Abstract The current plans of the Russian Federation to intensify significantly economic and other activities in Russian Arctic include the widespread exploitation of Arctic natural resources. At the same time, however, high vulnerability of the Arctic environment has been recognized in the country’s legislation. The plans for development in such a vulnerable region as the Arctic give rise to concern as to how it can be realized sustainably. For this reason, it is useful to examine one legal tool of environmental protection, an environmental assessment (EA) procedure, since this institution at least provides the possibility to enable the exploitation of Arctic’s natural resources in a way that protects the environment. Yet, as the article will point out, the conditions for effective EA have been in recent years severely limited, which can be seen in the current legislation. It is hence justifiable to be concerned of the future of Arctic vulnerable environment and, as the article proposes, restore some of the elements of the past EA legislation, which enable a stronger EA mechanism.
