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Defra submits UK application to the European Commission for an extension to meet PM10 air quality limits

   

INFORMATION BULLETIN

Ref: 92/09
Date: 24 April 2009

Defra has today submitted the UK’s application to the European Commission for an extension to meet air quality limit values for Particulate Matter (PM10) in a small  number of parts of the UK.

PM10 is made up of very small particles of soot and dust in the air, less than 10 micrometers in diameter (human hair ranges from 17-180 micrometers in diameter). The sources of these small particles are wide ranging and include transport, industrial plants, construction, and extremely small particles carried on the wind from neighbouring countries. There is also a small amount from natural sources, such as dust blown from Africa or sea salt.

The European Union Air Quality Directive stipulates levels of PM10  should not exceed a daily level of 50 microgrammes per cubic metre more than 35 times a year or an annual average of 40 microgrammes per cubic metre. 
In 2007, 24 out of 27 European Union member states reported breaches of the limits and they will also need to apply to the European Commission for the additional time available under the new ambient air quality directive. 

Under EU legislation, the UK is divided into zones and agglomerations (areas with populations of more than 250,000) and annual compliance reports are submitted on this basis.
Levels of PM10 have been falling across the UK. However, in small parts of eight administrative areas, breaches of the PM10 limit values have been reported to the European Commission since they came into force in 2005 and so additional time to meet the required limits is needed. These administrative areas are:

  • Greater London urban area;
  • West Midlands urban area;
  • West Yorkshire urban area;
  • Glasgow urban area;
  • Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton;
  • Swansea urban area;
  • Eastern England zone; and
  • Yorkshire and Humberside zone.

The extension would enable current and planned measures to take effect to reduce PM10  levels to within the EU limits by the extended deadline of 2011. Of particular importance in delivering improvements are the EU vehicle emission standards and other traffic related measures, such as encouraging lower emission vehicles, and regional or local measures promoting greater use of public transport and smoother traffic flows.  The commitment in this week’s budget announcement to introduce measures to incentivise uptake of HGV’s and buses that meet the latest EU vehicle emission standards will also deliver valuable improvements.

The application follows a public consultation on the content of the UK’s application for an extension that closed on 10 March.  A summary of responses to that was published by Defra on 8 April.

The application comprises a series of detailed forms and a Technical Report, which are available at:

The Commission has 9 months to assess the application.

 

End

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Page published: 23 April 2009