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Environmental Protection (Emissions and Transfers to the Environment – Reporting Obligations and Registry) Law, 5772-2012

חוק הגנת הסביבה (פליטות והעברות לסביבה – חובות דיווח ומרשם), תשע"ב-2012

Published: 2012-04-01Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-01-01 · Last amended 2023-11-19✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-29
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

This English text was translated from the official Hebrew using a range of translation tools, and it undergoes ongoing checks and updates. It is not a certified translation.

Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Chapter I: Purposes and Interpretation

Purposes of the Law§

1.

The purpose of this Law is to increase the transparency of environmental information in Israel, to encourage plants to reduce emissions and transfers of pollutants and waste to the environment, and to create a tool to assist in decision-making, research and the formulation of sustainable policy based on environmental justice, inter alia by means of all of the following:

(1)imposing reporting obligations on plants in respect of emissions and transfers of pollutants and waste from the plants to the environment;
(2)creating a registry that is public and accessible to the public at all times, containing information on emissions and transfers of pollutants and waste from plants to the environment;
(3)compiling and publishing an inventory list containing information on pollutants and waste emitted or transferred from various sources to the environment;

and all of the foregoing for the purpose of ensuring the existence of a proper environment, in accordance with the precautionary principle, for the prevention and reduction of environmental and health hazards, for the improvement of quality of life and the environment, for the benefit of the public and for the benefit of future generations.

Definitions§

2.

In this Law –

"owner of a plant" – includes any of the following:

(1)a person who operates or holds a plant, whether personally or through another on his behalf;
(2)a person who holds a permit or licence required under any law for the operation of a plant or for use thereof, or a person who is obligated to obtain a permit or licence as aforesaid;

"arrears fees" and "shekel interest" – as defined in the Interest and Linkage Law;

"transfer" – the lawful removal of a pollutant or waste outside the premises of the plant for the purpose of disposal or treatment, including the discharge of effluents to a sewage treatment facility;

"pollutant" – a substance or group of substances, including a chemical or biological substance, in a solid, liquid or gaseous state of matter, as well as a precursor substance to such a substance, whose presence in the environment causes or is liable to cause –

(1)a risk to or harm to human life, the health or quality of life of persons, property or the environment, including soil, water, fauna and flora;
(2)a change in climate, weather or visibility;

"Clean Air Law" – Clean Air Law, 5768-2008;

"Freedom of Information Law" – Freedom of Information Law, 5758-1998;

"Interest and Linkage Law" – Interest and Linkage Law, 5721-1961;

"treatment" – the removal of a substance or object from the plant in order to make use of it or to prepare it for use, including purification, recovery, recycling or energy recovery, whether for consideration or not, as well as intermediate stages in such a process;

"installation" – a technical arrangement in a plant in which an activity that may affect the emission of pollutants is carried out; for this purpose, "activity" – including ancillary activity that has a technical connection with the main activity;

"plant" – a place in which, or in part of which, an activity is carried out in a sector listed in column A of the Second Schedule within the field of activity listed alongside it in that column, being of the type of activities listed in column B of that Schedule, as well as any accompanying operation, installation or process taking place at that place that affects or is liable to affect the emission or transfer of pollutants or waste to the environment, including the conveyance pipelines of a plant situated outside it;

"components of the environment" – soil, air, sea or a water source;

"the Ministry" – the Ministry of Environmental Protection;

"disposal" – the removal of a substance or object from the plant otherwise than in order to make use of it or to prepare it for use, whether for the purpose for which it was originally intended or for another purpose, including burial and incineration not for the purpose of energy recovery;

"emission" – the discharge of a pollutant into a component of the environment that is not the result of a transfer, whether such discharge is anticipated or is not anticipated or results from a malfunction, whether it is carried out from an installation designated for that emission or is not carried out from such an installation, including the removal of effluents not intended for discharge to a sewage treatment facility;

"waste" – a substance or object in respect of which one of the following applies:

(1)its use is prohibited under law;
(2)there is an intention to transfer it for disposal or treatment;
(3)it has been disposed of or treated;
(4)there is a legal obligation to transfer it for disposal or treatment;

"energy consumption" – consumption of electricity, steam, or fuel as defined in the Clean Air Law;

"the Registrar" – a person appointed under section 29;

"effluents" – liquid waste containing a pollutant, whether in its raw form or after treatment, including treated wastewater;

"the Minister" – the Minister of Environmental Protection.

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Chapter II: Reporting Obligations

Annual Reporting Obligation of Plants§

3.
(a)In this section –

"pollutant" – a substance or group of substances listed in column A of the First Schedule;

"threshold quantity" – the quantity prescribed alongside a pollutant in column B of the First Schedule, in accordance with the component of the environment into which that pollutant is emitted, including transfer in effluents; for the purpose of the threshold quantity, the quantity of the pollutant emitted to soil, to the sea, to a water source or transferred in effluents shall be calculated on a cumulative basis.

