The Minister of Environment in the caretaker government, Nasser Yassine, issued a new circular to "all governors, district heads, and municipalities that specifies new obligatory specifications on how to operate and invest in electric generators with the aim of reducing pollutants resulting from them, which spread in neighborhoods randomly amid the significant electricity rationing experienced in Lebanese regions." The circular is based on "relevant studies conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Lebanese universities, most recently by the American University of Beirut, which showed the negative impacts of electric generators on health and the environment, with their number estimated in the thousands, where there are 9,000 generators in Beirut alone."
This circular mandates "the immediate treatment of generator exhaust smoke by equipping the electric generator exhaust with a more effective and efficient system capable of removing even fine particles, in addition to setting minimum conditions for exhaust height, with enforcement of regular maintenance. The circular will apply to all reciprocating engines under the penalty of stopping non-compliant generators." The circular also, for the first time, stipulates "obliging generator owners to use soot filters for diesel particulate generators with a thermal power exceeding 200 kilowatts, which is considered a turning point for reducing air pollution." This initiative comes as part of the Ministry of Environment's efforts to protect air quality in accordance with the Air Quality Protection Law relating to air quality protection in Lebanon.
