International Regulation of Urban Smog Since the 1940s - Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions - page 195

from 360-380 to 700 deaths per day in Moscow alone
(Figure 8.7c).
Russia regulates air pollution through national laws,
butfew are enforced. Economic problems have resulted
in environmental protection taking a low priority. In
1999, the national environmental body, the Russian
State Committee on Environmental Protection, called
about 15 percent of Russian territory (the combined
area of England, France, Germany, Sweden, and Fin-
land) “ecologically unfavorable.” Most Russians live in
these areas. Under pressure by the powerful oil indus-
try, the environmental protection body was abolished
and its duties transferred to the Ministry of Natural
Resources on May 17, 2000 (Sinitsyna, 2007). The
new ministry made little effort to design or enforce
regulations. The loss of national regulatory strength
has resulted in all Russian cities, including Moscow,
experiencing

8.2.6. Israel
Israel imports almost all its raw energy resources. About
75 percent of its electricity comes from coal, and about
85 percent of all coal consumed in the Middle East
is consumed in Israel. Most of the rest is consumed
in Iran (Energy Information Administration, 2011a).
Vehicle traffic is a major source of pollution in Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem, and Haifa. In 2009, Israeli roads supported
2.5 million vehicles, an increase from 70,000 in 1960.
Diesel vehicles emitted about 80 percent of the nitrogen
oxide and particulate matter emissions from all vehicles
in Israel.
Air pollution in Israel was first controlled under the
Abatement of Nuisances Law of 1961 ,which autho-
rized the Minister of the Environment to define and reg-
ulate “unreasonable” air pollution. The law also allowed
the minister to issue decrees against specific emitters,
require factories to comply with emission standards,
and monitor air pollution. The first ambient standards
under this law were set in 1971 and revised in 1992.
In 1994, the Ministry of the Environment used its
power to design a program to control smog by reducing
vehicle emissions and setting up a national air qual-
ity monitoring network. Under the program, all new
cars were required to have catalytic converters, lead
wasgradually phased out of cars, and vehicle emis-
sion standards were required to conform with those
set by the EU. Industrial emissions of sulfur diox-
ide, nitrogen oxides, VOCs, heavy metals, particulate
matter, hazardous inorganic particulate matter, and
other substances were also controlled.
In 2007, a National Plan for the Reduction of
Vehicular Pollution was approved by the Minister of
the Environment. This plan required more stringent
emission standards and steps for reducing vehicle emis-
sions, including a plan to pay to remove old vehicles
from the road, a plan to have inspectors order owners
of polluting vehicles not to operate their vehicle, and
incentives to increase the use of public transportation.
In January 2008, a new Clean Air Law was passed
in Israel to plan, regulate, and monitor air quality. The
law came into force on January 1, 2011. Aside from
setting ambient and emission standards, the law also
established economic incentives for reducing pollution,
and it expanded powers given to the Ministry of Envi-
ronmental Protection to implement and enforce the reg-
ulations. Furthermore, it required industries to obtain
emission permits and a monitoring network in which
all stations operated under uniform standards. Ambient

continued severe air pollution since

then.
New vehicle emission standards in Russia are regu-
lated according to EU emission standards (Table 8.5),
with on-road light-duty emissions following Euro 1
standards in 1999, Euro 2 standards in 2006, Euro 3
standards in 2008, Euro 4 standards in 2010, and Euro
5standards in 2014. Standards are also set for heavy-
duty vehicle and nonroad engine emissions, as well as
for fuel quality.
About 44 percent of Russians may live in areas
with heavy air pollution, which may be responsible for
17 and 10 percent of disease in children and adults,
respectively (Eurasian Development Bank, 2009). In
December 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
instructed the Natural Resources and Ecology Minister
to suggest amendments to Russia's environmental law
that required the use of new technologies to protect the
environment. Companies that used low-polluting tech-
nologies would face lower taxes, whereas those who
did not would be prosecuted.
Air pollution in Russia is not new. Historically, the
Soviet Union suffered from emissions resulting from
industrial and military development that had little regard
for the environment. Such pollution was compounded
by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, a
Soviet Republic at the time. The disaster contributed
to the radiation contamination of a large populated
region, not only in Ukraine and Russia, but also in
most of the rest of eastern and central Europe. Today, air
pollution in Ukraine and other former Soviet Republics,
now

called the Commonwealth of Independent

States ,isstill severe (e.g., Figure 8.7d).