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PART IV THE ENVIRONMENT ACT 1995 - LOCAL AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT - DRAFT REVISED POLICY GUIDANCE
Chapter 3 Air Quality Action Plans
Background
3.1 Action planning is the most important part of the LAQM process, providing a practical opportunity for improving local air quality in areas where review and assessment shows that national measures will be insufficient to meet one or more of the air quality objectives. Action taken at the local level can often be the most cost-effective way of tackling localised air quality problems. Action plans will also play a key role in helping the UK Government and devolved administrations deliver the EU limit values for some pollutants.
3.2 An air quality action plan should include the following:
quantification of the source contributions to the predicted exceedences of the objectives: this will allow the action plan measures to be effectively targeted;
evidence that all available options have been considered on the grounds of cost and feasibility;
how the local authority will use its powers and also work together with others in pursuit of the relevant air quality objectives;
clear timescales within which the authority and other organisations propose to implement the measures contained in the plan;
quantification of the expected impacts of the proposed measures and, where possible, an indication as to whether these will be sufficient to meet the objectives; and
how the local authority intends to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the plan.
3.3 The 1995 Act does not prescribe any timescale for preparing action plans, but the Scottish Executive expects them to be completed within 12-18 months following the designation of any AQMAs.
3.4 Local authorities should be aware of the NSCA's guidance:
Air Quality Action Plans: Interim Guidance for Local Authorities and
Air Quality: Planning for Action, which set out practical guidance on drawing up an air quality action plan and a local air quality strategy. Copies are available from NSCA (tel: 01273 878770) or from
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/centre/aqaps/index.html
3.5 Local authorities should note the similarities in drawing up action plans with taking forward the development of local air quality strategies (see also chapter 5 on local air quality strategies).
Helpdesk
3.6 DEFRA and the devolved administrations are funding an Air Quality Action Plan Helpdesk operated by Casella Stanger (in association with Transport & Travel Research (TTR) to assist local authorities with their air quality action plans. The helpdesk can be contacted on 020 7902 6130 or by email:
actionplanhelp@stanger.co.uk Casella Stanger have also provided information on action plans on their web site at
http://www.stanger.co.uk/actionplan
How to make an action plan effective
Local authorities should take the following points into account:
3.7 The further assessment work within an AQMA should have helped to identify the main sources of the air pollution, such as road transport, industry, domestic sources, etc. The major contribution to areas of poor local air quality across Scotland (and the rest of the UK) to date has been from road transport. The further assessment should look at the main types of vehicles that are causing the problem e.g. HGVs, buses, taxis, cars.
3.8 Once the main sources of the pollution have been identified, the local authority should carefully assess the options/measures available to it to improve air quality. Authorities should ensure that the measures to be included in the plan are cost-effective and proportionate, taking into account the contribution of pollution from different sources. They should also make sure that the proposed approach strikes the right balance between the use of regulatory powers and non-regulatory measures (such as travel plans
, public information campaigns, 'walk to school' initiatives, etc.). Examples of local transport measures can be found in Chapter 6.
3.9 Local authorities should appraise and where possible quantify the wider environmental, economic and social consequences of each option. It is important that action plans do not unduly or unfairly penalise local residents/businesses. In many cases, measures authorities take to improve air quality will have a positive impact in other ways - for example, introducing a Clear Zone may improve air quality, reduce noise and benefit pedestrians. In other cases, there may be negative impacts associated with some air quality measures - re-routing traffic away from an AQMA, for example, might increase congestion and pollution elsewhere.
3.10 Equally importantly, local authorities should assess the cost effectiveness of each measure. The Scottish Executive does not expect authorities to carry out a full cost-effectiveness assessment, as this would be too onerous. The appraisal of cost-effectiveness should simply show that the authority has considered the costs of implementing various options before reaching a decision as to whether it is cost-effective to do so.
Corporate approach
3.11 The Scottish Executive recommends that LAQM should be dealt with in an interdisciplinary way within local authorities. Authorities need to ensure that the measures within the action plan enjoy the support of, and wherever possible are actively endorsed by, all parts of the council, not just the environmental health or pollution control team.
Set up a steering group
3.12 Local authorities will generally wish to set up a steering group to take forward the development of an action plan. The members of the steering group should include officers across the different local authority departments and may also include officers from different local authorities where a regional action plan is being drawn up. The steering group should engage support from other outside bodies, businesses and local community groups where appropriate to take the process forward.
3.13 The action plan needs to have the support of all the local authority departments in order for it to work effectively, including in particular:
transport planning;
land use planning;
environmental protection and energy management;
waste management;
economic development and tourism;
regeneration;
town centre management; and
corporate policy and resources.
