EU air quality policies
Poor outdoor air quality can be a contributing factor to health problems as well as damaging ecosystems, biodiversity and valued habitats. The adverse health effects from short and long-term exposure to air pollution range from premature deaths caused by heart and lung disease to worsening of asthmatic conditions, which often leads to a reduced quality of life and increased costs of hospital admissions. Despite improvements over recent decades, air pollution is still expected to reduce life expectancy of every person in the UK by an average of six months with an estimated annual cost to society of up to £19 billion.
Road transport is the main pollution source. Other important sources of air pollutants include large combustion plants, non-road transport, agriculture and domestic heating (including biomass). There are also clear links between air pollutants and the sources of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
Legislation
Action to manage and improve air quality is largely driven by EU legislation. The 2008 ambient air quality directive (2008/50/EC) sets legally binding limits for concentrations in outdoor air of major air pollutants that impact public health such as particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). As well as having direct effects, these pollutants can combine in the atmosphere to form ozone, a harmful air pollutant (and potent greenhouse gas) which can be transported great distances by weather systems.
The 2008 directive replaced nearly all the previous EU air quality legislation and was made law in England through the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010, which also incorporates the 4th air quality daughter directive (2004/107/EC) that sets targets for levels in outdoor air of certain toxic heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Equivalent regulations exist in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Air quality assessment
The UK monitors and models air quality to assess compliance with the air quality limit and target values set out in the EU legislation above. The results of the assessment are reported to the commission on an annual basis.
Further information on the UK’s air quality assessments:
Air quality monitoring is also carried out by local authorities to meet local air quality management objectives.
Management of air quality
The UK is divided into 43 zones and agglomerations for the purposes of assessing compliance with EU air quality limits. The UK meets these limits for most air pollutants. In London and other major urban centres where some of the limits are not currently met in full the government is committed to working towards full compliance as soon as possible. Where compliance is not achieved, the UK is required to produce air quality action plans detailing the measures that will achieve compliance, and submit those plans to the European Commission on an annual basis.
- Zones and agglomerations (PDF 280 KB)
- Most recent action plans for the UK and other EU member states
The air quality directive contains provisions for additional time to meet limit values for particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which the UK, like most other member states is or will be seeking to use.
Particulate matter (PM10)
PM10 limits are currently met except for very small areas of London. In May 2010, the UK sent a Notification to the European Commission outlining the further actions being taken to meet the PM10 limits in London by June 2011, the extended compliance deadline. On 11 March 2011, the European Commission published a Decision accepting the UK’s Notification and granting additional time until June 2011 to comply with the PM10 limits in London. However, in light of the narrow margin for projected compliance, this acceptance was conditional on adjusting the air quality plan for London by 11 June 2011 to include short-term measures to reduce the risk of the limit value being exceeded.
The UK Government, with input from the Mayor of London has completed this update for the Commission, which details the local measures that are being taken in London to reduce the risk of non-compliance with the PM10 daily limit value that were not included in the May 2010 Update. The update covers measures in the Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy, which was published in December 2010, and local measures that will now be extended using the Clean Air Fund. This was announced in April 2011 following a £5million grant from the UK Government. In July 2011, the European Commission confirmed that the London update had met the conditions set out in the Decision.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
Meeting EU air quality limits for NO2 close to roadsides in London and other major cities by the extended 2015 deadline is very challenging given the largest source of this pollutant is road transport. In June 2011, Defra published a consultation package that included 30 updated air quality plans for the achievement of the NO2 limits in England. Comments were invited on the extent to which these plans correctly represented the efforts underway at national, regional and local level to reduce pollution from road transport, industrial and domestic sources to meet the NO2 limits as soon as possible. The consultation closed in August 2011 and a summary of responses, including the Government response to the main issues raised in the consultation has now been published.
The 30 air quality plans for England were amended following consultation and, along with 10 plans covering Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, formed the basis of the UK notification to the Commission in September 2011 seeking, for those parts of the country where there is sufficient evidence, to postpone until 2015 the compliance date for the NO2 limit values, as permitted under Article 22 of the air quality directive 2008/50/EC. Plans for zones where full compliance is currently expected after 2015 were also submitted to the Commission under Article 23 of the directive on the basis that they set out actions to keep the exceedences period as short as possible.
The 40 plans, forms and associated documents that were submitted to the Commission as part of the UK notification are now available on the UK Air website. The Commission has nine months to assess the plans and raise any objections on particular points. The Commission will then publish Decisions outlining the outcome of their assessment for each zone. If they are satisfied that the plan for any particular zone demonstrates expected compliance by 2015, the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 will be amended to reflect the postponed compliance date. The efforts underway at a national level include consideration of a national Low Emission Zone (LEZ) framework as a potential means of encouraging uptake of cleaner vehicles. An initial Impact Assessment has been prepared as part of this work, which is continuing.
Review of EU air quality policy
In early 2011, the European Commission began a review of EU air quality policy which will culminate with the publication of new proposals on ambient air quality and emissions ceilings in 2013. On 30 June 2011, the Commission launched a public consultation inviting views on the best way to improve the EU’s air quality legislation. The consultation closed in October 2011.
Indoor air quality
Defra is not responsible for policies on indoor air quality. For more information on indoor air quality related matters please contact the Health Protection Agency (HPA).