Developing Risk-Based Priorities for Reducing Air Pollution in Urban Settings in Ukraine

Abstract

Ukraine, when part of the former Soviet Union, was responsible for about 25% of its overall industrial production. This aging industrial infrastructure continues to emit enormous volumes of air and water pollution and wastes. The National Report on the State of Environment in Ukraine 1999 (Ukraine Ministry of Environmental Protection [MEP], 2000) shows significant air pollution. There are numerous emissions that have been associated with developmental effects, chronic long-term health effects, and cancer. Ukraine also has been identified as a major source of transboundary air pollution for the eastern Mediterranean region. Ukraine's Environment Ministry is not currently able to strategically target high-priority emissions and lacks the resources to address all these problems. For these reasons, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set up a partnership with Ukraine's Ministry of Environmental Protection to strengthen its capacity to set environmental priorities through the use of comparative environmental risk assessment and economic analysis—the Capacity Building Project. The project is also addressing improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of its National Environmental Protection Fund. The project consists of a series of workshops with Ukrainian MEP officials in comparative risk assessment of air pollutant emissions in several heavily industrialized oblasts; cost–benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis; and environmental finance. Pilot risk assessment analyses have been completed. At the end of the Capacity Building Project it is expected that the use of the National Environmental Protection fund and the regional level oblast environmental protection funds will begin to target and identify the highest health and environmental risk emissions.

This work was supported in part by U.S. EPA cooperative agreements with Counterpart International and Environmental Defense. The authors thank Dr. Vadim Diukanov, Counterpart International, Kiev Ukraine, for assistance in coordinating the risk assessment, and Dr. Simon Avaliani, Russian Academy of Advanced Medical Studies, for direct assistance and quality control of the risk assessment.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Notes

∗More examples of MACs for various substances can be found in Golub and Strukova (1994, p. 168).

Kolstad, C. H., and Golub, A. 1993. Environmental protection and economic reform in Russia. EPAT/MUCIA Policy Brief no. 2, July.