17 February, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The largest number of administrative penalties in the Vitebsk region are imposed by environmentalists on violators of environmental legislation in the field of atmospheric air protection and waste management, reported the head of the operational control department of the Vitebsk Regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Yuri Korolev, to a BELTA correspondent. Based on the results of inspection activities, the committee and its structural divisions brought almost 4.3 thousand violators of environmental legislation to administrative responsibility in 2011. Fines were applied to 1.9 thousand officials, 1.3 thousand citizens and individual entrepreneurs, and 712 legal entities. The total amount of fines imposed was Br599 million. The top three most frequent administratively punishable offenses include violations in the field of atmospheric air and ozone layer protection - 1073 violators, in the field of waste management - 1018 violators, in the field of use and protection of flora - 521 violators. In the past year, 1.8 times more claims were made against inspected entities in the field of protection and use of flora compared to 2010, and 2.3 times more in the field of waste management. Based on the inspection materials, 68 decisions were made to suspend or prohibit the activities of the inspected entity. 8 submissions were sent to law enforcement agencies for legal assessment of facts of significant environmental damage. According to the committee, in the Vitebsk region, out of 32,862 entities monitored by the committee and its structural divisions during supervisory activities, 0.7% of entities are classified as high-risk group, 2.9% as medium-risk, and the rest as low-risk group.-0-

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