Metropolitan Lima-Callao is a territorial unit comprising the city of Lima and the provinces of Lima and Callao. It covers an area of 2,794 square kilometers, with a population of approximately 7.5 million. The air pollution problem in this metropolitan area has been exacerbated over the past 15 years by a series of national economic and social factors that led to measures being taken without regard to their impact on the environment or, specifically, air pollution. Attempts by various central government agencies and by the Lima and Callao municipalities to tackle the pollution problem were both insufficient and ineffective for a series of reasons, including that they were isolated efforts.

Aware of these shortcomings, the government of Peru adopted Supreme Resolution No. 768-98-PCM on December 31, 1998, establishing the Comité de Gestión de la Iniciativa de Aire Limpio for Lima-Callao. The committee is chaired by the vice minister of Housing and Construction and is composed of representatives of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, Housing and Construction, of Health, of Industry, of Energy and Mines, of Fisheries, and of Defense, and of representatives of the National Environment Council, the Municipalities of the provinces of Lima and Callao, and the National Confederation of Private Business Institutions, Confiep.

The launching workshop of the Clean Air Initiative in Latin American Cities held in Washington, DC, in December 1998 played an important part in the establishment of the Comité de Gestión. Leading the Peruvian delegation to that workshop was the vice minister of Housing and Construction.

The purpose of the Comité de Gestión is "to propose inter-institutional coordination mechanisms and regulations designed to improve air quality in Lima and Callao by promoting actions based on team work in which stakeholders would work in their separate ways for common goals, such as strengthening institutions, information systems, and greater awareness among the general public." It was installed on January 27, 1999, one of its first tasks being to organize an international workshop, entitled The Lima-Callao Clean Air Initiative, which then became the first international workshop of the Clean Air for Latin American Cities Initiative sponsored by the World Bank.

The debates in the workshop helped identify a series of lacunae, such as the nonexistence of emission inventories, the lack of a saturation study mapping the distribution of pollution in Lima-Callao, and the dearth of epidemiological surveys, or particles analyses. Attention also focused on the lack of legal provisions regarding air quality and the absence of air quality standards, ceilings on emission of contaminants, traffic regulations, and so on.

An important point to emerge in the discussion was the lack of a comprehensive Lima-Callao air sanitation plan and the urgent need to prepare one as a vehicle for proposing and implementing a series of key measures to reduce the emission of pollutants and its impact on the environment and health of the population.

Once the working priorities had been established, efforts were made to obtain the necessary technical and economic support. The result was a valuable contribution by the Swiss government, through a World Bank trust fund, to finance work with Swisscontact, a Swiss firm working for the Comité de Gestión, in the following areas:

• Air quality monitoring network
• Regulations and ceilings on additions to the existing number of vehicles
• A vehicle inspection and maintenance program
• A Comprehensive Metropolitan Lima-Callao Air Sanitation Plan.

The results so far are as follows:

Air quality monitoring network. The first step was to conduct the saturation study of pollutants in Lima-Callao, which revealed that the main cause of air pollution in Lima-Callao was particles in suspension with a PM 10 component. The study also showed which parts of the metropolitan area were most polluted. The data culled from the saturation study made it possible to complete the design of the air quality monitoring network.

Regulations and ceilings on the incorporation of vehicles. The paperwork is undergoing final revision by a working group of the Comité de Gestión. Findings developed in the course of the study have been built into the proposal regarding vehicle ceilings.

Vehicle inspection program. The study was completed and proved to be highly useful during preparation of the vehicle inspection program and its subsequent implementation.

The Comprehensive Air Sanitation Plan for Lima-Callao (Plan Integral de Saneamiento Atmosférico). A more complete version is now available. Technical specifications for 20 measures to reduce the emissions of contaminants have been identified and developed, along with nine management tools. Four major studies have been identified for the next steps in implementing the plan. The International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) model is being used in the preparation of the plan, especially for cost-benefit analysis. At the same time, the EMOD-CMAP model is being used to determine the effects of air pollution.

The Comité de Gestión is currently making arrangements for possible technical assistance from the Swedish government in drawing up an inventory of emissions for fixed and mobile sources, the study of the dispersion of air contaminants in Lima-Callao, and epidemiological surveillance of diseases caused by air pollution.

The above focuses on the activities carried out directly by the Comité de Gestión. However, it has at the same time engaged in activities providing technical assistance to other committees concerned with the following:

• Pre-publication of the Regulations Governing National Air Quality Standards, which committee members had helped write. In the course of that activity, agreement was reached on quality levels, and it was decided to entrust the Committee to Manage the Clean Air for Lima-Callao Initiative with responsibility for the Lima-Callao Zone Administration (Gesta Zonal). These regulations are currently awaiting approval. They contain not only quantified air quality standards but also a mechanism for gradually attaining them.

• Preparation of the National Regulations on Vehicles, required by the general law governing land transportation and traffic (Law No. 27181). These regulations have to specify the security and emission features and technical requirements that vehicles must meet, the technical and administrative procedures for authorization of new vehicles, and the system governing technical inspections and spot checks on public roadways. Members of the committee have played an active part in these projects and reviewed studies for projects proposed by Swisscontact.

• Preparation of the Draft Peruvian Technical Fuel Quality Standard, which updates the technical specifications for petroleum and its byproducts, liquid fuels. It was important for committee members to take part in this activity, because it meant that the quality of fuels to be used over the next few years would lower the emission of
  pollutants. Achievements included the elimination of tetraethyl lead and the exclusion of manganese in gasoline and a lower percentage of sulfur in fuels.

• Publication of Supreme Decree No. 045-2000-MTC, establishing minimum quality standards for imported used vehicles. This decree restricts imports of freight and passenger vehicles manufactured over the previous five years before the decree. It also stipulates that the carbon monoxide emission in such cars may not exceed 4% nor hydrocarbons 500 ppm. The General Directorate of Land Transportation of the Ministry of Transport, a member of the management committee, helped prepare this decree.

• As regards citizens' participation and awareness of the air pollution problem in Lima-Callao, the management committee's work was displayed at various forums attended by politicians, academics, and the general public, with the result that these groups are now more sensitive to the air pollution issue.

• It should be noted that the activities of the Comité de Gestión in Lima-Callao are setting an example for other Peruvian cities. Moreover, the emission reduction measures contemplated in the Comprehensive Metropolitan Air Sanitation Plan will have immediate
  repercussions throughout Peru by markedly lowering the emission of pollutants and reducing their impact on the health of the population.