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PART IV THE ENVIRONMENT ACT 1995 - LOCAL AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT - DRAFT REVISED POLICY GUIDANCE

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 This guidance is designed to help local authorities with their local air quality management duties under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. It sets out:

• the statutory background and the legislative framework within which local authorities have to work;

• the new principles behind reviews and assessments of air quality up to 2010 and the recommended steps that local authorities should take;

• how local authorities should handle the designation of air quality management areas and the drawing up and implementation of action plans;

• suggestions for taking forward the development of local air quality strategies;

• suggestions on how local authorities should consult and liase with others;

• the role of transport-related measures in improving air quality: and

• the general principles behind air quality and land use planning.

This guidance replaces the set of four policy guidance documents published in March 2000 ¹.

1.2 The Scottish Executive recommends that this policy guidance should be made available to all local authority departments. The chapters covering transport and land use planning are relevant for those working in the environmental health, planning, economic development and transport planning departments. The guidance on air quality and land use planning, in particular, should be read in conjunction with Planning Advice Note (PAN) 51: Planning and Environmental Protection, and may be material in preparing development plans and in determining planning applications. The guidance may also be of value to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), businesses and the public.

1.3 Neither this guidance, nor the revised technical guidance LAQM.TG (02), is meant to restrict the non-statutory work of local authorities. For example, the Scottish Executive is keen that authorities should consider developing local air quality strategies. The Scottish Executive recommends that all authorities, particularly those that have not had to or do not need to designate an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in future but have areas close to the exceedence levels, should consider drawing up a local air quality strategy. For further guidance on local air quality strategies, see Chapter 5.

Statutory background

1.4 This guidance is issued by the Scottish Executive under section 88(1) of the Environment Act 1995 ('the 1995 Act'). It replaces the guidance previously issued as LAQM.G1, G2, G3 and G4(S)(00). Under section 88(2) of the 1995 Act, local authorities are required to have regard to this guidance when carrying out any of their duties under or by virtue of Part IV of the Act.

1.5 This guidance sets out the legislative framework to the system of local air quality management (LAQM). LAQM is an integral part of delivering the objectives set out in the Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, ("the Air Quality Strategy") published in January 2000, the Air Quality (Scotland) Regulations 2000 and the Air Quality (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002 ². Local authorities should read this guidance together with the revised technical guidance, LAQM.TG(02). The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Welsh Assembly Government are issuing their own LAQM policy guidance to cover England and Wales, as is DOE Northern Ireland.

1.6 The 1995 Act provides a framework for LAQM. The provisions in Part IV of the Act are largely enabling and give local authorities the flexibility to take forward local policies to suit local needs. Circumstances will determine the content of local air quality strategies, the designation of AQMAs and the content of action plans.

1.7 Scottish Ministers have reserve powers under section 85 of the 1995 Act to require local authorities in Scotland to take action where they are failing to make sufficient progress. Scottish Ministers may issue directions to local authorities requiring them to take any of the following steps:-

• Carry out an air quality review and assessment under section 82 of the 1995 Act;

• Re-do an air quality review and assessment in whole or in part;

• Make an order designating an AQMA;

• Revoke/modify any order;

• Prepare an action plan;

• Modify any action plan; and

• Implement any actions in an action plan.

1.8 Scottish Ministers do not wish to put such powers into effect, and they will only be used where local authorities are manifestly failing to carry out their LAQM duties.

Resources

1.9 Since 1997/98, resources have been made available in the local government finance settlement to help local authorities with their duties under the 1995 Act. This provision is not ring-fenced however and decisions on expenditure are entirely a matter for local authorities, in the light of their statutory duties and local circumstances. The amount of provision made available to each local authority varies depending on factors such as the population and the total area of the authority.

1.10 In addition to the local government finance settlement, the Scottish Executive continues to make available each year specific capital consent to help authorities meet the capital costs of purchasing new monitoring equipment and modelling. The criteria for allocating these resources are determined on a yearly basis. Priority is currently given to those authorities that have or are drawing up action plans.

