Pakistan's Talks with US Environment Protection Agency Chief 
'Pakistan Times' US Bureau

WASHINGTON (US): Pakistan's Environment Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat met with the Chief Administrator US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) here Friday and briefed him about the role of EPA in Pakistan in particular the process of issuing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for all development projects in Pakistan.

Faisal said that EPA in Pakistan is the real face of Ministry of Environment and “we work in close coordination with line ministries and provincial governments,”.

There are however certain regulatory and legal issues which at times make the entire process a little cumbersome for which “we would like to learn with the experience of USA,’ he added, according to a news release.

About the policy instruments and the initiatives of the Government of Pakistan, the Minister highlighted the importance of awareness and environmental education among the masses, describing them as the key initiatives which have to be addressed.

The Minister informed that to collect the air quality data within the overall framework of Ambient Air Quality, five new stations have been established in the federal and provincial capitals in Pakistan. His target though is to extend these stations to district level. Pakistan has also developed a private-public partnership for addressing indoor pollution, he added.

Regarding issues and challenges, the Minister desired to develop close linkages with US EPA in providing environmental education opportunities, technology transfer for more laboratories, information sharing network and possible support in developing a regulatory framework.

He also underscored the need for collaboration in the techniques for solid waste disposal and establishment of the treatment plants for treating industrial and municipal waste.

The Chief Administrator, who was assisted by the relevant senior officials, appreciated the Government of Pakistan’s effort and indicated to look in to the possible areas of cooperation with Pakistan.

He added that indoor air pollution and clean fuel are their priority areas and they are very keen to reduce sulfur from the fuel. US EPA is also interested in introducing the clean city initiative and solid waste management in Asia and they will certainly encourage Pakistan in this regard.

A draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was exchanged which could be finalized after looking further into possible areas of cooperation.

In his meeting with the Deputy Chief Executive Officer Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretari, the Minister reviewed the portfolio of GEF assisted projects in Pakistan. He expressed the desire to increase the size of GEF assistance from the present figure of US $ 18.3 million to at least US $ 30 million.

The Minister also provided new project list US $ 40 Million approximately. Most of the new projects are in the field of climate change and biodiversity. These projects aim at preparation of comprehensive data about types, number, species and variety of flora and fauna, and introduction of sustainable fuel efficient transport system in Pakistan.

The Minister also highlighted the need for making the project approvals time less than 18 months to reap the benefits of the projects in a proper time framework so that time value of money is not lost.

The Chief CEO of GEF Secretariat appreciated the efforts of the Pakistani government in the areas of mitigation and adaptation efforts due to climate change and to help conserve biodiversity for sustainable economic development. She supported the project proposals of Pakistan and indicated that these may be approved by attaching extra priority to them.●