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In May 2006, Israel's Environmental Protection Minister issued an amended personal decree (administrative order) to the Haifa Oil Refineries under the Abatement of Nuisances Law in order to reduce air pollutant emissions. On November 11, 2009, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan signed an updated decree which replaces the former version. The new decree requires the oil refineries to reduce air pollution within an 18-month timetable, whether by a switch to natural gas or by installation of treatment facilities in the stacks and continuation of oil use. Additional provisions in the new decree include: - Reduction of fugitive emissions from production systems, crude oil and distillates storage containers, torches, fueling depot and other sources.
- Prevention of black smoke from the torches.
- Preparation and submission of an emissions survey, BAT-GAP survey and plans for implementing best available techniques (BAT), according to a timetable which precedes the dates prescribed in the Clean Air Law of 2008 .
- Instructions on monitoring, record keeping, reporting and responding to public inquiries.
Draft Personal Decrees to Gadiv Petrochemical Industries and Carmel Olefins In November 2009, the Ministry of Environmental Protection also forwarded draft personal decrees to Gadiv Petrochemical Industries and to Carmel Olefins, intended to replace the existing decrees issued in September 2007 and November 2007, respectively. The existing decrees relate to emissions reduction through a switch to natural gas, originally scheduled for January 2009, when natural gas was expected to reach the Haifa Oil Refineries. The decrees, however, enabled a further delay of up to one year, in the wake of delays in laying the gas pipeline. However, as of December 2009, the pipeline has still not been completed. The provisions of the draft decrees are similar to the decree issued to the Haifa Oil Refineries. They call for a reduction of air pollution within an 18 month timetable and for the implementation of the provisions outlined above. The public has been invited to send its comments to the draft decrees. A Short History In recent years, major efforts have focused on regulating the petrochemical complex of Haifa Bay which includes the Haifa oil refineries (Israel's largest oil refinery), Haifa Chemicals (an international corporation that produces and markets specialty fertilizers, food additives and technical chemicals), Gadiv Petrochemical Industries Ltd. (one of Israel's leading petrochemical companies) and Carmel Olefins (Israel's sole manufacturer of petrochemical products that are used as raw materials for the plastics industry). As part of the effort, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has published the following updated personal decrees for the prevention of unreasonable air pollution: - November 11, 2005 - personal decree to Haifa Chemicals.
- May 25, 2006 - personal decree to the Haifa Oil Refineries.
- November 22, 2009 -amended personal decree to the Haifa Oil Refineries.
- September 19, 2007 - personal decree to Gadiv Petrochemical Industries.
- November 2009 - draft of amended decree to Gadiv Petrochemical Industries.
- November 25, 2007 -personal decree to Carmel Olefins.
- November 2009 - draft of amended decree to Carmel Olefins
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