Consultation on UK report regarding plans to meet EU air quality limit values
DEFRA has issued a consultation requesting comments from interested parties on the UK Government and Devolved Administrations’ draft report to the European Commission on plans and programmes to meet EU ambient air quality limit values (for the 2005 reporting year).
Under the Air Quality Framework Directive (1996/62/EC), where limit values are exceeded, a member state must produce plans and programmes to ensure compliance within the required timescale. Plans and programmes must be submitted to the European Commission no later than two years after the end of the year during which the exceedences were observed.
The consultation document concerns exceedences of EU limit values, plus margins of tolerance where applicable, for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter in certain zones and agglomerations of the UK in the calendar year 2005. The relevant limit values for these pollutants are established by the First Air Quality Daughter Directive (1999/30/EC).
The plans and programmes included in the report represent existing Government polices for meeting the relevant EU air quality limit values. The plans are drawn in particular from the recently revised UK Air Quality Strategy.
The comments received during the consultation will be considered in finalising the report for submission to the European Commission by the end of 2007. Responses should be received by 7 November 2007
Further information is available from:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/air-limitvalues2005/index.htm
Source: www.defra.gov.uk (accessed 03/09/07)