Deputy proposes to introduce air pollution fee for vehicle owners in Kyrgyzstan

Member of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan Ekmat Baipakpaev proposes to introduce an additional fee for air pollution and include it in cost of gasoline and diesel fuel. He submitted the draft resolution on the Activities of the Government of Kyrgyzstan on Reduction of Environmental and Atmospheric Air Pollution for public discussion.
As a background statement says, the collected funds may be spent on improving the environmental situation in the country.
The deputy recalled that the Concept on Transition to Green Economy stated about a high level of automobilization, outdated fleet and use of low-quality petroleum products. This leads to emission of more than 80 percent of pollutants, consisting of particles of heavy metals, oxides of carbon and nitrogen, hydrocarbons, which are products of gasoline and diesel fuel combustion.
According to the National Report on the State of Environment, emissions into air from automobiles totaled 400,000 tons in 2014. Bishkek accounted for the main share in consumption of petroleum products. About 450,000 units of vehicles are registered in the capital.
"In winter, sensors of public organizations every day registered an excess of air pollution level in almost all districts of the capital of the republic, while the responsible state bodies could not provide current indicators of air pollution in Bishkek," the document says.
The deputy stated that the number of patients with malignant diseases, diseases of the respiratory organs and the blood circulatory system increased in the republic.
In 2015, the Government of Kyrgyzstan adopted a resolution on the introduction of fees for emissions into the atmosphere (3.24 soms per ton of pollutants).
For three years, the Republican Fund for Nature Conservation and Forestry Development has received 895 million soms for pollution.
At the same time, as the document stresses, there is no modern state system of observation and control over the state of the environment and atmospheric air in Kyrgyzstan. In Soviet times, about 80 types of impurities in the air were regularly measured at permanent posts.
It is necessary to install at least 100 stationary environment and air pollution monitoring posts. More than 1.65 billion soms will be needed to purchase them.
The deputy proposes to introduce an environmental fee for pollution per every liter of fuel consumed by motor transport.
According to preliminary data, about 1.7 million liters of fuel is consumed annually in the country. With the introduction of a fee of 0.5 som per liter, up to 850 million soms can be additionally received by the republican budget annually.