Overview
- The State Duma passed the bill in second and final readings on December 9, concluding a 2.5‑year review.
- The government will compile lists of sites for sanitary clear‑cuts only with approval from a new commission that may consider them solely after a positive opinion from the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- New provisions bar construction or reconstruction of capital facilities on the Baikal protected territory without a state environmental review, prohibit housing in special economic zones inside the central zone, and block creation of new SEZs there.
- A companion Duma resolution calls for annual cabinet reports on implementation and asks the government to seek a Prosecutor General’s review of construction legality within Baikal’s water‑protection zone.
- Leaders also outlined planned Forest Code changes by March 2026 to replace the “clear‑cut” definition with differentiated sanitary and restorative felling terms, alongside measures on mudflow and fire safety and a ban on reclassifying forest lands.