Air quality and health

1.11 The main reason for tackling poor air quality is the link to quality of life and the need to minimise the risk to human health. We now have a better understanding of the short-term and the long-term health effects of air pollution largely due to the work undertaken by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP).

1.12 Short term increases in particles, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide are associated with increased deaths brought forward and increased respiratory or cardiovascular hospital admissions amongst the elderly and those who are already ill. These pollutants can also worsen the symptoms of those with asthma. COMEAP has recently reported that long term exposure to particles is associated with reduced life expectancy. Carbon monoxide can increase symptoms in those with heart disease, and lead can have adverse effects on the blood, the nervous system and the kidneys, and can also affect brain development in children. Benzene and 1,3-butadiene are both carcinogenic.

Links to climate change

1.13 The UK Government's and devolved administrations' strategic approach to tackling climate change is set out in the UK Climate Change Programme, published in November 2000. In addition, the Scottish Executive published the Scottish Climate Change Programme in November 2000. Both programmes focus on practical action to reduce emissions over the next decade and deliver the UK Kyoto commitment. They also explicitly recognise the contribution that local authorities can make towards cutting emissions.

1.14 Policies to improve air quality cannot be considered in isolation from those designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The former can often have added benefits for the latter, and vice versa. For example, policies designed to reduce the impact that transport has on air quality by tackling congestion and encouraging a shift to public transport, walking and cycling should also reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Measures to improve energy efficiency and cut energy demand should also reduce levels of air pollutants produced during electricity generation.

1.15 The Scottish Executive therefore expects local authorities to consider the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of the measures they propose to implement in their air quality action plans and in any local air quality strategies. Authorities might also wish to consider including policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their local air quality strategies.

1.16 The Scottish Executive expects local authorities to take an integrated approach to dealing with environmental issues such as climate change and air quality. For example, it may be possible to use data gathered during reviews and assessments to provide information on greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. Emissions inventories could be especially useful for this, and further information can be found in the technical guidance.

1.17 Such information will be of use in assessing the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of air quality action plans and local air quality strategies. It will also be useful for assessing the impact of other policy areas, such as land use planning, transport planning and community strategies. The Scottish Executive therefore encourages local authorities to make use of air quality information gathered within these other policy areas.

1.18 Local authorities can find out more about what their authority can do to respond to the challenge of climate change in Community leadership and climate change in Scotland: Guidance for Chief Executives of local authorities. This can be found on the Executive's website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/climatechange

Air quality objectives and standards

1.19 The air quality objectives set out in the Air Quality Regulations provide the statutory basis for the system of LAQM.

Table 1: Objectives ¹ included in the Air Quality Regulations 2002 for the purpose of Local Air Quality Management

1. Only exceptions are ozone and the objectives for protecting vegetation and ecosystems and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are not included in the Regulations for purposes of LAQM

2. The objectives for nitrogen dioxide are provisional

3. Measured using the European gravimetric transfer standard or equivalent.

1.20 The air quality standards set out in the Air Quality Strategy are based purely on medical evidence of the effects of particular pollutants on health. They represent minimum or no significant risk levels. They are not based on a costs and benefits assessment or on technical feasibility, but on the advice of the Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards (EPAQS).

1.21 The air quality objectives in the Strategy, on the other hand, represent the UK Government's and the devolved administrations' medium term policy intentions. They are based on the recommended standards, and take account of costs and benefits, along with the feasibility of moving towards those standards. Air quality objectives therefore provide a framework for determining the extent to which policies should aim to improve air quality. They also provide a measure for each of the pollutants of concern against which future progress can be judged.

1.22 The most significant judgement local authorities have to make is whether the air quality objectives are likely to be achieved in their area by the relevant deadline. Where objectives are likely to be met, a local authority will not have to designate an AQMA. Where, in the local authority's judgement, they are not likely to be achieved in any relevant locations, the authority must designate those areas as AQMAs.

