Air & Environment Quality Division, Defra

Defra Air Quality Update

Sarah Dudgeon & Janet Dixon

Air & Environment Quality Division, Defra

Latest developments

• Europe:• New Directive on ambient air quality• Monitoring Network reorganisation

• National:• Air Quality Strategy

• Local:• Air quality performance indicator• Local air quality management• Air quality grant• Air Quality Information Archive

Europe

• New directive on ambient air quality

• Second reading by European Parliament

• Extended compliance deadlines for EU limit values

• Regulation of PM2.5

• Implementation date – likely April 2010

Europe: limit values

• UK breached EU ambient air quality limit values for sulphur dioxide and particulate matter in 2005 and 2006.

SO2• Breaches concerned a brickworks in Bedfordshire. Environment Agency, as

regulator, is managing the situation.

PM • Meeting limit values for PM is a more general challenge associated with many

sources, including traffic in urban areas.

• Majority of member states struggle to meet EU limit values for PM. Recognised in new AQ directive, under negotiation - will almost certainly provide for possibility of more time to comply with EU limit values for PM.

Europe: MonitoringNew AQ Directive proposal

Indications of where limit values must be assessed• Not in any locations within areas where members of

the public do not have access and there is no fixed habitation

• Not on the carriageway of roads or on central reservations except where normally pedestrian access to central reservation

Macro & micro-scale siting criteria also apply to modelling

PM2.5:• new target value = 25 µgm-3; from 1 January 2010; • new limit value = 25 µgm-3; 1 January 2015 onwards

• non-mandatory Exposure Reduction Target at urban background of 20% on 2010 concentrations by 2020

• Reference concentrations – 3 year average of 2008-2010 & 2018-2020

• Urban background monitoring where > 100,000 population• Monitoring in place from 1 January 2008

Europe: MonitoringNew AQ Directive proposal

Other pollutants:• 0.5-2:1 ratio of urban background to traffic sites

(NO2, PM, CO, benzene)• 0.5-2:1 ratio of PM10 to PM2.5

• Requirement to monitor SO4, NO3, Na, K, NH4, Ca, Cl, Mg, EC/OC at rural background

Europe: MonitoringNew AQ Directive proposal

Europe: MonitoringUK Context – potential new Network requirements

Pollutant Current No. of sites (traffic)

Min Required by new Directive

(traffic)

70 (64 TEOM;

7 Grav;

11 traffic)

PM2.5 4 (1)

115

(min 47 PM2.5; min 39 traffic; min 39 PM10)

77 (22)

83 (27)

6 (2)

28

39 (13)

96 (23)

79 (10)

76

39 (10)

PM10

NO2

CO

SO2

Benzene

Revised Automatic Urban and Rural Network (traffic)

65

(24)

120 (36)

26 (5)

45

41 (16)

Europe: MonitoringUK Implementation of PM requirements

PM2.5 PM10 Total

Agg – Urban background

38 22

9

14

15

5

65

60

Agg – traffic 8 17

Zone – urban background

14 28

Zone – traffic 14 29

Zone – rural 3 8

Total 77 142

PM2.5:PM10 ratio 1.2:1

UB: traffic ratio 1.9:1

65

77

Europe: MonitoringUK Implementation of PM requirements

NO2 PM10

Europe: MonitoringUK Implementation of PM requirements

SO2 CO

Europe: Monitoring4th Daughter Directive

• PAHs, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel• target values for PAHs (as B[a]P 1 ng/m3), Arsenic (6

ng/m3), Cadmium (5 ng/m3), and Nickel (20 ng/m3)• PAHs - replaced all 24 of the current samplers with the

reference or equivalent method and requires 10 new sites• Heavy metals - 17 current sites – relocating some existing

sites and require 11 new sites• Deposition monitoring – heavy metals and PAH at

Auchencorth Moss and Harwell

National: Air Quality Strategy

• Published July 2007

• New objectives

• PM2.5

• Ozone

• New measures for consideration as soon as possible

• Incentives for early uptake of new European vehicle emissions standards

• Increased uptake of low emission vehicles

• Reduced emissions from shipping

Local: Performance Indicator

• Air quality performance indicator

• New Performance Framework published on 11 October -www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/nationalindicator

• Each local authority will report against a set of 198 indicators

• Local Area Agreements

• NI 194 Level of air quality – reduction in NOx and PM10

emissions through local authority’s estate and operations

Local: Performance Indicator

Emissions tool

• Calculates emissions of CO2, NOx and PM10

• CLG consultation on the technical operation of the indicators

• Emissions tool available via www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/index.htm

Local: Local Air Quality Management (LAQM)

• LAQM guidance under revision before 4th round of review and assessment

• Consultation aimed for 2008

• Evaluations of last round of LAQM process and support available at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/local/eval/index.htm

• Approx 189 English authorities declared AQMAs

• AQMA by pollutant:

• LA Action Plans received: draft c. 157

final c. 100

NO2 181

PM10 64

SO2 12

Benzene 1

Local: LAQM

Local: LAQM

Support provided to authoritiesReview and assessment appraisal

Updating and Screening Assessment; Detailed Assessment; Progress Reports

Tel: 0117 328 3668Email: [email protected]: www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/review

Action Plan appraisal

Action Plans Tel: 0870 190 6050Email: [email protected]: www.airquality.co.uk/archive/actionplan.php

LAQM support Monitoring, modelling and emissions

Tel: 0870 190 6050Email: [email protected]: www.laqmsupport.org.uk

Defra support Guidance and FAQs www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/local/index.htm

Local: AQ grant

• Local authorities informed of grant allocations

• Payments, where applicable, being made

• Allocation of £2.4m – bids asked for total of £6.6m

• Bids assessed against priority criteria, as stated in invitation for applications (LAs with air quality management areas targeting key pollutants)

• Any grant offered does not have to be spent in the current financial year

Local: Local Transport Plans (LTPs)

• Final LTPs received in December 2006

• All 82 plans appraised for air quality aspects

• LTP authorities with transport related air quality management areas provide progress reports to Defra as part of LAQM process.

• LTP guidance for 2008 progress reporting

Air Quality Information Archive changes

AQ Info Archive: UK Site Information Archive

http://www.bv-aurnsiteinfo.co.uk/

• based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Google MapsTM

• allow the user to zoom at street level

• maps or high-resolution satellite images of the surrounding area

• select monitoring stations by type; pollutant measured; geographical area.

• closed and active sites