This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Air quality survey update
05/04/2006
The strategy designed to cut air pollutants which can adversely affect human health is to be reviewed across the UK.
The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland review focuses on the effectiveness to date of the policies contained in the current strategy, and presents a new approach which aims to reduce exposure to pollutants which have no safe exposure level across the whole population rather than concentrating on hotspots.
Launching the consultation paper, Deputy Environment Minister Rhona Brankin said:
"A great deal of progress has been achieved in reducing air pollution, with a range of policies delivering significant improvements in air quality over recent years.
"However in some parts of Scotland we still exceed some air quality objectives and legally binding EU limits. Air pollution continues to remain a major threat to public health and the environment, and it is clear that we must do more.
"The proposals published today underline our determination to make further progress in tackling air pollution and improving the quality of life for people of Scotland."
The Air Quality Strategy was last reviewed in 2001-02 and this resulted in tougher objectives for benzene, carbon monoxide and particles, and a new objective for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
The UK Government and devolved administrations' Interdepartmental Groups on air quality (IDG) and costs and benefits (IGCB) have comprehensively evaluated the costs, benefits and other impacts of existing and already agreed policy measures to improve air quality.
They have also assessed potential new policy measures, both regulatory and non-regulatory, that could be deployed at local, national, UK and European level to generate further cost effective benefits and move us closer to our air quality objectives.
The measures predicted to generate the most significant benefits have been subject to more detailed work and been put forward for consideration as part of this review. These measures are not expected to have a negative impact on UK competitiveness.
Exposure reduction has been shown to be more cost effective than the current objectives in generating public health improvements. It has also recently been proposed by the European Commission in new EU legislation on air quality.
However, the consultation document also proposes to retain existing objectives alongside exposure reduction to ensure hotspots are still adequately addressed, in line with the principles of social and environmental justice. The consultation invites views on a range of options for both approaches.
The consultation will run for 12 weeks and the aim is to publish a revised Strategy by the end of 2006.