Relationship between the LAQM system and the EU Air Quality Framework and Daughter Directives

1.23 The EU's Air Quality Framework and Daughter Directives prescribe limit values for certain pollutants which all member states must meet. These limit values are derived from World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline values (equivalent in concept to the UK standards). The LAQM system has a key role to play in helping the UK to meet its objectives under these Directives.

The limit values for the protection of human health are as follows:

* the "stage 2" particles limit values for 2010 are indicative limit values, to be reviewed in 2004.

# in respect of ozone, the values are target values (to be achieved where practicable and where the costs of doing so do not outweigh the benefits) rather than binding limit values.

1.24 The UK Government and devolved administrations will closely monitor progress towards these limit values, and will keep under review the need for further action. Under the First Daughter Directive the UK is required to submit to the European Commission:

• By the end of 2002, a list of those parts of the country which currently exceed the limit values plus a "margin of tolerance"; and

• By September 2003, an action plan for any area identified above, setting out what national and other measures are already in place, or will be put in place, to achieve the limit values.

1.25 There are similar requirements under the other Daughter Directives, albeit with longer timescales. As part of its national action plan under the First Air Quality Daughter Directive, the UK intends to notify the Commission of all of the local air quality action plans that are in place by September 2003. In due course, where any exceedences of the limit values are forecast, the UK Government and the devolved administrations will need to work closely with the relevant local authorities to identify any further measures that might be put in place.

Role of local authorities

Reviews and assessments of air quality

1.26 For the purposes of this guidance, review of air quality means consideration of the levels of pollutants in the air for which objectives are prescribed in regulations, and estimation of likely future levels. Assessment of air quality is the consideration of whether estimated levels for the relevant future period are likely to exceed the levels set in the objectives.

1.27 A review and assessment of air quality is the first and most important step in the LAQM process. Part IV of the 1995 Act requires each local authority ³ to review air quality "from time to time". The Air Quality (Scotland) Regulations 2000 and the Air Quality (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002 prescribe air quality objectives and the dates for meeting them. For each objective, local authorities have to consider present and likely future air quality, and assess whether the objectives are likely to be achieved by the prescribed dates. Local authorities should note that they also have a duty to continue to work towards meeting the air quality objectives beyond the deadlines set out in the regulations. An objective, for example, which is due to be met by 2005 must also be met in every subsequent year.

1.28 Local authorities have already completed their first round of reviews and assessments (guidance on handling the designation of AQMAs is in Chapter 2). This first round should act as a benchmark against which local authorities can measure their future progress in making improvements to air quality in their areas. Three Scottish authorities - Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow - have to date designated AQMAs. All three are city centre locations and are based on transport-related NO ₂ emissions.

Role of regional groupings

1.29 Under section 56 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, two or more local authorities can act jointly to manage air quality. For example, authorities can co-operate to carry out review and assessment across their combined areas. Subsequently they can declare a single AQMA made up from neighbouring areas of each authority and prepare a joint action plan. Where joint AQMAs are designated however, it may be appropriate for each participating authority to lay its own designation order. Authorities can also choose to carry out separate reviews and assessments but declare a joint AQMA. SEPA, with the agreement of the Scottish Ministers, may use the reserve powers in section 85 of the 1995 Act where co-operation between local authorities is essential for the purposes of LAQM but for whatever reason cannot be achieved.

1.30 The Scottish Executive also attaches great value to the local pollution liaison groups. These groups play a vital role by allowing environmental health officers across authorities to work closely together, and share resources and best practice. The Scottish Pollution Control Co-ordinating Committee (SPCCC) is similarly important in acting as a national focus for the regional groupings.

Second round of reviews and assessments

1.31 In September 2001, DEFRA and the devolved administrations commissioned a detailed evaluation of the first round of air quality reviews and assessments by local authorities under Part IV of the 1995 Act. The evaluation was undertaken by Air Quality Consultants Ltd and the University of the West of England, its main aim being to look at what worked well and what could be usefully improved in order to help shape the next round of reviews and assessments.

