VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2586/01 3261431
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211431Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9244
INFO RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 5043
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3075

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002586 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/IAI, NEA/REA and OES/ENV 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL - Fulton, Metcalfe 
AMMAN for ESTH 
PARIS for USOECD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EINV TBIO IS
SUBJ:  EPA Administrator Visits Israel 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator 
Stephen L. Johnson visited Israel October 22-27, consulting with GOI 
ministries of Environmental Protection and National Infrastructure, 
and visiting pollution hotspots and sites of reclamation.  In 
discussions with GOI officials Johnson and his delegation advanced 
USG objectives of sharing technology that combats pollution, 
enhances water security, and facilitates Israeli compliance with 
criteria for OECD membership.  Israeli officials expressed interest 
in greater technology exchange, more information about EPA's 
Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program, and training to 
increase environmental enforcement capacity.  Despite imminent 
elections and changes in both American and Israeli governments, 
contact and collaboration between career staff of both countries 
will continue to pursue a number of shared interests.  EPA officers 
cleared on this report.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator 
Stephen L. Johnson visited Israel October 22-27, on the invitation 
from Israel Minister for Environmental Protection Gideon Ezra.  The 
Administrator was accompanied by Chief of Staff Charles Ingebretson, 
Acting Assistant Administrator for International Affairs Scott 
Fulton, New York Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg, and Tom 
Dunne, EPA Associate Administrator for Homeland Security.  Conny 
Arvis, Deputy Director NEA/RA and post ESTH officer also joined the 
EPA trip.  Johnson's first meeting was with the Ambassador to 
discuss EPA's interests in Israel and receive a briefing on the 
broader bilateral relationship.  Since 9/11, the EPA has been 
responsible for US water security policy, protecting the national 
water supplies from intentional or accidental contamination by 
chemical, biological, radiological or other agents.  Understanding 
how Israel manages these risks and structures its response to such 
incidents was the primary objective of Johnson's trip.  EPA was also 
interested in enhancing the exchange of environmental technology, 
building on a 1992 bilateral MOU between EPA and Israel's Ministry 
of Environment.  Finally, Johnson wanted to explore the regional 
dimension of pollution in the Middle East, specifically asking to 
meet with Palestinian environmental authorities.  Ambassador 
outlined the state of Annapolis negotiations and USG engagement with 
Israel on key regional issues. 
 
Ministry Meetings 
----------------- 
¶3. (U) On October 23, Johnson and delegation, accompanied by the 
Ambassador, met Minister Ezra and Ministry of Environmental 
Protection (MEP) officials in Tel Aviv.  Ezra opened discussions by 
pointing out the great potential for cooperation between the two 
countries, and how much Israel could learn from the far broader US 
experience with environmental regulation.  Stating that Israel's 
force of 45 enforcement officials was far below the number required, 
he noted the need for better training and increasing his ministry's 
capacity.  Effective enforcement enables better understanding of the 
source of environmental problems, he said.  MEP Deputy Director 
General Valerie Brachya briefly outlined the state of Israel's 
environment.  The country faces shortages of water, natural 
resources and living space, while it must cope with rising air 
pollution, population, demand for energy, and risk to biodiversity. 
MEP objectives, she synopsized, are to decrease emissions, reduce 
Israel's vulnerability to environmental risk, and improve the 
sustainability of the economy.  To achieve these objectives, Brachya 
stressed the need for better environmental technologies, and hoped 
that US technology could be tapped to help. 
 
¶4. (U) One motivation for upgrading Israel's environmental 
technology, Brachya stated, is Israel's pending membership 
application to the OECD.  Environmental criteria make up 60 of the 
200 instruments required by the OECD for accession, she observed, 
and meeting the costs of accommodation was becoming a challenge 
given Israel's budget constraints.  Israel's approach to the 
environment is primarily a command-and-control approach, but they 
are working to develop the needed economic instruments. To this end, 
Israel was looking to the US for assistance on how to implement 
these instruments. Israel will give its first presentation at the 
upcoming OECD Environmental Policy Committee meeting in February, 
¶2009.  Administrator Johnson said he understood Israel's situation, 
and hoped the bilateral agreement signed in 1992 could be useful for 
future collaboration.  He underscored that the coming change of US 
administrations made him unable to commit any future EPA resources, 
but he expected that the career staff of EPA, including Acting 
Assistant Administrator for International Affairs Scott Fulton, 
would continue to work to facilitate technology exchange. 
 