3.14 Committee meetings or equivalent could be held across departments to discuss how the action plan can be taken into account in any Local Transport Strategy/ development plan/Local Community Plan/Agenda 21 strategy, etc. The Scottish Executive expects the Chief Executive's department to take a direct interest in, and/or to lend its support to the steering group.
3.15 A number of commercial models exist to help local authorities to develop integrated action plans. For details of these, local authorities should contact the relevant helpdesk.
Lead by example
3.16 Central to an air quality action plan should be an authority's own contribution to improving air quality. As major institutions and employers, as regulators and as service providers, local authorities have the opportunity to improve air quality through their own behaviour. In this way, they can prompt others to act positively in improving air quality.
Co-operation between local authorities
3.17 Air quality in AQMAs is likely to be influenced by factors beyond local authority boundaries, and action plans should reflect this. Local authorities must in any case consult neighbouring authorities on their action plans. In many cases, action plans will need to complement those of adjoining authorities, or other more distant authorities, due to the fact that some measures might have a knock-on effect elsewhere. Some local authorities in England have recognised this fact and have chosen to develop regional air quality action plans. The Scottish Executive welcomes this approach and recommends that local authorities should consider drawing up regional air quality action plans, where appropriate.
Engaging the public
3.18 Effective consultation/interaction with the general public is also extremely important. Local residents/community groups and businesses need to be involved from the start when the action plan is being drawn up. Local authorities need to explain fully why these measures have to be introduced, and look for innovative ways to engage stakeholders. The action plan will not work unless it has support from the local community. This also applies to development of a local air quality strategy. Chapter 4 provides more detailed information on consulting/engaging the public.
Actions outside a local authority's control
3.19 Some of the actions needed to improve air quality may well be outside the local authority's remit. This is the case where, for example, an industrial process regulated by SEPA is causing problems, or where high levels of pollutants exist on motorways or trunk roads, for which the Scottish Executive is responsible. Both the Scottish Executive and SEPA are committed to the LAQM process and are willing to help local authorities develop their action plans.
3.20 Some authorities may also have air quality problems around airports. As well as tackling pollution from the traffic flowing to and from an airport, in some cases there is a need to tackle pollution from the airport itself. Local authorities in this situation will have to liase closely with the airport operators to find solutions/measures in pursuit of the air quality objectives. For further details on airports, see chapter 6.
3.21 Local authorities should make clear any limitations in their action plans and show the extent to which they rely on actions by others to work towards meeting the objectives. The plan should show how other agencies have been involved in its production, and indicate what the authority will do to make sure they stay involved.
3.22 Some local authorities may feel that only further action at the national level or new legislative powers will be enough to tackle localised air quality problems, and may wish to make this case to central government. They could take this forward through the SPCCC, COSLA or other professional organisations, including the NSCA. These organisations might then act as co-ordinators on the local authorities' behalf.
Format of an action plan
3.23 The key points to include are:
An explanation of what the local authorities' duties are under Part IV of the 1995 Act and identification of the main sources of pollution that need to be tackled to bring about improvements to air quality within the AQMA;
The measures that were/have been considered to tackle poor air quality and indication of which ones will be implemented following a basic cost-effective analysis;
What the anticipated air quality improvements are likely to be;
What other improvements/impacts might be expected, i.e. reduced noise, congestion, etc;
What action is expected from the local authority and where the actions are outside the local authority's remit, who else is responsible for helping to work towards achieving the objectives, e.g. SEPA, airport operators, etc, and what they are doing about it; and
A timetable showing when each of the measures will be implemented.
3.24 Local authorities should also be aware of the checklist used by Casella Stanger to appraise action plans in England and Wales. Although the Scottish Executive will be appraising action plans in Scotland, the checklist may help authorities in drawing up/revising their plans. The checklist is available from the Casella Stanger website at
www.stanger.co.uk
Cost-effective analysis
3.25 The Scottish Executive does not expect authorities to undertake full cost/benefit analyses, or to attempt to calculate for themselves, for example, the monetary value of lives lost or extended. The objectives included in the Air Quality Strategy already take full account of the relevant costs and benefits
5, and authorities should not attempt to redo these calculations. It is, however, important that authorities consider the costs and feasibility of different abatement options. In doing so, they should bear the following principles in mind.
3.26 First, the Scottish Executive does not expect a detailed analysis of the cost-effectiveness of every conceivable policy option for improving air quality inside an AQMA. This would take too long and prove far too costly for most authorities. For some policy options (e.g. providing better information on air quality to local people through the local media, or encouraging local employers to adopt transport plans for their staff) it will be all but impossible to estimate the effectiveness in any scientific way.
