The article considers governance issues in the field of environmental protection and natural resources. Particular attention is paid to the distribution of executive powers between the federal (i.e. federal ministries and agencies) and local executive authorities (i.e. subjects of the Russian Federation) in those areas.

Considerable attention is paid to the issue of implementing the mechanism of the executive powers and functions transferred by the Russian Federation to the local authorities (water, forest and hunting resources; wildlife protection; environmental assessment procedures).

In the article the executive powers and functions of the federal and local authorities of the Russian Federation in terms of their efficiency as a system formed by the public authorities for the purposes of environmental protection and natural resources management are duly presented and analyzed.

The need for government regulation and oversight in these areas, taking into consideration their importance to the economy of the Russian Federation and negative impact on the environment, is well substantiated by the authors.

The article proposes solutions on a number of issues regarding the optimization of the distribution of executive powers and functions between the federal and local authorities of the Russian Federation, including the transfer of federal executive powers and functions to the regions (i.e. subjects of the Russian Federation).