Air Quality Directives
The most relevant Directives are
the Directive on ambient air quality
assessment and management (96/62/EC, the
so-called Framework
Directive) and the four Daughter Directives. The Framework
Directive provides the framework for
the development of the other Directives on a range of air pollutants. The transposition date for
Article 3 (re. Implementation and responsibilities) was 21 May 1998 and by
this date all MS except Spain had
complied with the obligations.
The Daughter directives set
pollutant-specific air quality limits and alert thresholds. Basically, these directives have the objective of harmonizing
monitoring strategies, measuring methods, calibration and quality assessment
methods to get comparable measurements in the EU. Guide values and air quality limit values
will be withdrawn once these directives have been implemented.
The first Daughter
Directive 1999/30/EC on limit values
for NOx, SO2, Pb
and PM10 in ambient air
http://europa.eu.int/eurlex/pri/en/oj/dat/1999/l_163/l_16319990629en00410060.pdf
came into force on 19 July 1999 with transposition deadline for
Member States of July 2001 to set up
their monitoring strategies. The AQ
limit values adopted for SO2, NOx, PM10 and Pb generally met the cost-benefit criterion that industry
work with Member States shall ensure that updated information on ambient concentrations of SO2,
NOx, PM and Pb is available to the public on a regular basis (link to the Topic How should the public be informed about the Air Quality situation ? on Informing the public) The deadlines for the limit values to be met
are as follows:
-
limit values for NOx for the protection of vegetation: 2001.
-
limit values for SO2 and PM10 for health protection: 2005.
-
limit values for NO2 and Pb for health protection: 2010.
Member States have
to prepare attainment programmes which show how the limit values are going to
be met on time for those areas where attainment by "business as
usual" cannot be presumed. These programmes must be made available to the
public (including local authorities), and must also be sent to the Commission. A
Commission report has just been finalised (and it is being translated into
different languages) on the implementation of this Directive relating to limit
values for SO2 and NOx, PM and Pb. The report assesses the experiences of the MS
in implementing this Directive and looks at the results of recent scientific
research on the effects on human health and ecosystems of exposure to NOx, SO2, Pb and PM10. This
Directive has been amended by Decision
2001/744/EC (http://europa.eu.int/eurlex/pri/en/oj/dat/2001/l_278/l_27820011023en00350036.pdf)
replacing section II of Annex V of the Framework Directive.
The
second Daughter Directive 2000/69/EC
on limit values for benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2000/l_313/l_31320001213en00120021.pdf came into force on the 13th
of December 2000 with a
deadline for transposition of 13th December 2002.
It established limit values for concentrations of benzene and CO in
ambient air requiring assessing concentrations of those pollutants in ambient
air and to obtain regularly information on benzene concentrations and CO and
ensure that it is made available to the public. The limit value for carbon monoxide must be
met by 2005. The limit value for benzene must be met by 2010 (but an extension
can be granted). Member States, in the same way as in the first daughter
Directive, will have to prepare attainment programmes for those areas where
attainments cannot be assumed without further changes. These programmes have to
be also available to the public and sent to the Commission.
The
third Daughter Directive 2002/03/EC on ozone in ambient air (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2002/l_067/l_06720020309en00140030.pdf)
replaces the ozone
Directive
(92/72/EC). It entered into force in March 2002 and had a deadline for
transposition of September 2003. It sets long-term objectives
equivalent to the World Health
Organisation’s new guidelines and
interim target values (which follow the targets of Directive 2001/81/EC on
national emission ceilings) for ozone in ambient air to be achieved by 2010.
Member States have to work out reduction plans and programmes, make them available to the public (so
citizens can trace the progress towards obtaining the ozone standards) and report to the
Commission.. The Directive also requires monitoring, assessment of ozone
concentrations and information to citizens about the current ozone
concentrations . The Directive also sets alert thresholds and requires Member States'
authorities to take urgent short-term action.
Concerning the proposal for a
fourth Daughter Directive (COM(2003) 423 final) on
arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in
ambient air, this will cover the
other pollutants listed in Annex I of 96/62/EC
(cadmium, arsenic nickel and polyaromatic
hydrocarbons and mercury). It will require MS to report to the Commission and
inform the public in case of higher concentrations than the ones indicated in
the Directive, the causes behind them and the measures taken to address the
situation. As from 2008, any
installation contributing to high concentrations of these substances will be
required to apply Best Available Techniques for control of the emissions. This proposal is expected to be adopted in
2005. See latest press release regarding this directive: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/03/1020&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
Other air pollution related legislation
Following is a list of other related Directives, and their
transposition dates:
- Directive 97/68/EC
on emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants-30 June 98;
- Directive 98/70/EC
on quality of petrol and diesel fuels-1 July 1999;
- Directive 99/32/EC
on Sulphur
content-1 July 2000;
- Directive 99/94/EC
on consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions-18 January 2001;
- Decision 00/1753/EC
on monitoring the emissions of CO2 from new passenger cars-28 February
2001;
- Directive 99/13 on
VOC-1 April 2001 and
- Directive 00/71/EC
on measuring methods-1 January 2001.
Infringement
proceedings are open against various Member States concerning the
implementation measures.
The
implementation process of the Directives
Several directives on air quality have entered into force
recently or will be adopted soon.
Implementation of legislation by the Member States is a basic
requirement for the effectiveness of EU policy in this area. Under the
Commission Communication (COM(2001) 245 final)
(http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2001/com2001_0245en01.pdf)the Clean
Air for Europe (CAFE) programme established in such Communication has “to
support the implementation and review the effectiveness of existing
legislation, in particular the air quality daughter directives (1999/30/EC,
2000/69/EC, 2002/3/EC), the decision on exchange of information (97/101/EC),…”.
The AQ framework Directive requires four key implementation tasks to be
undertaken by the respective actors: i) planning and
implementation; ii) monitoring; iii) plans and programmes and iv) information and reporting. A Guidance Report
on Preliminary Assessment under Article 5 and another one on Assessment under
Article 6 of directive 96/62/EC are available (see
reading list). |