Israel Environment Bulletin Winter 1996-5756, Vol. 19, No. 1
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PATROL
The Environmental Protection Patrol is the major enforcement body of the
Ministry of the Environment. Its inspectors, positioned in each of the
country's administrative districts, combine field surveillance with
investigative authority. Working hand in hand with the professionals of
the Environment Ministry's district offices, they serve as professional
advisors, on the one hand, police officers, on the other.
The inspector is a rare combination of environmentalist, scout and
investigator. He is a lone wolf, roaming the country in his jeep, equipped
with beeper and cellular telephone, camera and binoculars. He serves as
the eyes of the Ministry of the Environment in the field, on the lookout
for environmental offenses, on call around the clock. His day may extend
from dawn to midnight, seven days a week. His very presence is a
deterrent, an incentive to compliance.
A lion's share of the work of the Environmental Patrol lies in the area of
cleanliness, littering prevention, and safe management of landfills. The
inspectors visit thousands of landfills annually, submit guidelines and
instructions to landfill owners or local authorities, expedite the
shut-down of illegal dumps, and report on violations of the Cleanliness
Law whether by the 'midnight dumper,' the solitary citizen who throws
an empty can out of his car window or the trucker whose uncovered trucks
scatter refuse during the transport of solid waste.
Other important areas of Patrol responsibility include enforcement of
water and sewage laws; removal of illegal billboards from the country's
interurban highways, following due notice; enforcement of regulations on
hazardous substances and business licensing both in the industrial and the
agricultural sectors; inspections of sanitary conditions in gasoline
stations; and supervision of open spaces and national parks to ensure that
no attempts are made to illegally encroach on these protected areas.
To promote environmental awareness along with compliance, the
Environmental Patrol cooperates with other field bodies and ministerial
units in organizing environmental information and enforcement campaigns: a
semiannual campaign in the Lake Kinneret area; cleanups along the coastal
strip and in industrial zones and open spaces; information stations at
strategic spots throughout the country on weekends and holidays; and
lectures in army bases and Field Study Centers of the Society for the
Protection of Nature in Israel.
A central responsibility of the Environmental Patrol is direct
enforcement. Whether acting on reports from anonymous phone callers or
from the Minister of the Environment himself, the inspectors are always in
the field, discovering nuisances, identifying the source, and planning the
appropriate course of action. When a criminal investigation is opened, the
inspectors utilize the authority granted to them by the Minister of the
Police to undertake investigation, entrance and seizure procedures.
How do twelve patrol inspectors and a director open nearly 170
investigation files each year, inspect 3500 landfills and solid waste
transfer stations, check over 1000 gasoline stations, deal with nearly 800
cases of illegal billboards on interurban highways, submit 1250
cleanliness reports, and conduct over 300 visits to national parks?
Commitment, loyalty, love of the land, and respect for the environment
the basic attributes of Israel's national environmental inspectors
provide the simple answer.