3.27 What the Scottish Executive and other statutory consultees will want to see, however, is an indication that an authority has considered a range of options and has tried to quantify, in however crude a way, their relative cost effectiveness. Where a particular option is not considered to be cost-effective or feasible (e.g. imposing such tight constraints on an industrial process that it has to close down, or restricting traffic access to a town centre to such an extent that the local economy suffers), a local authority is under no obligation to implement it. Section 84(2)(b) of the 1995 Act makes clear that authorities are required to act in pursuit of the achievement of air quality objectives in the designated area. They are not under a legal obligation to achieve the objectives.
3.28 The main purpose of the cost-effectiveness evaluation is to ensure that an authority is pursuing a balanced and realistic approach. Is an authority, for example, imposing heavy costs on the operator of a small industrial process in order to secure reduced emissions of NOx when in practice this will have very little impact on NO
2 concentrations? Where abatement options are likely to be expensive (e.g. in respect of an industrial process), has consideration been given to minimising the costs for the operator? Have different possible traffic control strategies been assessed to see which is likely to deliver the greatest reduction in emissions for the lowest cost?
3.29 The estimate of costs should include not only direct costs (such as the costs to the local highways authority of pedestrianising a particular high street, or the costs to an operator of fitting emissions reduction kit to an industrial process), but also indirect costs (e.g. the potential reduction in income for a retail outlet on a newly pedestrianised street). This process should allow authorities to reach an informed decision on the most cost-effective package of measures to deliver the necessary local improvements.
3.30 Precise estimates will not be possible, nor does the Scottish Executive intend to prescribe exactly how the calculation should be undertaken. The key things the authority should consider are:
How much of an improvement in ambient air quality is likely to result from a particular action or policy measure;
How much this is likely to cost, both directly and indirectly, and where the costs are likely to fall; and
Whether there might have been other policy options for delivering the same result, and, if so, why they were considered to be less cost-effective.
Keeping the action plan under review
3.31 Local authorities have a duty to keep their action plans up to date. Section 84(4) of the 1995 Act states that a local authority may from time to time revise an action plan. Whenever an action plan is revised, local authorities must consult the Scottish Ministers and other statutory consultees (see Schedule 11(1)(c) of the 1995 Act).
3.32 In order to ensure that local authorities implement action plan measures by the timescales indicated within the plan, the Scottish Executive expects authorities to submit annual progress reports once the final action plan has been drawn up. These progress reports will simply list the measures within the action plan, include the timescales by when they are/were due to be implemented and give an update on progress in terms of implementing them. These annual reports should be incorporated into the air quality progress reports referred to in chapter 1.
Examples of local authority measures to improve air quality
3.33 Local authorities can implement a number of measures to improve air quality. Listed below are a few examples.
Industrial smoke control - Clean Air Act 1993
3.34 Local authorities can control emissions from certain industrial processes which fall outside the provisions of Local Air Pollution Control, using provisions of the Clean Air Act 1993. This Act, which consolidated the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968, includes powers to:
prohibit dark smoke from a chimney of any building (subject to certain permitted periods and exemptions);
prohibit dark smoke from industrial or trade premises (subject to certain exemptions);
require notification of installation of industrial furnaces and approve grit and dust assessment plant; and
approve chimney heights of certain furnaces.
Domestic smoke control - Clean Air Act 1993
3.35 The provisions for domestic smoke control have helped to reduce and regulate smoke and ground level sulphur dioxide from domestic sources effectively since 1956. Local authorities may declare a smoke control area by making a smoke control order to:
require people to adapt their fireplaces to burn smokeless fuel;
restrict the burning of unauthorised fuels except in exempted grates; and
restrict the sale of unauthorised fuels.
3.36 In a smoke control area, it is an offence to emit smoke from any chimney. It is also an offence to acquire for use or to sell for delivery any fuel, other than an authorised smokeless fuel, unless it is to be burned on a fireplace exempted from the smoke control order.
Statutory nuisance - Environmental Protection Act 1990
3.37 Section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 lists categories of statutory nuisance. If a local authority is satisfied that a nuisance exists, or is likely to recur, it should serve an abatement notice. Subject to certain exemptions, the following can constitute a statutory nuisance when prejudicial to health or a nuisance:
smoke and dust emitted from premises;
fumes or gases emitted from private dwellings; and
dust, steam, smell or other effluvia arising on industrial, trade or business premises.
3.38 The nuisance regime complements the more specific industrial pollution control regimes of the Clean Air Act 1993, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999. Local authorities use it to deal with emissions that, by definition, are prejudicial to health or a nuisance. It is not a standards based approach.
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