On air pollution in the Po Valley, "after a discussion with the regional administrations, this morning a meeting was held at the Ministry of the Environment between the central administrations involved, to identify a set of national measures additional to the regional plans, capable of guaranteeing the respect for European targets". This was said by the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto, responding to a question from Cinquestelle parliamentarians at question time in the Senate.
"The path towards achieving compliance with the emission limit values has already been defined for years with the allocation of important national and regional financial resources - explained the minister -. Among these, I mention in particular a fund for air quality in the Po basin, with an allocation of resources equal to approximately 1.2 billion euros in total until 2034, and a further 40 million euros per year from 2035 onwards.
To date, 27 projects have been financed for over 300 million euros, and a further 5 projects are in way of definition".
"An additional fund of approximately 2.2 billion euros in total has been established by the 2022 budget law, for the implementation of the National Air Pollution Control Program (Pncia)", added Pichetto.
The minister then cited "the bilateral agreements signed between 2017 and 2021 together with the eight Regions affected by the infringement procedures for exceeding the limit values of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, each with ministerial funding of 4 million. Awaiting the availability of additional state resources for the improvement of air quality for 220 million euros from 2021, the strengthening and extension of existing agreements is underway, as well as the involvement of other Regions, not subject to infringement procedures, in the signing of similar agreements".