The government has submitted three environmental bills to the Majlis for review and approval.
Chief among the bills is the Clean Air Act, which had been backlogged in the previous Majlis (2012-16) for well over a year.
The bill aims to impose pollution tax on owners of polluting vehicles, distribute higher quality gasoline in more cities and overhaul the outdated and prohibitive fuel consumption policies of domestic carmakers.
The park rangers’ bill has also been sent to the parliament after receiving the approval of First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri.
The bill aims to enhance the legal rights of park rangers while imposing stricter rules for hunters, such as distinguishing between hunting and firearm permits. If the bill is approved, hunters (except nomads) who have a firearm license cannot use their weapon for hunting unless they obtain a hunting permit from the Department of Environment.
The new bill was prepared following the murder of three park rangers a few weeks ago in two separate incidents that compelled both environmental officials and activists to demand better legal protection for the park rangers.
The third bill aims to revise and update the annexes of the law against marine pollution caused by ships to ensure compliance with the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships as modified by the Protocol of 1978, also called Marpol 73/78.
All ships flagged under countries that are signatories to MARPOL are subject to its requirements, regardless of where they sail and member nations are responsible for vessels registered under their respective nationalities.
Iran, Oman, Turkey, Syria and Jordan are the only Mideast countries that have ratified Marpol 73/78.
