The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation of 1993, ensures that any new project undertaken under the prescribed list undergoes a full EIA or an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) before a licence is issued for implementation. This process has in the past brought public pressure to ensure compliance.

Though the NEA gives the CEA the mandate to regulate and control air pollution, enforcement has been rather slow due to the lack of specific emission standards and reliable data. While the Motor Traffic Act considers visible emissions an offence, it is not rigorously enforced. The impending amendments to the Motor Traffic Act will give greater authority to the Department of Motor Traffic and the Police Department to control vehicular emissions. The need for expertise and equipment is acutely felt.

Source Control Options
 

Source	Control Option Applied	Abatement Efficiency
Industry	NEA	Good
Power Plants	NEA	Good
Vehicles	NEA & Motor Traffic Act	Poor- due to lack of enforcement, instrumentation and expertise
Household (indoor)	None	Increased use of LPG and energy efficient stoves have reduced the impact
Disposal sites	NEA & Municipal Council and Local Authority Ordinances	Burning of garbage is not practised widely
CFC’s	NEA	Actions have been initiated under the Montreal Protocol programme

Fiscal Instruments: In 1994, an annual road tax of Rs 10,000.00 for diesel powered non-commercial vehicles had been imposed with annual renewal of the licences. However, in the last budget this tax was reduced to Rs 5000.00. Despite this tax the number of diesel vehicles on the road, and being imported, especially vans and dual purpose vehicles, are on the increase. The price disparity between petrol and diesel fuel is such (Rs 15.00 vs. Rs 50.00 per litre) that despite the annual road tax and higher repair costs, diesel vehicles are still more economical than petrol vehicles.

In the early 90’s, there were a large numbers of petrol cars being converted to diesel using imported used diesel engines primarily obtained from Japan. The official fee at the time for this conversion was only Rs. 50.00 (Rs 1000.00 if the vehicle had to be re-registered under a different category). In 1993, the government increased the conversion charges to Rs 35,000.00.

Other policy initiatives: CLEAN AIR 2000 & ACTION PLAN

One of the outcomes of the MEIP – Colombo was the preparation of an action plan to mitigate deteriorating air quality in Colombo Metropolitan Area (CMA). The plan was given the name - Clean Air 2000 Action Plan (CA2AP) and approved by the cabinet of ministers in 1993. The objective of the action plan involved the reduction of all air pollutants of concern to the CMA by the year 2000 . Hence, based on a review of the available air quality data and of the available practical control options, the Action Plan concluded that the following reductions from estimated 1990 ambient levels be effected by the year 2000 (Particulate 40%; Carbon Monoxide 40% Oxides of Nitrogen 30 %; Lead 30%; Oxides of Sulphur 75% and Hydrocarbons 20%. Sequential steps in control strategy and key assumptions are as given in Annex 2.

To reach the targets listed above for each of the pollutants, 49 recommended actions identifying institutional responsibilities were classified under seven major issues. The current progress of the implementation plans for the 7 major issues are summarised in the table below.
 

Issue	Number of Actions	Actions Completed	Actions in Progress	Actions Not Initiated
Vehicle Inspection And Maintenance	6	1	4	1
Fuel Reformulation, Pricing And Fleet Mix	10	4	3	3
Emission Inventory And Monitoring	5	3	2	0
Standard Setting	9	2	3	4
Institutional Framework and Regulatory Compliance	11	4	5	2
Economic Instruments	5	3	0	2
Transportation Planning And Traffic Management	3	0	2	1
Total	49	17	19	13

 

A CA2AP Implementation Committee, which is still functional, is appointed to monitor the implementation of the Action Plan, under the Chairmanship of the Secretary to the then Ministry of Environment and Parliamentary Affairs. Its first meeting was in March 1993 and comprised members from all agencies involved in the implementation of the action plan. At these meetings each agency responsible for implementation of activities outlined in the action plan presented the progress made at the Implementation Committee meetings. The CEA, acts as the secretariat for this committee. Minutes of the meetings are circulated among the members prior to the meetings. Initially, the committee met every month. The committee now meets bimonthly. Elements of the Action Plan were also included in the Environmental Management Strategy (EMS), developed by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) together with MEIP and subsequently in the UDA’s Colombo Regional Structure Plan (1998).

By December 1998 the committee had met some 35 times. Problems ranged from lack of funds to carry out studies and implementation, enforcement problems, lack of capacity (capability), infrastructure as well as non-existent instrumentation hampered implementation of many of the actions.
 
 

ANNEX 2 – CA2AP SEQUENTIAL STEPS IN CONTROL STRATEGY
 
 

		SULPHUR	LEAD	PARTICULATE	CO	HC	NOx
Base 1990	Tons/Yr.	455	79	3,450	188,736	38,364	5,928
	%	100	100	100	100	100	100
Projected 2000 (No controls)	Tons/Yr.	452	126	4,418	340,001	78,207	16,940
	%	99	159	128	170	204	286
I/M	Tons/Yr.	429	120	4,197	260,095	58,876	16,940
	%	94	151	122	130	153	286
0.15 Pb/.3S	Tons/Yr.	163	40	4,197	260,095	58,876	16,940
	%	36	50	122	130	153	286
Diesel Shift	Tons/Yr.	147	46	3,779	299,704	63,885	17,204
	%	32	58	110	150	167	290
Motorcycle Standards	Tons/Yr.	147	47	2,942	298,974	61,109	17,760
	%	32	60	85	150	159	300
Car/Truck Standards	Tons/Yr.	147	47	2,617	116,351	28,710	3,607
	%	32	60	76	58	75	61
Railway Shift	Tons/Yr.	123	47	2,326	110,656	27,948	3,485
	%	27	60	67	55	73	59

 

Key assumptions made in these projections include:

• no emission control exists in base year 1990;
• 20 percent of all vehicles registered in Sri Lanka are off the road, and that 50 percent of the remaining vehicles are operating in the CMA;
• the average km per year per vehicle is calculated based on engine efficiencies and fuel consumption amounts by class of vehicle;
• auto diesel and petrol contain 0.8 percent sulphur and 0.45 grams/litre lead respectively;
• annual growth rates for motor cars will be 7 percent by the year 2000 as compared to the present level of 5.9 percent;
• annual growth rate for buses will be 3.5 percent by the year 2000 as compared to the present level of 3.1 percent;
• annual growth rates for motor cycles will decrease from 15 percent to 5 percent by the year 2000;
• annual growth rates for light and heavy trucks will remain the same;
• the vehicle population would have doubled by the year 2000; and
• there will be no major changes in fuel prices.