Local air quality management

This page sets out information on North Devon Council’s legal responsibilities for managing air quality throughout the district.

Please note that we are reviewing the content in this page and will update it during Spring 2008.

Background

Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 introduced the concept of local air quality management (LAQM). Local authorities, like North Devon Council, are required to review and assess local air quality against national standards and objectives. North Devon Council is required to take a far more proactive role in assessing and controlling air quality within their area.

The national air quality strategy

Central government published the most recent Air Quality Strategy in July 2007. The strategy:

The 2000 Air Quality Strategy set air quality standards and objectives for eight key air pollutants to be achieved between 2003 and 2008. For seven of these pollutants local authorities are charged with the task of working towards the objectives in a cost-effective way.

The air quality standards set out in the strategy are based purely on medical evidence of the effects of the particular pollutants on health and represent the minimum or no significant effect levels. These are based on the advice of the Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards (EPAQS) or upon EU limit values derived from World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline values.

Our role in the strategy is to make a judgement on whether the air quality objectives are likely to be met by the relevant deadline. Where objectives are not likely to be met we are required to designate an air quality management area (AQMA) at the relevant locations. N.B. - at this time there are no AQMA's in the NDC area.

The air quality objectives are set out in the Air Quality (England) Regulations 2000 and the Air Quality (England) Amendment Regulations 2002 , and are set out below.

Table 1 - National air quality standards and objectives as outlined in regulations.



Review and assessment of air quality

Where current and likely future local air quality are not likely to meet national standards, then we are required to designate an AQMA at the relevant locations. We must then draw up an action plan setting out the measures it intends to take in pursuit of the air quality objectives with the area covered by the AQMA.

The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) sets out further guidance .

The timetable for local air quality reviews and assessment in England is set out in regulations and is described in table 2.

Table 2 – Recommended timescales for submissions of reviews and assessments and progress reports for local authorities

Local air quality monitoring

Please note that we are reviewing the content in this page and will update it during Spring 2008.

The last local air quality review and assessment reports for North Devon district are below.