According to
the EU Directives the limit values should be complied with everywhere except at work-places. From
the system of articles and the regulations in the annexes it can be concluded
that the priority is the protection of the health of people. After all there
are separate limit values for the protection of population health and also limit
values for the protection of ecosystems. This interpretation is also mentioned
in the evaluation report on the first daughter directive (proposal to the EC in
June 2004).
So places where the health of people is mostly affected has the
highest priority. This concerns situations with:
- the probability that people will be there during a longer
period of time
(corresponding to the averaging times
of the Limit values),
- the presence of people sensitive to air pollution,
- the probability that people will be in physical activity
more than usual.
Based on
this the following types of buildings/areas are considered as being sensitive for air pollution in the
Netherlands, and thus should be protected according to the requirements of the
AQ Directives:
- houses or buildings
used for residences;
- buildings for kinder-gardens, health care and education;
- sports grounds.
On locations
with poorer air quality,
less sensitive purposes are allowed, such as offices. But public
authorities should make efforts to meet the limit values everywhere in the end.
This target will have to be attained mainly by European and national policies
for emission reduction.
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