¶5. (U) MEP Vice Director General Yossi Inbar outlined GOI incentive 
structures devised to encourage the development and adoption of 
environmental technology by business.  These mechanisms include 
Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) and special funds to 
assist companies changing over to better technologies.  Inbar 
stressed that information about EPA's Environmental Technologoy 
Verification (ETV) program would greatly assist Israeli 
environmental technology developers, and he hoped a way could be 
found to provide this information to Israeli researchers. 
 
¶6. (U) Yossi Inbar and Michal BarTov briefly presented how Israel 
manages hazardous substances.  This included handling of incidents, 
risk management, integrated emergency reaction methods, and 
decontamination responses.  MEP coordinates all government bodies 
dealing with hazardous materials.  A distinction between the 
immediate reaction and the longer-term response and recovery period 
was made.  Israel records an average of 250 hazmat incidents per 
year, mostly in-plant accidents, spills or transportation events. 
Due to its compact size, Israeli reaction capacity can be pulled 
from locales across the country quickly and is very diverse, 
encompassing fire, police, environment ministry, Home Front Command, 
and Red Cross (Red Magen David) components.  Biological 
contamination is not MEP's responsibility.  MEP is the first 
responder for "dirty bombs", but is not responsible for long-term 
recovery. 
 
¶7. (U) EPA discussed emergency response with MEP, where the issue is 
both radiological decontamination and area-wide biological 
contamination.  Both sides agreed to arrange a follow-up discussion 
between the experts to share common concerns and responses to 
long-term decontamination. 
 
¶8. (U) Valerie Brachya discussed the Israeli situation with respect 
to air pollution.  Air pollution "hot spots" include the Haifa Bay 
industrial area, the Hadera Power Plant,  Tel Aviv, which is 
Israel's most densely populated urban area, the Ashkelon industrial 
area, and the Ramat Hovav industrial area. Israel has one of the 
most dense air monitoring networks in the world, with about 100 air 
monitoring stations throughout the country, run by MEP and local 
officials.  These stations measure PM 2.5, PM 10, NOX, SOX and lead. 
 Gasoline has been unleaded since 2004, and they are working to 
reduce sulfur in fuel, thus reducing particulates from 
transportation.  MEP is very interested in cooperation with EPA 
regarding air quality, including risk assessment guidelines, quality 
assurance/quality control of air monitoring stations, air dispersion 
modeling for complex terrain, and remote sensing technology for 
monitoring emissions. 
 
¶9. (U) The EPA Administrator, again accompanied by Ambassador, met 
with the Ministry of National Infrastructure (MNI), led by Director 
General Hezi Kugler.  Also attending were representatives from MEP, 
the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Agriculture.  The agenda 
covered three topics: water security, emergency response capacity, 
and alternative energy as a means of reducing environmental risks. 
Each side shared lessons from experience; Tom Dunne, previously head 
of the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration, the predecessor 
to FEMA, presented the EPA's Water Security Initiative.  The 
differences in scale between the US and Israel were striking: Israel 
has a single parastatal (Mekorot) that distributes water through the 
national carrier system, and is responsible for sourcing and 
securing three-fourths of Israel's water; Dunne noted that the US 
has over 15,000 water treatment systems and 54,000 distribution 
systems.  Nonetheless, the same imperatives of physical security, 
public health protection, and consumer awareness operate in both 
countries.  The critical features of monitoring, precautionary 
actions, command and control in reaction situations, and 
decontamination during a remediation phase were common to both 
systems.  Uri Shani, Director of the Israel Water Authority, 
discussed the country's critical water shortage, and the importance 
of desalination.  By 2014, if present tenders issued by the Israeli 
government for additional desalination facilities are built, Israel 
will produce 750 million cubic meters of water, almost the entirety 
of consumer fresh water demand in Israel.  Agriculture by then will 
be shifted to 100 percent treated wastewater use, from about 43 
percent now.  In Israel, the Ministry of Health is in charge of 
drinking water quality. Israel does not allow wastewater to be used 
for drinking water, even treated wastewater. 
 
