In Banja Luka, on December 25, 2025, the 11th extraordinary session of the Banja Luka City Assembly was held, the second agenda item of which included a discussion on improving air quality through certain decisions and resolutions.
The following items related to air quality were on the Assembly’s agenda:
- Proposal for a decision to ban the use of pyrotechnic devices in the territory of the City of Banja Luka – did not receive the support of the councilors.
- Proposal for a decision on the mandatory installation of filters to reduce emissions of polluting substances – did not receive the support of the councilors.
- Proposal for a decision to ban the use of energy sources with a high percentage of substances whose combustion leads to the emission of polluting substances into the air in high concentrations – did not receive the support of the councilors.
- Proposal for a resolution on improving air quality in the territory of the City of Banja Luka – received the support of the councilors, but with an amendment by SNSD councilors to omit the first item of the resolution, which involved a decision on parking charges. The resolution includes:
- recommendations to increase the mobility of the population through public transport by subsidizing tickets;
- giving priority to transport operators using electric buses;
- recommendations to increase mobility by non-motorized means, i.e., bicycles, through the introduction of 100 new public bicycles and the construction of public bicycle stations;
- installation of 10 modern bicycle shelters;
- construction of a bicycle lane in Maldena Stojanovića Street;
- tightening standards for technical inspections of motor vehicles;
- increasing the budgets of local self-government units for energy efficiency;
- finding ways to subsidize heat pumps.
- Draft short-term plan for reducing concentrations of polluting substances in the air in the territory of the City of Banja Luka – received the support of the councilors, but the content of the Draft remained unknown to us.
The councilors were of the opinion that it is necessary to form a working group of experts—composed of ecologists, mechanical engineers, meteorologists, energy efficiency experts, and physicians—which would examine the effects of the proposed decisions before their adoption.
