EC OKs Requests for More Time to Comply with Air Quality Standards
July 3, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
On July 2, the European Commission (EC) adopted decisions addressed to nine European Union (EU) member states concerning temporary exemptions in 94 zones or agglomerations from the EU's air quality standards for airborne particles known as PM10. The member states involved are Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary and the Slovak Republic.
PM10 airborne particles are emitted mainly in pollutant emissions from industry, traffic and domestic heating. They can cause asthma, cardiovascular problems, lung cancer and premature death.
Under the EU's 2008 air quality directive (Directive 2008/50/EC), member states may, under strict conditions and for specific parts of the country, extend the time for meeting the PM10 standard until June 2011. The EC decisions approved the time extensions for 19 air quality zones in Austria, Germany and Hungary and raised objections to the exemptions in all other zones.
EC Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said, "Air pollution from PM10 has serious impacts on human health and compliance with the standards must be our priority. That is why EU legislation sets strict standards. Several member states failed to comply with the deadline of 2005 for meeting the standards for PM10 and are still not in compliance. The Commission therefore expects Member States to clearly demonstrate that they are doing their upmost, in the interests of their citizens, to comply with the EU standards in the shortest possible time."
The EC's Decisions
For each zone, the EC thoroughly assessed whether the conditions for a time extension were met. In 19 air quality zones in Austria, Germany and Hungary, the EC decided that the notified exemptions satisfied the conditions in the directive.
In the remaining zones, the EC considered that the conditions had not been met, in many cases because insufficient data was provided or because the measures outlined in the air quality plans submitted to the EC did not demonstrate that the standards will be met at the expiry of the exemption period. The EC's assessment also showed that exemptions will, in some cases, not be necessary since compliance with the limit values has already been achieved.
Member states may re-notify for zones where the EC has raised objections if they provide new information to demonstrate fulfillment of the conditions.
Air Quality Legislation
EU air quality legislation sets binding limit values and/or indicative target values for the maximum permitted concentrations of certain pollutants in the air. There are two binding air quality limit values for particulate matter (PM10), based upon daily and annual average concentrations. These entered into force on Jan. 1, 2005.
Directive 2008/50/EC entered into force in 2008 and allows member states to notify time extensions for PM10, nitro (NO2) and benzene. Compliance with the limit values may be postponed until June 10, 2011 at the latest for PM10. During the time extension period, the limit values continue to apply plus a margin of tolerance.
A first decision on time extensions, concerning the Netherlands, was adopted on April 7, 2009. The EC decided that the conditions for an exemption from the PM10 limit values were satisfied by all Dutch air quality zones, as well as the conditions for a postponement of the NO2 limit values until 2015, except for one zone where the extension was set to apply until end 2012.
In January 2009, infringement proceedings were launched against 10 member states - Estonia, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Cyprus, Portugal, Poland - that by then had not submitted notifications or had not notified all air quality zones exceeding the limit values for PM10.
Conditions for Time Extensions
The EC set out the approach it will take in assessing national notifications for extensions in a communication - 2 COM(2008) 403 - and a staff working paper - 3 SEC(2008) 2132 - adopted last year. The conditions can be summarized as follows:
- All appropriate measures must have been taken before the initial attainment date to achieve compliance (2005 for PM10).
- The cause of the exceedances must be due to one or more of the following factors: transboundary air pollution from other countries; adverse climatic conditions; or site-specific characteristics affecting how pollution is dispersed.
- Compliance must be achieved by the expiry of the exemption period (June 2011). For each air quality zone, an air quality plan must be prepared setting out the planned measures to ensure compliance.
Following notification, the EC has nine months within which to raise objections; otherwise, the exemption is deemed to have been approved. If objections are raised and the limit values continue to be exceeded, enforcement action will be taken.
Further Information
For more information, see the EC's web page on zones and agglomerations in exceedance of limit values for public health and the EC's web page on air quality standards.
Source: European Commission (EC).