(b)The owner of a plant shall submit to the Registrar, once a year, not later than 31 March of that year, a report on the plant as detailed below, in respect of the fiscal year preceding the date of reporting (in this Law – annual report):
(1)the quantity of each pollutant emitted to each of the components of the environment in or from the plant, if that quantity equals or exceeds the threshold quantity;
(2)the quantity of each pollutant transferred in effluents from the plant, if that quantity equals or exceeds the threshold quantity;
(3)an indication of the existence of an emission of a pollutant in or from the plant or a transfer of a pollutant in effluents, if the quantity of the emission or transfer as aforesaid is less than the threshold quantity;
(4)details as to whether an emission of a pollutant or a transfer of a pollutant in effluents, in whole or in part, is the result of a malfunction, and for the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) – the quantity of the emission or transfer that resulted from the malfunction;
(5)the quantity and type of waste transferred from the plant, a breakdown of the quantity transferred for disposal and the quantity transferred for treatment, the entity to which the waste was transferred and the type of treatment or disposal to be carried out, and in respect of the transfer of effluents – the entity to which the effluents were transferred and the type of treatment to be carried out;
(6)the water consumption and energy consumption of the plant;
(7)the method by which the quantities referred to in paragraphs (1), (2) and (5) were calculated, as well as the water consumption and energy consumption referred to in paragraph (6);
(8)details of the plant, including the name of the plant, address, coordinates of its geographical location, field or fields of activity, type of activity and details of the owner of the plant.
(c)An annual report shall be prepared and submitted in the format directed by the Registrar, and shall be accompanied by a declaration by the owner of the plant stating that the information contained in the annual report is true and complete; in the case of an owner of a plant that is a corporation, the annual report shall be accompanied by a declaration by the chief executive officer.
(d)The Minister may, with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, prescribe that the owner of a plant shall furnish a review, confirmation or opinion for the purpose of verifying the annual report.
(e)
(1)The owner of a plant may submit to the Registrar, at least sixty days before the date for submission of an annual report as referred to in subsection (b), a reasoned written request to defer the date of the annual report; such a request shall be accompanied by a declaration by the owner of the plant attesting to the facts supporting the request;
(2)If the Registrar is satisfied that special circumstances exist that justify doing so, he may, in a reasoned written decision, accede to the request under paragraph (1), in whole or in part, and may make it subject to such conditions as he sees fit; the Registrar shall decide on such a request within 21 days from the date on which it was submitted to him; the Registrar's decision and the reasons therefor shall be published on the Ministry's website.
(f)The reporting obligation under this section shall not apply to a person who became an owner of a plant after the commencement of a fiscal year, in respect of that year.

Regulations Concerning Additional Reports§

4.

The Minister may prescribe provisions concerning the obligation of the owner of a plant to submit to the Registrar additional reports beyond the annual report, concerning the quantity of a pollutant, effluents or waste emitted or transferred from the plant or its installations, as well as concerning the concentration or rate of emission of a pollutant or effluents, including provisions concerning sampling or monitoring, and provisions concerning the frequency and format of reporting.

Submission of a Joint Report§

5.
(a)The Registrar may direct several owners of plants to submit an annual report or a report under section 4 jointly, after having given them a reasonable opportunity to put forward their arguments in writing on the matter, if he is satisfied that one of the following applies:
(1)the plants operate at the same location and their activity is joint;
(2)the emissions or transfers of those plants, in whole or in part, are joint.
(b)The Registrar may issue a direction as referred to in subsection (a) even if the activity of one or more of the recipients of the direction at that location is on a scale smaller than the value prescribed in column B of the Second Schedule alongside that activity, provided that the scale of the joint activity equals or exceeds that value.

Best Calculation Method§

6.
(a)The owner of a plant shall calculate the data detailed below by means of the best calculation method:
(1)the quantities of pollutants and waste that must be reported under the provisions of section 3(b)(1), (2) and (5);
(2)the water consumption and energy consumption of the plant, which must be reported under the provisions of section 3(b)(6);
(3)quantities, concentrations and rates of emission of pollutants, effluents and waste that must be reported under section 4.
(b)The Registrar may direct the use of a best calculation method that shall include, inter alia, calculation methods for determining the data referred to in subsection (a)(1) to (3), and may prescribe, in respect of each method, the manner of its implementation; notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), if the Registrar has so directed, the data shall be calculated in accordance with his directions.
(c)The best calculation method under subsection (a) or (b) shall be determined, inter alia, in accordance with internationally accepted calculation methods in these matters.
(d)In this section, "best calculation method" – a calculation method that yields information that is as accurate as possible, based on data reasonably available to the reporting plant; for this purpose, "calculation method" – including calculations, sampling, weighing, monitoring, measurement, indirect measurement, emission factors, engineering estimates, or any other method used for the purpose of determining data as referred to in subsection (a)(1) to (3).

