About the center
The Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the authorized state body in the field of environmental expertise. The State Institution “Center for State Ecological Expertise” and its regional branches are responsible for conducting environmental expertise.
Ecological expertise is carried out prior to the start of any economic or other activity. Its purpose is to assess environmental impact, determine the level of environmental risk, and evaluate the feasibility of nature protection measures.
Ecological expertise is conducted in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Environmental Expertise” and the Regulation on State Environmental Expertise. It is carried out in the form of either state or public environmental expertise. Without a positive conclusion of the state environmental expertise, the financing and implementation of projects are prohibited.
Ecological expertise is aimed at verifying whether the planned (or ongoing) economic or other activity complies with environmental requirements and at determining the possibility or impossibility of its implementation.
Objects of environmental expertise include:
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Materials for selection or allocation of land plots for construction;
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Pre-project and project documentation;
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Operating facilities that negatively impact human health and the environment;
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Urban planning documents;
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Waste processing and disposal technologies;
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Facilities with special legal status;
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Normative and methodological documents regulating the use of natural resources.
Ecological expertise is conducted for types of activities approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In addition, at the request of the client, it may also be carried out for activities not included in the approved list.
Ecological expertise evaluates the impact of activities on human health, natural resources, land, water, air, and assesses the potential for their rational use. Projects classified under categories I and II of environmental impact undergo expertise after public hearings.
The main principles of environmental expertise are: legality, objectivity, justification, and environmental safety.
Today, the processes of submitting project documentation and issuing conclusions are fully digitalized and are carried out via the unified information system eco-service.uz.
In 2023, 21,471 conclusions of state environmental expertise were issued to enterprises and organizations in categories I–IV of environmental impact, with 162 projects being rejected.
In 2024, 31,908 conclusions were issued: 30,594 were positive, 641 were returned for revision, and 673 projects were denied implementation.
During the first nine months of the current year, 37,980 state environmental expertise conclusions were issued, including 35,332 positive, 2,264 returned for revision, and 384 rejected.
On February 24, 2025, a new edition of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On ecological expertise, ecological Impact assessment, and strategic ecological assessment” was adopted.
This law will enter into force in six months, and bylaws are currently being developed.