Air Quality Management Resource Centre University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

1. ESTABLISHING FRAMEWORKS FOR EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT AT NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVELS. Dr Tim Chatterton Better Air Quality 2004 Agra, India Air Quality Management Resource Centre University of the West of England, Bristol, UK Contact: aqm-review@uwe.ac.uk • Subsidiarity – why act at different levels? • The development of a framework in the UK • What the does the framework consist of? • Conclusions

2. Subsidiarity • “Decentralizing the provision of public service to the lowest level of government where it can be properly carried out” World Bankwww1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservice/glossary.htm • “[Ensuring] that actions to respond to a given problem are taken at the most appropriate level of government.”EUwww.wlu.ca/~wwwsbe/faculty/rwigle/ec639/ref/terms.htm • “A higher level of government -- or organization -- should not perform any function or duty that can be handled more effectively at a lower level by people who are closer to the problem and have a better understanding of the issue.”www.pallotticenter.org/Current/ActivityOfTheWeek/definitions_from_catholic_relief.htm • “The principle that an issue should be managed as close as is reasonable to its source.”www.ciria.org/suds/glossary.htm • “What can be accomplished on a smaller scale at close range by high participation with available resources should not be given over to, or allowed to be taken over by, larger and more distant organizations.”www.jaysquare.com/resources/glossary.htm

3. Appropriate Levels for Action • International Action: • Greenhouse gases • Ozone • Secondary particles, • Biomass burning • Shipping • Aircraft • National Actions: • Technology controls (fuels, engines, FGD etc), • Fiscal measures (taxes/duty, economic incentives etc.) • National transport policies. • Regional Actions: • Transport and land-use issues. • Regional transport issues • Local Actions: • Hot-spot areas • Land-use and transport planning • Public transport

4. Why Co-ordinate action? • Efficiency – Some tasks necessary for local action may be carried out better at a larger (national) scale, calculations based on national policy can be conveyed easily and clearly to the local level, local government can provide greater knowledge of problems than would be visible to national government. • Effectiveness – National government action is not simply limited to the very worst of the most visibly bad locations. • Consistency – By co-ordinating practice such as monitoring and modelling national government can ensure that pollution levels across the country are directly comparable. This helps build up an accurate and detailed picture of national pollution. It can also help considerably in the examination of large-scale episodes (national or transboundary episodes). Policy implementation (esp. planning) • Reproducibility – having framework to guide local government on how to carry out air quality management practice can be kept consistent over time.

5. UK Local Authority Background • UK LAs have long history of environmental control • Nuisance legislation • Clean Air Acts (esp. Smoke and SO2 monitoring) • Strategic Planning and Transport functions • Local Air Pollution Control (LAPC) Environmental Protection Act 1990 (UK National Air Quality Strategy, 1997)

6. Basis for Action • National needs and priorities led to need to manage AQ better at a local level • Change from emissions based control policy to one targeted at managing ambient concentrations in early 1990s • Currently driven by need for national UK government to meet requirements of EU Framework Directive/Daughter Directives on Ambient Air Quality • Directives set ‘Limit Values’ for range of pollutants to be achieved by Member States by certain dates • Responsibility on national governments • UK government set Standards and Objectives for pollutants for UK to work towards

7. Local Air Quality Management LAQM introduced in UK National Air Quality Strategy 1997 following Environment Act 1995. LAQM aims to: • secure improvements in the most cost-effective manner, with regard to local environmental needs; • secure an appropriate balance between controls on emissions from domestic, industrial and transport sources; • avoid unnecessary regulation and promote clarity, consistency and certainty; • draw on a combination and interaction of public, private and voluntary effort.

8. Development of LAQM • Consultation with Local Authority associations • 14 ‘First Phase’ areas covering range of circumstances over a wide area move forward to test framework • Check that guidance was suitable for range of authorities with varying degrees of experience • Test the applicability of guidance to areas of differing need, complexity and pollution sources • Develop best practice and further guidance on LAQM • Continual evaluation at regular intervals

9. Review and Assessment • 6 Key Stages of Process • Cycle ceases when no further issue • Screening Assessment • Detailed Assessment • Declaration of Air Quality Management Area • Further Assessment – refine boundaries and carry-out source apportionment • Amend/Revoke AQMA • Produce Action Plan

10. Guidance Documents Round 1: • General Guidance (Dec 1997, then Jan 2000) • Framework for Review and Assessment of Air Quality (LAQM.G1) • Developing local air quality action plans and strategies (LAQM.G2) • Air quality and traffic management (LAQM.G3) • Air quality and land use planning (LAQM.G4) • Technical Guidance (Spring 1998, then Spring 2000) • Monitoring for air quality reviews and assessments (LAQM.TG1) • Preparation & use of atmospheric emission inventories (LAQM.TG2) • Selection and use of dispersion models (LAQM.TG3) • Review and Assessment: Pollutant Specific Guidance (LAQM.TG4) Round 2: • Technical Guidance TG (03) • Policy Guidance PG (03) • Progress Report Guidance PRG(03)

11. Other Information • Helpdesks – Telephone and Email: • General, • Modelling, • Monitoring and Emissions, and • Action Planning. • Technical Reports: • Diffusion tube bias, • Drop-off of NO2 from roads • Relationship of annual to hourly NO2 • Tools: • DMRB Model, • Spreadsheet for deriving NOx from NO2, • Nationally modelled background concentrations, • Year adjustment factors, • Industrial assessment, • National emissions inventory. Some tools/information produced specially for LAQM, others are output from other relevant work programmes specially framed for the LAQM audience.

12. Automatic Urban and Rural Network • National monitoring network 120 Automatic Stations (March 2004) • Mix of locations: kerbside, roadside, urban centre, urban background, suburban, rural, remote, industrial. • Smoke and Sulphur Dioxide Network • Non-automatic Hydrocarbon Network • 35 sites monitoring benzene at urban background and roadside locations • Toxic Organic Micropollutants (TOMPS) Network • Nitrogen Dioxide Diffusion Tube Network • Lead/Multi-Element Network • Acid Deposition Network • Rural Sulphur Dioxide Network. All available through database at www.airquality.co.uk

13. Modelled Background Concentrations • Available for range of years: projections incorporate changes in emissions patterns based on national scale.

14. Report Appraisal • LAs now report every year. • Reports are appraised by ‘independent’ team of appraisers. • Appraised according to fulfillment of checklists based on guidance. • Allows national government to keep track of AQ problems across country. • Ensures that LAs are doing proportionate work on AQ. • Statutory and regular need for reporting keeps air quality on municipal agenda.

15. Conclusions A national framework can provide a number of great advantages for assessing and managing air quality. Efficiency : Effectiveness : Consistency : Reproducibility Also: • Focus for relevant knowledge and understanding targeted specifically at the management level • Provides context for additional work and guidance. In UK other bodies such as ourselves, NGOs etc have drawn up additional guidance for Local Authorities to fill in specific gaps • Links to all information referred to available at www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm • Contact tim.chatterton@uwe.ac.uk / aqm-review@uwe.ac.uk