Additional Information§

7.
(a)The Registrar or an employee of the Ministry whom he has authorised for this purpose may require the owner of a plant to furnish to them –
(1)any information, data or calculation, including data that served for the preparation of reports under sections 3 or 4, or financial data, reports and accounts, required for the preparation or verification of reports under those sections;
(2)any data required for the assessment of the environmental efficiency of the plant; data furnished under this paragraph shall not be published.
(b)Where the owner of a plant has been required to furnish information as referred to in subsection (a), he shall furnish it at the time, in the manner and in respect of the reporting years specified in the requirement.
(c)In this section, "environmental efficiency" – the ratio between the quantities of pollutants, effluents or waste emitted or transferred from the plant and the scale of the plant's activity, or the ratio between the energy consumption of the plant and the scale of the plant's activity.

Direction to Correct or Complete§

8.
(a)If the Registrar or an employee of the Ministry whom he has authorised for this purpose finds that the owner of a plant has submitted in a report under sections 3 or 4 information that is not correct or not complete, he may direct him to correct or complete that report, at the time and in the manner to be specified in the direction.
(b)The provisions of section 237 of the Criminal Procedure Law [Consolidated Version], 5742-1982, concerning the service of documents, shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the giving of a direction under this section.

Retention of Information§

9.
(a)The owner of a plant shall retain a report under sections 3 or 4, as well as any information, data or calculation on which he relied for the preparation of those reports (in this section – information), for at least five years from the date of submission of the report.
(b)The Registrar or an employee of the Ministry whom he has authorised for this purpose may inspect information as referred to in subsection (a) and obtain a true copy thereof.

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Chapter III: Emissions and Transfers Registry and Inventory List, and Making Them Available for Public Inspection

Emissions and Transfers Registry§

10.

The Registrar shall maintain a registry of emissions and transfers of pollutants and transfers of waste (in this Law – the registry), which shall include the annual reports submitted to the Registrar under the provisions of section 3, as well as an indication or rating of the environmental efficiency of plants in respect of which data were required under section 7(a)(2).

Inventory List§

11.
(a)The Registrar shall compile, once every seven years, an inventory list containing information on the quantities of pollutants, effluents and waste emitted to the various components of the environment or transferred, whether as a result of plant activity or from other sources, known to him from annual reports or from other sources of information, throughout the territory of the State or part thereof, as well as the calculation method for those quantities (in this Law – inventory list).
(b)The types of pollutants, effluents or waste to be included in the inventory list and the types of emission or transfer sources (in this section – type of information) shall be determined by the Registrar, inter alia, according to their prevalence and the degree of risk to public health or the environment; before determining the type of information, the Registrar shall publish on the Ministry's website the type of information he intends to include in the inventory list for public comment, for a reasonable period of time.
(c)For the purpose of performing his obligations under this section, the Registrar may require a public authority, as defined in the Freedom of Information Law, to furnish him with any information concerning emissions or transfers of a pollutant, effluents or waste, or information required for the purpose of determining emissions or transfers as aforesaid, as well as concerning water consumption and energy consumption; where a public authority has been required to furnish information as aforesaid, it shall furnish it at the time, in the manner and in respect of the periods specified in the requirement.

Making the Registry and Inventory List Available for Public Inspection§

12.
(a)The registry and the inventory list shall be made available for public inspection, free of charge, inter alia by means of a geographic information system (GIS), on the Ministry's website, and shall be updated at least once a year, not later than 1 September, in a manner that ensures their accessibility, the ability to save them, and the retrieval of information and the production of output from them.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the Registrar shall not make available for public inspection a data item included in the registry in respect of which one of the following applies:
(1)it is information concerning the treating entity to which waste was transferred, except for an entity treating hazardous waste outside Israel;
(2)it is a data item referred to in section 3(b)(6);
(3)a senior security official, as defined in the Clean Air Law, has confirmed in his own handwriting that disclosure of the data item is liable to harm State security, and that confirmation has been attached to the annual report.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the Registrar may refrain from making available for public inspection a data item included in the registry until the time of its examination and verification if he has reasonable grounds to believe that it is not correct or not complete.
(d)If the Registrar has decided not to make a data item available for public inspection under the provisions of subsections (b) or (c), except for information as referred to in subsection (b)(3), he shall publish, in the place where that data item was to have been published, a notice of his decision and the reasons therefor.
(e)In respect of a data item concerning a type of waste submitted to the Registrar under section 3(b)(5), the Registrar may make available for public inspection a processed data item.
(f)If the owner of a plant has not submitted a report as required under the provisions of sections 3 or 4, the Registrar shall publish a notice to that effect, in the place where that report was to have been published, after having given the owner of the plant a reasonable opportunity to put forward his arguments in writing on the matter.

Report to the Knesset§

13.
(a)The Minister shall submit, once a year, not later than 31 December, to the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, a report that shall include, inter alia, a summary of the data reported to the Registrar under section 3, prominent trends in the data, as well as further analysis and assessment of the data – to the extent that these have been carried out by the Ministry.
(b)The report referred to in subsection (a) shall be published on the Ministry's website.

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LawHealthEnvironment

חוק הגנת הסביבה (פליטות והעברות לסביבה – חובות דיווח ומרשם), תשע"ב-2012

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