Why Israel needs a Clean Air Act 

 

 

Legislative process update

Sign the Forum for Clean Air petition

 

 

 

Air quality in Israel is regulated by a weak and diverse confusion of laws, regulations, business licenses, and personal decrees. The main problems faced when dealing with air pollution within the current legislative context include:
 

·         No legal framework requiring air pollution standards to be set and adhered to.

·         A lack of tools for effective administrative enforcement. In legal terms, it is extremely difficult to mount and advance criminal actions and penalties, and thus the threat of legal action is a poor deterrent to polluters.

·         A lack of consistent information and data on the sources of air pollution, and numerous obstacles to public access to any existing data.

·         No comprehensive national plan to tackle the problem of air pollution, nor measurable targets for reducing air pollution nationwide.

 

Currently, the authority to act on air pollution issues is dispersed among a number of government ministries, each of which has its own agenda and priorities. This diffusion of authority complicates and limits the government’s capacity to effectively manage air quality.

 

For example, an initiative of the Ministry of the Environment to introduce spot emissions checks on vehicles was thwarted by the Ministry of Transport, which holds similar authority on this issue. Despite the pressing need to reduce pollutant emissions from motor vehicles, implementation of regulations was delayed for many years. Only after an IUED petition to the Supreme Court, and the ensuing court recommendation, were the regulations brought into force.

 

IUED believes that bringing together the different legal frameworks into one piece of cohesive legislation – the Clean Air Act - will reduce bureaucratic deadlocks and delays and improve Israel’s capacity to reduce air pollution.

 

The IUED-drafted Clean Air Act will:

• Promulgate a new regulatory framework for setting stationary and ambient emission standards and regular revision of air quality standards.
• Lay down environmental standards for all pollutants.
• Regulate procedures for monitoring and assessment of air pollutants, compilation of air quality data, and air pollution forecasts.
• Concentrate enforcement procedures and penalty frameworks under one statutory body.
• Increase public transparency of air quality data and mandate release of information regarding industrial polluters and other violaters.