Environmental Protection

The Civil Administration's Environmental Protection Unit is responsible for the area between the Mount Gilboa region in the north to the southern portion of Mount Hebron in the south, and from the Jordan Valley in the east to the the Hebron Valley region (Shfela) that borders it in the west.

The unit promotes the protection and preservation of the region's environment, manages it and the natural resources it contains, and handles environmental impact events all in the complex geographical-jurisdictional reality of an environment that overlaps borders.

The unit works to regulate environmental issues, prevent and reduce environmental risks, and increase awareness and cooperation among all parties involved in these issues. In addition, the unit engages in environmental planning and integration of environmental perspectives and considerations into the deliberations of the Supreme Planning Council and subcommittees. The unit also provides expert opinions to various entities, reviews environmental programs, environmental impact surveys, and environmental documents, and advances projects aimed to deal with environmental impact events. Additionally, the Unit promotes environmental legislation customized to the region's requirements and advances the region-specific adjustment of environmental legislation already in force in Israel. The unit supports licensed authorities in their enforcement of laws against environmental infractions, which are applicable to the region. As such, the unit works in coordination and cooperation with representatives of the Palestinian Authority.

The Environmental Protection Unit, in cooperation with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, established the "David Unit" in 2014, which is responsible for environmental enforcement at the crossings, preventing the illegal transfer of waste from Israel beyond the Green Line. Such waste is most often transferred to pirate landfills and results in environmental damage, such as water,soil, and air pollution. Since the beginning of the David Unit's activity, severe environmental damage has been prevented with the seizure of thousands of trucks carrying illegal waste, such as discarded electronics, iron, aluminum, batteries, surplus soil, mixed debris, tires, oils, and tree trimmings.

Areas of Responsibility and Services

• Granting of permits for the transfer of hazardous materials at crossing points between Israel and Judea and Samaria/Gaza

• Granting of permits for waste disposal at arranged sites in Judea and Samaria

• Granting of permits to farmers and industrialists in Judea and Samaria allowing them to hold controlled materials

• Pest control and monitoring (leishmania, mosquitoes, etc.)

• Monitoring of the region's rivers

• Cleaning of waysides, pipes, and streams, and handling of invasive species (e.g., ambrosia)

• Handling of public inquiries regarding environmental impact

• Environmental planning, including review and supervision of environmental impact surveys in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria

• Waste treatment, including promotion of waste processing, elimination, and sorting sites, as well as supervision over these sites

• Maintenance, protection, and management of the environmental quality in connection with earthquakes, air pollution and quality incidents, and radiation

• Handling of fires in open areas

• Protection of biological diversity, water sources, and ground resources

• Maintenance and enforcement in the areas of cleanliness, recycling, and disposal of hazardous and dual-use materials

• Promotion of environmental quality improvement ventures and infrastructure in cooperation with the international community

• Wastewater treatment, including inspection and preliminary approval of sewage plans that include laying of collection lines and end solutions (local/regional wastewater treatment plants), coordination and guidance of local authority planners, coordination in conjunction with the Health Ministry, and initiation and planning of infrastructure projects

• Oversight and enforcement at the crossings on the part of the "David Unit"

• Oversight and enforcement at environmental sites (waste treatment sites, waste collection sites, factories, streams, waysides, fires, charcoal mines, quarries, wastewater treatment plants, shredding plants)

Every day, the Unit's employees work toward advancing a wide range of projects, such as:

• Establishment of wastewater treatment plants

• Prevention sewage outflow into wadis in Ma'ale Efraim and Hebron

• Development of a line for the elimination of wastewater from the oxygenation ponds in Ramallah

• Establishment of the Qalqiliya Sewage Line

• Establishment of a system for the use of treated wastewater from the Nablus Wastewater Treatment Plant

• Establishment of way stations in Al-Bireh and southwest Ramallah

• Submission of applications to the Maintenance of Cleanliness Fund for assistance in waste transport, collection of olive mill wastewater and prevention of its outflow into wadis, leishmania control, and prevention of fires in enclaves, etc.