A newly-proposed bill stipulates that cities in Israel will be obligated to enforce environmental laws and levy fines upon violators, as of next year. The Knesset Interior and Environmental Committee passed the bill paving the way for its final Knesset reading in the coming weeks.
The name of the bill: "Environmental Enforcement and Inspectors' Authority."
Cities with a population of 20,000 or more - of which there are about 70 in Israel - will be obligated to operate a system of environmental inspectors and fines. Smaller cities will be permitted, but not obligated, to have such networks. The fines will be paid to the cities themselves, thus providing the incentive to operate the new system.
The new bill was proposed by MK Dov Hanin of the mainly Israeli-Arab party Hadash. It specifies that within a year after its passage in the Knesset, every city must train inspectors for the enforcement of environmental laws. "The State Comptroller's report stated that enforcement of such laws is the bottleneck in the country's environmental laws, and this law is designed to bring about a revolutionary change."
The inspectors will be granted broad authorities to locate and investigate violations. They will actually form local chapters of the Environment Ministry's Green Police, which is charged on a national level with enforcing environmental laws.
MK Ophir Pines (Labor), who chairs the Knesset committee that helped prepare the legislation, said, "We are gambling on the city governments and believe in their ability to enforce the environmental laws. The ball is now in their court."