¶10. (U) Kugler outlined the GOI's alternative energy policy 
objectives.  Transportation is the major cause of pollution in 
Israel, followed by electricity generation.  While the Environment 
Ministry has mandated low-sulfur diesel and no-lead gasoline, MNI 
policy addresses the energy sector.  Twenty years ago Israel 
switched from fuel oil to coal for its power generation, and now is 
turning to natural gas as a cleaner alternative.  Coal presently 
generates 70 percent of Israel's electricity, and is expected to 
still power 50 percent of it in 2050.  Israel thus needs clean coal 
technology, both to reduce CO2 emissions and to diminish the 
country's vulnerability to petroleum suppliers and prices.  One 
 
concern, however, is that there is not enough area available for 
carbon sequestration in Israel.  Alternative energy sources are also 
being pursued, including construction of a 250 mw solar power plant 
in the Negev desert, and wind and wave energy projects.  The 
Ministry's goal is to produce 10-15 percent of electricity from 
alternative sources by 2020; this is paired with the ambitious goal 
of reducing Israel's energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020 (off 
of a 2006 baseline).  Regarding transportation, the goal is 5 
percent of all fuel needs from biofuels by 2012.  Johnson echoed 
Kugler's hope to see clean coal technology advance, as the US still 
derives half its power from coal, and has a 200 year supply. 
Bilateral cooperation on energy is strong, Johnson acknowledged, 
with the US DOE playing the coordinating role on joint research. 
 
¶11. (U) Johnson met US Consul General Walles in Jerusalem on October 
24, and separately with the Vice chairman of the Palestinian Water 
Authority and consultants to discuss environmental and water 
problems in the regional perspective. These meetings will be covered 
septel. 
 
Hot Spots and Water Sites 
------------------------- 
¶12. (U) Administrator Johnson and his delegation traveled to Haifa 
Bay and its surrounding port to observe Israel's environmental 
challenge.  Environment Ministry officials briefed Johnson while 
surveying the site from land and from the water. The City of Haifa 
has 400,000 residents, 13 percent of Israel's population, with a 
density of 2600 persons per square mile crowded into a mountainous 
coastal landscape.  Haifa is Israel's chief deep water port, and the 
coastal plain bordering it on the East is one of Israel's most 
highly industrialized zones.  Besides the freight port, there are 
oil refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas storage, heavy 
industry and a power generation plant.  The Kishon River bisects the 
area as it empties into Haifa Bay, and is one of the most polluted 
sites in Israel. 
 
¶13. (U) The close proximity of hazardous and toxic industrial sites 
to dense a population center raises serious environmental and public 
health risks.  (During the 1991 Gulf War a missile attack on Haifa 
targeted the tank farm storing ammonia, and could have had 
disastrous consequences.)  The Ministry policy is to promote reuse, 
recycling, neutralization and safe disposal of hazardous materials. 
Johnson and EPA officers compared the Haifa Bay situation to Long 
Beach, California, and Newark, New Jersey, and discussed US efforts 
to address comparable problems. 
 
¶14. (U) A visit to the Eshkol filtration facility of Mekorot, 
Israel's national water distributor, focused on water quality and 
security.  The Eshkol facility, opened in 2007 after a US$200 
million investment, is Israel's central filtration plant and the 
fourth largest in the world.  Its capacity is 450 million cubic 
meters of water annually, with most of the water drawn from Lake 
Tiberias and distributed through the national carrier.  It uses less 
chemical treatment than other facilities, and is more 
environmentally friendly.  As part of its quality monitoring system, 
Mekorot uses a fish species from Africa that is highly sensitive to 
toxins as an indicator of deterioration in water quality. 
 
¶15. (U) The Administrator also received briefings at the source of 
Israel's national water carrier system, the Sapir Intake at Lake 
Tiberias.  At Sapir, massive pumps push the water from 213 meters 
below sea level(Lake Tiberias) to 44 meters above sea level where it 
flows to the Eshkol filtration plant.  Given the Sapir location - 
the northern edge of the lake, within sight of formerly 
Syrian-controlled Golan Heights - the plant was placed inside a 
mountain, underground for better defense of the critical resource 
facility.  Mekorot management briefed EPA on the mechanics of the 
facility, as well as water security features of Israel's 
distribution system further downstream.  Water from the Sapir 
facility is transported ultimately down to the Negev Desert, after 
consumer use and treatment in central Israel.  Hydrologists pointed 
out that due to poor rains the Lake's level has fallen five meters 
over the decade, and now stands only 20cm above the black line 
level, below which it will be physically difficult to withdraw 
water.  The red-line level, below wish it is hydrologically unwise 
and ecologically damaging to withdraw water, was crossed last 
August. 
 
