Granting Land Title for the Purpose of Formation of Specially Protected Geological Sites

The use of a subsurface area for the purpose of forming specially protected geological objects is possible only when using land plots located within its projection onto the Earth’s surface. Such land plots, as a general rule, are public property and are located within the boundaries of specially protected natural territories, which, together with the specifics of the legal regulation of this type of subsurface use, determines the uniqueness of relations related to the acquisition by users of the subsurface of rights to these land plots. The purpose of the study is to analyze the legal regulation of the granting land title for the use of subsurface resources in order to form specially protected geological objects. Research objectives: 1) to consider the legal conditions for granting land title for the use of subsurface resources in order to form specially protected geological objects; 2) to identify the problems of current legal regulation in terms of providing users of subsurface resources with land title necessary for the implementation of these activities, and to propose ways to solve them. Research methods: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison, dialectical, formal-legal and system-structural methods. Conclusions: 1) the requirement that the user of the subsurface has design and mining allotment documentation agreed upon in accordance with the established procedure prevents the auction-free provision of land plots in public ownership for lease for the use of subsurface in order to form specially protected geological objects and does not take into account the specifics of the legal regulation of this type of use of subsurface; 2) in order to reduce the risk of non-fulfillment by subsurface users engaged in these activities of their obligations due to their lack of land title, it is proposed to establish in the Law of the Russian Federation dated February 21, 1992 No. 2395-I “On Subsurface Resources” the possibility of leasing such land plots after obtaining a license to use the subsurface in order to form specially protected geological sites.