interested organizations and enterprises.
Current information from the environmental monitoring bodies is transferred in electronic format or as hard copy to the State Agencies of Natural Resources and the Environment within the timeframes given in the table. Such information is usually submitted in the form of bulletins, reports, reviews, summaries or descriptions.

If necessary the monitoring bodies may provide the available information upon one-off requests of interested enterprises and institutions, population and civil society organizations. Such information is provided against actual requests received by the environmental monitoring bodies.
The monitoring bodies distribute the main types of information at the regional level as well as vertically to the coordinating organizations of the central level.
The existing system of informational interaction between agency subsystems of environmental monitoring envisages exchange of information at the national level.
Organizational integration of the environmental monitoring bodies at all levels is carried out by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources.

Procedure of information provision to the State Agencies of Natural Resources at the regional level