1.32 The evaluation report, published in March 2002, set out the main thoughts and suggestions on the first round of air quality reviews and assessments, and led to 32 recommendations for future rounds. The report is available on the Review and Assessment helpdesk web site (see Table 2 below).

1.33 One of the key recommendations suggested that the next round should be carried out in two steps:

• an Updating and Screening Assessment based on a checklist to identify those matters that have changed since the first round of reviews and assessments, including by way of lessons learnt from the first round, and may require further assessment (this step is not intended to be onerous); and

• a Detailed Assessment of those pollutants and/or locations that have been identified as requiring further work.

1.34 The Scottish Executive, DEFRA and the other devolved administrations have accepted that the next round, and subsequent rounds of reviews and assessments up to 2010, should be carried out in two steps as indicated above. Local authorities are advised to follow the guidance on the recommended phased approach to the review and assessment process set out in LAQM.TG(02).

1.35 The Detailed Assessment should conclude by identifying:

• Whether an existing AQMA needs to be amended/revoked (this will apply more in future Detailed Assessments);

• Whether any further AQMAs need to be designated within the local authority area (away from any existing AQMAs); or

• That there is no need to designate any AQMAs.

1.36 Those authorities that are undertaking a further assessment within an AQMA (Stage 4) as a result of the first round of reviews and assessments at the same time as undertaking the second round will use the further assessment (Stage 4) results to determine whether an existing AQMA needs amending/revoking.

1.37 Local authorities are expected to submit their Updating and Screening Assessments to the Scottish Executive and to other statutory consultees ⁴ (see Table 3) by the end of April 2003. The Scottish Executive does not believe local authorities will need to consult widely on these Updating and Screening Assessments. This should mean that there will be no need for a full public consultation but authorities will wish to make the results available to the public.

1.38 Where the Scottish Executive and/or SEPA indicates that the conclusions to proceed or not to proceed to a Detailed Assessment are not accepted, the authority should provide written comments justifying their decision within a specified deadline set out in the appraisal letter. This will be a short deadline in keeping with the need to complete the first step as rapidly as possible.

1.39 Those authorities that have to proceed to a Detailed Assessment are expected to submit their report to the Scottish Executive (as well as to other statutory consultees) for appraisal by the end of April 2004 (see Table 3 below). Local authorities will generally wish to consult the public more fully at this stage. Where the Scottish Executive's appraisal of the Detailed Assessment has indicated that the findings are not accepted (i.e. that the proposed declaration of an AQMA or proposed adjustments to an existing AQMA is/are unjustified or no declaration is proposed when there appears to be a case for one), the authority should take the comments into account and carry out the following:

• Send any further comments in writing to the Scottish Executive responding to the points made in the appraisal; and

• Where necessary, revise relevant parts of the Detailed Assessment and resubmit the document to the Scottish Executive within three months of the original submission.

1.40 The authority may wish to seek clarification on the findings of the appraisal and should in the first instance contact the Review and Assessment Helpdesk for further help. The Review and Assessment Helpdesk will always be happy to discuss the details of individual cases and to provide advice on responding to any points raised in the appraisal.

Helpdesks

1.41 DEFRA and the devolved administrations have continued to fund a number of helpdesks that provide technical guidance on monitoring, modeling, and emissions. The Review and Assessment helpdesk also provides general advice on all aspects of the review and assessment process. All the helpdesks' websites contain useful advice, as well as lists of frequently asked questions and answers. Local authorities are strongly recommended to make full use of the helpdesks to help them with the second and subsequent rounds of air quality reviews and assessments.

Table 2: Helpdesks for Local Authorities

Reviews and assessments beyond 2003/04

1.42 The Scottish Executive, DEFRA and the other devolved administrations expect that local authorities should undertake reviews and assessments of air quality every three years. This means that all local authorities in Scotland will have to undertake an Updating and Screening Assessment during the first three months of 2006 and 2009 (see LAQM.TG (02)). Those authorities that need to carry out a Detailed Assessment will have to submit their more detailed review and assessment reports by the end of April 2007 and 2010 (see Table 3 for timescales).

