Emissions Standards Development in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

摘要

Ambient air quality in Abu Dhabi currently meets national standards, with the exception of concentrations of particulate matter and ozone. However, with rapid economic and population growth, Abu Dhabi risks experiencing a rise in air pollutant emissions. The Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi (EAD) is proactively developing air emission regulations for selected industries operating within the Emirate. This paper explains how and why the development, promulgation, and implementation of industry specific emission standards are conducted and evaluated in consideration of local environmental conditions, economic circumstances, and cultural norms. EAD first identifies industries where regulation is likely to lead to the greatest improvements in overall air quality. Individual weighted ranking criteria, such as the potential for emissions reductions, pollutants to be regulated, air emission sources, the availability of international standards, the number of affected facilities, and the economic capability to implement standards, are applied. Based on this analysis, EAD is developing sector specific emission standards for four industrial sectors that complement Federal emissions limits. EAD's Development of EAD Environmental Policy. Regulation, and Enforceable Standards includes a thorough stakeholder engagement process. At the initial stages of regulatory development, EAD's regulatory team meets with relevant stakeholders within EAD to explain the proposed standards and regulatory program and solicited feedback. Once internal consensus is reached, the regulatory development team has bilateral and multilateral meetings with the requisite Abu Dhabi government agencies to identify the regulatory objectives, explain the method for developing proposed standards and solicit feedback. After ranking industries and addressing comments, EAD engages private stakeholders (potential affected facilities, NGOs, and the public). After comments are reviewed, draft air emissions regulations are circulated first within EAD and then to external stakeholders, who will have an opportunity to meet with the EAD regulatory development team and to submit comments before the regulations are finalized.