¶16. (U) Desalination is Israel's hope for a future sustainable water 
supply.  The EPA team toured the Ashkelon desalinization plant, the 
largest in the world, on October 26.  The facility is a BOT (spell 
out) operation drawing on investment from Veolia and an Israeli 
partner IDE, and produced 105 million cm of pure water in 2007.  It 
uses a reverse osmosis membrane technology, pumping sea water at 70 
bars of pressure through filters.  Two other facilities of this 
scale are slated to be opened in 2009 (Hadera) and 2013 (Palmachim), 
Israel's goal is 750 mcm of desalinated water in 2013, the entirety 
of consumer water demand.  The security that desalination provides 
to Israel's water system comes at the price of energy; the Ashkelon 
plant has its own 55 MW gas-fired power plant, and nation-wide 6 
percent of all electricity produced goes to supplying water around 
Israel, a figure that will increase with more desalination 
facilities.  Ashkelon, however, is one of the most efficient 
desalination plants in the world, re-using much of its energy. 
 
¶17. (U) Towards addressing both energy needs and environmental 
remediation, Israel's Dan Regional Association of Towns is turning 
an enormous former landfill on the edge of Tel Aviv into a natural 
gas source and nature/recreation park.  The EPA team toured 
Hiriya/Park Ariel Sharon, observing 70 wells producing 30,000 cubic 
meters of natural gas captured each day from the 120 acre former 
landfill.  Most of the 2000 hectare site will be graded, planted and 
groomed into a recreation center.  One corner of Hiriya remains a 
processing and transfer point for urban waste, where it is sorted 
and organic materials are fed to an anaerobic digester facility for 
biogas production, while glass and plastics are sent to recycling. 
The goal is to reduce the waste sent to landfill by 50 percent in 
weight, because Tel Aviv's waste is now sent 60 - 80 miles south, at 
a cost of USD 30 per ton. 
 
Public Roundtable 
----------------- 
¶18. (U) On October 23 Administrator Johnson delivered the keynote 
speech at a Tel Aviv University forum on "The Business Case for 
Environmental Protection."   He addressed the tension between 
advancing environmental initiatives in the business world and 
maintaining an economic competitive advantage.  His theme was that 
the two challenges are not mutually exclusive. Today, American 
businesses recognize the benefits in having a strategic 
environmental corporate program, and the cost effectiveness in 
avoiding pollution.  The pressure to find new, 
ecologically-sensitive technologies can be a pro-active challenge 
and enhance competitiveness.  This approach is also validated by the 
high cost of litigation and general public disapproval for poor 
environmental performance; corporate environmental records 
increasingly influence the public's purchasing and investment 
decisions.  In sum, a culture of compliance needs to be fostered by 
public authorities.  The lively roundtable discussion following 
Johnson's talk included representatives from the Israeli Ministry of 
Environment, the Israel Union of Environmental Defense, and the 
Alfred Akirov Institute for Business and the Environment at Tel Aviv 
University. 
 
Next Steps 
---------- 
¶19. (U) Although the impending changes of government in both Israel 
and the United States made policy commitments with budget 
implications inappropriate, EPA Administrator and team departed with 
a list of specific interests for EPA career staff to pursue.  GOI 
Environment Ministry would like to see the EPA share its approach to 
Environmental Technology Verification, along with other 
environmental programs.  Closer exchange of information on 
environmental approaches and technologies that could lighten the 
burden of Israel complying with OECD membership criteria are a 
priority as well.  GOI officials acknowledged that Israel's 
enforcement mechanisms are weak and need more training and better 
funding, especially in light of new regulatory obligations. 
 
 
¶20. (U) From the American side, discussions continue about specific 
follow-up, but could include 3 issues: 
 
-- Water Security:  EPA will continue to follow up on the 2005 
Statement of Intent on Water Security, and commit to working 
together with the Israelis to enhance each country's knowledge on 
water security.  EPA will exchange information regarding water 
security, including prevention, detection, and monitoring; and 
facilitate visits to each nation's water infrastructure sites to 
observe physical security arrangements and equipment.  EPA will 
notify and coordinate with the US Department of Homeland Security 
and provide an opportunity for them to participate, if appropriate. 
 
-- Emergency response: EPA will continue to follow-up on its 
technical exchange with DOE and Israel on radiological 
contamination, with another meeting in Washington on November 12th. 
EPA will use this meeting to learn more about Israeli expertise on 
this issue.  The Israelis are interested in following up on 
cooperation on area-wide contamination and recovery, and this too is 
an area of concern for EPA. 
-- Exchange of Technical Information:  EPA will work with its 
technical staff to provide information on key technical issues that 
the Israelis have requested, including: 
   -  Verification of Innovative Environmental Technologies 
   -  Health Impact Assessment 
   -  Risk Management 
   -  LADAR (Leak Detection & Repair) 
   -  PRTR (Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers) 
   -  Review of Methodology of Israeli Ambient Air Pollution 
Standards 
   -  Environmental aspects of Israel's candidacy for OECD 
membership. 
 
Cunningham