Review and assessment progress reports

1.43 The evaluation of the first round of reviews and assessments recommended that DEFRA and the devolved administrations should request local authorities to produce regular air quality progress reports. The Scottish Executive accepts this recommendation and considers that such progress reports would help to ensure continuity in the LAQM process.

1.44 The Scottish Executive therefore recommends that local authorities should produce simple progress reports in between the next rounds of reviews and assessments. Authorities are expected to submit progress reports by the end of April 2005 and 2008, and also by the end of April 2004, 2007 and 2010 for those authorities not proceeding to a Detailed Assessment.

1.45 The format of the review and assessment progress report is likely to mirror the Updating and Screening assessment. When submitting the progress report, local authorities will be expected to report validated monitoring data over the previous calendar year. Further details on the progress reports will be provided via the helpdesks by the middle of 2003.

1.46 For local authorities, these progress reports will:

• make the three-yearly assessment work easier;

• provide regular and useful indicators for local authority benchmarking, quality of life or sustainability indicators (or equivalent);

• help maintain the profile of air quality within the local authority;

• provide information that can be used for planning and transport purposes; and

• help towards satisfying, or perhaps for some local authorities justifying, expenditure on air quality modelling and monitoring.

1.47 For the Scottish Executive, the reports will provide a valuable indication of:

• progress towards meeting the air quality objectives;

• the extent to which any air quality action plan is delivering improvements in air quality; and

• the impacts of any new road schemes or other developments

1.48 At any time during the review and assessment progress reporting years, if a local authority identifies a risk of exceedences, then that authority should proceed to carrying out a Detailed Assessment. Local authorities in this situation should not delay until the next full round of reviews and assessments.

Timescales for key stages of the LAQM process

1.49 LAQM is central to helping the UK Government and the devolved administrations achieve the objectives in the Air Quality Strategy, many of which reflect the legally binding EU limit values. Local authorities therefore have a crucial role to play in delivering cleaner air and must make every effort to carry out their LAQM duties according to the recommended timescales in Table 3.

Table 3: Recommended timescales for submission of reviews and assessments and annual progress reports

* see also paragraphs 1.48 and 1.51

Designation of AQMAs

1.50 Local authorities have to designate as AQMAs those parts of their areas where the prescribed air quality objectives are not likely to be met by, or at any point beyond, the relevant deadline. Under section 83(1) of the 1995 Act, local authorities have to designate these AQMAs by means of an order (see chapter 2 for further details).

1.51 At any time throughout the LAQM process, where it does become apparent to local authorities through collecting monitoring data that there are likely to be exceedences in any part of their area, they should submit the monitoring data and proposals for designating any AQMAs to the Scottish Executive, SEPA and other statutory consultees as appropriate. They do not have to await subsequent rounds of reviews and assessments before designating an AQMA.

1.52 Local authorities should aim to designate their AQMAs as soon as possible after they have formally identified the need for them. In practice, authorities should aim to make the necessary orders within four months following recognition/approval from the Scottish Executive that an AQMA is needed.

Further assessments of air quality within AQMAs

1.53 Section 84(1) of the 1995 Act requires local authorities to carry out a further assessment of existing and likely future air quality in an AQMA (referred to as a 'Stage 4' assessment in the first round of the process). This further assessment is intended to supplement information the authority already has. For more details on these further assessments see chapter 2.

Air quality action plans

1.54 Where local authorities have designated any AQMAs, they have a duty under section 84(2) of the 1995 Act to produce an action plan. This plan must set out what measures the authority intends to introduce in pursuit of the air quality objectives. It should also include timescales to indicate by when the measures will be implemented. Local authorities are not obliged to meet the objectives but they must demonstrate that they are taking all reasonable steps in working towards them. Further information and guidance on the preparation and implementation of action plans can be found in chapter 3.

1.55 The 1995 Act does not prescribe any timescale for preparing an action plan but the Scottish Executive expects them to be completed within 12-18 months following the designation of any AQMAs.

1.56 Local authorities should note the new obligation to submit an annual progress report following completion of the action plan.

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