What does the Action Plan for the Improvement of Air Quality in Rustavi imply and how is it implemented?

On October 22, 2020, by its N2059 decree, the Government of Georgia approved the 2020-2022 Action Plan for the Improvement of Ambient Air Quality in Rustavi.

Gavigudet (e.i. We are Suffocating) was involved in the development of the Action Plan and tried its best to adjust the document to the needs of Rustavi.

The adoption of the Action Plan is a positive fact. However, the main challenge is its proper implementation. Therefore, the involvement of civil society in the enforcement monitoring process is crucial. In addition to monitoring, Gavigudet will seek to develop recommendations that will support the improvement of the Action Plan in the future and make it more effective.

What does the Action Plan imply?

The Action Plan aims to improve ambient air quality in Rustavi. 5 objectives and relevant activities are set to achieve this purpose. These objectives are:

Reduction of ambient air pollution with hazardous substances from stationary sources;
Reduction of emissions from vehicles in Rustavi;
Improvement of green infrastructure in Rustavi;
Improvement of the ambient air quality assessment system in Rustavi;
Increase the number of environmental awareness-raising activities in Rustavi and the number of participants involved in it.

What was implemented in the first reporting period – from October 22 to December 31, 2020?

The first objective of the Action Plan included the adoption of the legislative changes, which Gavigudet and the people of Rustavi had been demanding for a long time. According to the document, the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia, the Law of Georgia on Ambient Air Protection and the Law of Georgia on Environmental Protection were to be made in the fourth quarter of 2020. Unfortunately, the deadline was violated and the legislative changes were adopted by the Parliament on March 2, 2021. According to the Action Plan implementation report, the mass of solid substances/particulate matters emitted into the ambient air from stationary sources was reduced to 12,880 tonnes (this figure was 14,151 tonnes at the time the action plan was developed).

In addition, within the first objective, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture inspected the enterprises and studied their documents. We will share detailed information about the inspection results in the nearest future. However, it can be said that a large part of the inspected facilities is operating in violation of the regulations.

As for the second objective, the level of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was not reduced. By the end of 2022, the annual concentration of nitrogen dioxide should be reduced from 55 μg/m³to 40 μg/m³(micrograms per cubic meter). To achieve this objective, in 2020, sidewalks were rehabilitated, bike paths were arranged, and new municipal buses were bought. In this regard, during the development of the Action Plan, Gavigudet had a recommendation to include in the document the Rustavi-Tbilisi intercity transport issue. Many Rustavi residents bought a private car only because travelling to Tbilisi and back every day is a huge issue due to the lack of public transport and its quality. Consequently, this unresolved problem increases the number of cars in the city and the rate of nitrogen dioxide not only in Rustavi but also in Tbilisi.

According to the third objective, the total area of green zones increased by 5 hectares and amounted to 990 hectares. At the time of drafting the action plan, this figure was 985 ha. Besides, roads were rehabilitated, recreational spaces were arranged, and trees were planted. It is noteworthy that the civic movement Gavigudet with the help of various sectors has also planted the trees in front of Public School #20 (1-hectare area).

The fourth objective aims to increase the number of monitoring points/stations and the number of pollutants being monitored by 2022. In this direction, the situation has not changed in 2020.

As for the fifth objective, due to the Coronavirus, Environmental Information and Education Centre was unable to implement some of its awareness-raising campaign activities, but part of those activities was implemented online. Besides, in order to increase public engagement in the environmental decision-making process on projects planned in Rustavi, the Gavigudet movement has provided the Centre with the list of up to 100 activists. These activist are receiving relevant environmental information via e-mail. We recommend the Centre to provide these subscribers with information about all the air-related activities carried out by the Centre, including online lectures.

In addition, one of the most important activities to be carried out by the Centre is the training of the Department of Environmental Supervision inspectors, as much will depend on their competence in the law enforcement process. This activity aims to train inspectors on new legislative changes/requirements, including air protection issues. As indicated in the status report, the deadline for the implementation of the training is the first quarter of 2021.

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The annual report of the Action Plan reads:

In 2020, the implementation of 24 activities planned under the Action Plan should have started. In total, 34% of the activities were carried out, 50% of the activities were mostly completed. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, 8% of activities were not started. The progress of the implementation of the Action Plan activities during the reporting period was 75%.

The report also reads that “Compared to 2019, the average annual PM10 concentration decreased by approximately 8% and amounted to 58 μg/m³. Also, the average annual concentration of PM2.5 decreased by one unit and amounted to 31 μg/m³ in 2020. On the one hand, the improvement may be due to a reduction in transboundary pollution and on the other hand, due to the incomplete operation of local stationary sources (as a result of the coronavirus pandemic).” In addition, Gavigudet thinks that this could also be caused by other meteorological conditions such as rain, as we had much more precipitation in the Autumn of 2020 compared to 2019. This also affects the concentration of particulate matters in the air.

As an assessment, taking Covid-19 into account, it can be said that the implementation of the action plan is satisfactory. We appreciate the quality of communication from the staff of the Ambient Air Division – they coordinated the communication process between the parties. However, facts such as the violation of the deadlines for the adoption of legislative changes undermine public trust in government agencies and strategic documents and hinder the main purpose of the document – to improve air quality in Rustavi. Also, it can be said that the part of the Action Plan which refers to the legislative changes is one of the most important aspects of this document, thus, the responsible agencies must ensure the timely implementation of such activities.

Gavigudet will continue the monitoring of the Action Plan implementation and will periodically provide information to the public about the achievements or challenges in this process.

The project Defending Our Right to Clean Air in Rustavi is being implemented with the financial support of the European Endowment for Democracy.