Vehicle emission rules are simply outdated and need to be rewritten, the secretary general of the High Council of Traffic says.
Pouria Yazdi told ISNA that vehicle emission standards and automotive tests carried out at technical inspection centers in Iran are outdated. “The standards and the tests were last revised in 2014.”
Emphasizing that the matter needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, he said the inefficient standards can jeopardize implementation of measures aimed at curbing air pollution in Tehran and other cities, pointing to the Air Pollution Reduction (APR) scheme recently launched in capital.
As per the APR scheme launched last month by the Tehran Municipality, old cars have been banned in the sprawling city. Violators are fined in the latest attempt at improving air quality. All four and two-wheelers in the metropolis are required to go though automotive inspections and acquire technical conformity papers that show the vehicle meets the required automotive and emission standards.
Yazdi said long intervals between revisions to the emission standards can render plans such as the APR ineffective. “For instance, new emission standards were introduced in the Clean Air Act. However, they have not become mandatory since the council has not approved the changes yet after the parliament ratified the CAA.”
The 35-article Clean Air Act, which was ratified by the Majlis in July 2017 after gathering dust in the previous parliament, introduced new and stricter standards for auto technical inspections. The APR scheme is based on the Clean Air Act.
Yazdi added that the Department of Environment has been tasked with periodically revising the emission standards. “The DOE has drafted a revised version of the emission standards. The draft must be ratified by the Interior Ministry.”
Tehran and other major cities have been grappling with air pollution for decades. Experts say the smog can cause fatal asthma attacks and trigger health difficulties for those with respiratory illnesses, kids and the elderly. Annually, around 12,000 air pollution-related deaths are recorded by the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, with one-third of the fatalities in the capital.
