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Air Quality Developments in 2000 and 2001
THE EUROPEAN UNION The European Council Directive 96/62/EC on Ambient Air Quality Assessment and Management, (The Framework Directive), establishes a framework under which the EU will agree air quality limit values for specified pollutants in a series of ‘Daughter Directives’. These will supersede existing air quality legislation. It is envisaged that the structures established under the UK Air Quality Strategy and supporting legislation will provide the principal means of implementing the UK’s commitments under this Directive. So far, three Daughter Directives have been agreed: ·
The first Daughter Directive (1999/30/EEC), covering
sulphur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter as PM10,
and lead, came into force on 19 July 1999. This Directive contains limit values
for these pollutants, aimed at protection of human health and of ecosystems.
This Directive was transposed by The Air Quality Limit Values Regulations
(Northern Ireland) 2002. ·
The second Daughter Directive (2000/69/EC) covers
carbon monoxide (CO) and benzene. It came into force on 13 December 2000. It is
intended that this Directive will be transposed later this year by The Air
Quality Limit Values (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002. ·
The third Daughter Directive (or EC Ozone Directive, 2002/3/EC)
came into force in 2002 and is scheduled for transposition in 2003. The remaining pollutants listed in
the Framework Directive are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and the
metallic elements cadmium, arsenic, nickel and mercury. The European Commission
is working on proposals for a fourth Air Quality Daughter Directive covering
these. The aim is to set ambient air quality target values, from 2010, for
arsenic, cadmium, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); some
target values have been proposed but not yet agreed. The first Air Quality Strategy (AQS) was published in 1997, setting out
policies for the management of ambient air quality and thus fulfilling the
requirement of the Environment Act 1995 for a national air quality strategy. Pollutants
originally covered by the strategy are: benzene, 1,3-butadiene, carbon
monoxide, lead, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter (as PM10) and
sulphur dioxide. The strategy sets out a strategic
framework within which air quality policies will be taken forward in the short
to medium term, and sets objectives to be met by 2005 for the air pollutants
covered. The Strategy was subsequently reviewed, and a revised Air
Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was
published in January 2000. Air Quality Strategy objectives are discussed in the subsequent sections of this report which
deal with the individual pollutants. Following a recent consultation
process on the revised Air Quality Strategy, it was announced by Defra,
the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly in 2002
that the AQS objectives for carbon monoxide and benzene are to be brought into
line with those set by the 2nd Daughter Directive. In addition,
further PM10 objectives have been set for 2010 and for the first
time, an objective for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been added.
These new Air Quality Strategy objectives at present only apply to England, Scotland
and Wales. No policy decision has yet been taken on
the inclusion of these objectives for Northern Ireland in the revised Air
Quality Strategy addendum. Therefore, this report compares monitoring results
only with the objectives currently applicable in Northern Ireland, except in
the case of PAHs. LOCAL AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT Under the Environment Act 1995, Local Authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are required to carry out a Review and Assessment of their local air quality. The process involves a three stage phased approach. Stage 1 is an initial screening of industrial, transport and other sources, such as domestic emissions, which have a significant impact within the local authority area and the identification of pollutants of concern locally. Every Authority must carry out Stage 1. If this indicates a possible exceedence of any Air Quality objective, the Authority should proceed to Stage 2. Stage 2 is a more detailed screening assessment of all the pollutants identified as significant locally in the first stage; if this indicates that relevant objectives may not be met, it will be necessary to proceed to Stage 3. Stage 3 is an accurate detailed review of pollutants, using monitoring and computer modelling techniques to predict the likelihood of exceeding the AQS objectives. An Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) must be declared after this stage if the review establishes that AQS objectives are likely to be exceeded after the relevant target date. At the time of writing, almost all
Local Authorities in England, Wales and Scotland have completed this process.
The Review and Assessment process in Northern Ireland was to be given a
statutory basis by the Local Air Quality Management Bill. This Bill was
introduced in the Northern Ireland Assembly in June and was at Committee Stage
in the legislative process when suspension of the Assembly occurred on 13
October. The provisions of the Bill are now contained in the draft Environment
(Northern Ireland) Order, expected to receive Royal Assent by March 2003. In
advance of the introduction of the legislative framework, District Councils in
Northern Ireland have voluntarily completed Stage 1 reviews and assessments. During 2000 and 2001, District Councils in Northern Ireland continued their own routine monitoring, and in many cases contributed to national networks including the Automatic Urban Network, the Nitrogen Dioxide Network and Smoke and Sulphur Dioxide Network. Information on these monitoring networks can be found on the Air Quality Archive, at www.airquality.co.uk . The year 2000 saw the conclusion of a twelve-month investigation of ambient concentrations of heavy metals around industrial emission sources1. Concentrations of the metals lead, cadmium, arsenic, nickel and mercury in the particulate phase were monitored at three sites near industrial emission sources over a twelve-month period, December 1999 to November 2000. The sites were located at Campsey, Whitehead and Belfast Harbour. A second monitoring site for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was set up in 2000 at Clara Street, Belfast. Together with the existing site at Lisburn, these two sites contribute data to the Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPS) network. |