Four bills proposed by the Department of Environment are stuck in the Parliament’s backlog limbo, even though at least one of them is of immediate concern.
“The bills address air pollution, soil protection, wetland conservation and environmental evaluation measures,” Massoumeh Ebtekar, head of the DOE, told ILNA.
“Hopefully, [the MPs] review the bills before they begin discussing the budget bill.”
The air pollution bill, called the Clean Air Bill, has been backlogged for over a year, according to Saeed Motessadi, deputy for human habitats at the DOE.
“It would benefit everyone if instead of worrying about the impact of gasoline on air pollution, the lawmakers concentrated on passing key bills,” he told Mehr News Agency.
The air pollution bill aims to impose pollution tax on owners of polluting vehicles, distribute higher quality gasoline in more cities and overhaul Iran’s fuel consumption policies.
As for the soil protection bill, it outlines measures to counter erosion and contamination, increase fertility and produce a national soil map.
A comprehensive study of the role and influence of human activity on climate change, in particular its effects on precipitation and temperature is the focus of the environmental evaluation bill.
Measures listed in the wetland conservation bill include upholding Iran’s water rights, reforestation around lagoons, stabilizing surrounding soil, banning industrial activities near wetlands and inscribing water bodies in the Ramsar Convention.
The Ramsar Convention, also referred to as the Convention on Wetlands, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and judicious use of wetlands and their resources.
