Air quality

How Air Quality Is Regulated

Information about air quality in solihull

1 Introduction

1.1 How Air Quality Is Regulated

During the last quarter of the twentieth century, there was a growing realisation that national legislation alone could not effectively deliver satisfactory air quality in all parts of the country, without setting excessively harsh constraints on many areas.

Thus the concept of "local air quality management" was born, in which national legislation would set the methods and objectives to deliver satisfactory air quality, with local action being taken to meet those objectives in areas with particular problems.

The Council already influences air quality indirectly in many ways, such as through its land use planning and traffic management services. It also directly influences air quality through a range of regulatory services. The Environment Agency also directly regulates the impact of large industrial processes on air quality. These services are not replaced by the National Air Quality Strategy, but will be given new focus and impetus. The existing regulatory controls are described briefly below.

Emissions from Industrial Processes

These are regulated mainly through the issue of "authorisations" for the most polluting processes, with enforcement being split between local authorities and the Environment Agency. It is an offence to operate such processes without an authorisation, and authorisations are only given if the process is to be operated to set standards. These standards are based on the best available technology and are periodically revised as technology improves. The locations of such installations are identified in Chapter 2.

Chimneys

Industrial and commercial chimneys serving large furnaces have to be designed so that the emissions are diluted to harmless levels by the time they reach ground level. This is controlled through a system of chimney height approvals administered by the local authority. There are also limits on the sulphur content of light fuel oil.

Domestic chimneys are most usually covered by Smoke Control Orders, which restrict the types of fuels and fireplaces so that visible smoke is not emitted. Most of Solihull is covered by Smoke Control Orders. Smoke from domestic chimneys may also be regulated if it causes a "nuisance", irrespective of whether the property falls within a Smoke Control Area.

Bonfires

Except for the burning of certain materials, the regulation of bonfires is based on the nature and amount of smoke produced and the amount of "nuisance" caused. Most cases of pollution from bonfires are investigated by the local authority.

Odours

Odours usually constitute a local "nuisance" rather than involving significant levels of pollutants. This is because highly odorous chemicals are usually detectable by the nose at concentrations far below those that would affect health. These and other "nuisances" are regulated by the local authority.

Vehicle Emission Standards

These are regulated through MOT tests and Road Traffic Acts. There are limits on the lead and benzene content of petrol. Proposals are currently being considered by the Government to give local authorities new regulatory powers to carry out roadside checks within Air Quality Management Areas.

Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air quality is regulated in places of work under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act, 1974 by either the local authority or Health and Safety Executive. The National Air Quality Strategy is only concerned with outdoor air quality.

National Air Quality Strategy

This strategy was introduced, through the Environment Act 1995, in response to a European Directive, which required the Government to publish a National Air Quality Strategy. This Strategy identifies the main pollutants that affect health and the environment, the levels for those pollutants that will pose no significant risk to ecosystems, health and quality of life, and the mechanisms and time scales through which acceptable air quality standards will be achieved. Details of the pollutants, standards and objectives are given in Chapter 1, section 1.4.

1.2 Review and Assessment of Air Quality - Purpose and Implications

The review and assessment of air quality for Solihull is an important step in implementing the National Air Quality Strategy locally. The main aim of the National Strategy is to ensure that air quality in public places poses no significant risk to human health and quality of life, but without imposing unacceptable social or economic costs. The National Strategy does not deal with specific indoor air quality issues or "nuisances" caused by smoke or odour.

This report describes the methodology, findings and technical conclusions of the three-stage review and assessment of air quality that the Council was legally required to undertake. Having completed the review and assessment the Council is subject to further legal obligations. Although this report focuses on Solihull, the review was undertaken across the whole West Midlands conurbation. This is important as the Council will have to work with other West Midlands authorities to address regional or cross-boundary issues in order to meet its obligations.

The technical conclusions given under each pollution-specific chapter identify levels of the pollutant both now and in the future. These conclusions are summarised in Chapter 10.

According to the National Air Quality Strategy, if the national target for any of these pollutants is likely to be exceeded anywhere in the Borough, the Council would have to declare the area an "Air Quality Management Area". Within such an area, the Council would then have to co-ordinate a variety of actions to raise air quality to the target level.

Solihull has to conduct a second 'Review and Assessment' of air quality, which is to be completed by the end of 2003.

There will be a period of public consultation on the present report from 1^st January 2001 to 15^th February 2001, after which a final report will be prepared. Comments received during this period of consultation will be considered prior to the publication of the final report. The results of further reviews and assessments will be subject to further periods of consultation, which will be notified at the appropriate times.

To register comments about this report, or for further information, contact:

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Environment Services Department
Council House
Solihull
West Midlands B91 3EG

Telephone: 0121 704 6826

Fax: 0121 704 6795

E-mail environment@solihull.gov.uk

1.3 The West Midlands Conurbation

Solihull is one of seven metropolitan local authorities, which form the West Midlands region, namely:

Birmingham City Council;

Coventry City Council;

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council;

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council;

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council;

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council;

Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council.

Figure 1.1 shows the geographical distribution of the West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities, which together comprise a predominantly urban area, with approximately 2.5 million inhabitants occupying some 900 km² on the western side of central England.

With the exception of the rural area of east Solihull, the seven Authorities shared common boundaries with no spatial separation between their built environments. Thus air pollution generated in one Authority is liable to be experienced both within that Authority and in neighbouring Authorities.

The West Midlands Local Authorities have co-operated on environmental issues for many years. Each Authority takes responsibility for co-ordinating regional action on different topics, with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council taking the lead on Air Pollution matters. Given that history of co-operation and the transboundary nature of exposure to air pollutants, the seven Metropolitan Local Authorities have decided to carry out a combined Review and Assessment of Air Quality, as required under the Environment Act 1995.

Figure 1.1.

1.4 The Scope of the Review and Assessment of Air Quality in Solihull

The Department of Environment Transport and the Regions in its general guidance to Local Authorities (LAQM.G1(97)) advised Local Authorities to adopt a phased approach to the Review and Assessment of Air Quality, so that the effort expended and the costs incurred were proportional to the risks of exposure. The DETR recommend a three staged process: -

Stage 1 involves: - identifying the significant sources of air pollution both within and around the Local Authority's area, reviewing the levels of air pollutants, for which prescribed standards and objectives have been set, and estimating the likely future levels. Where the Local Authority considers that there is a risk that one or more of the standards and objectives may not be met then it should proceed to the second stage.

Stage 2 involves an assessment to provide further screening of pollutant concentrations within the Local Authority's area. The purpose of this screening is to assess whether there is a significant risk of an air quality objective not being met by the end of 2005. Where the risk is judged to be significant, the Local Authority should proceed to the third stage.

Stage 3 involves an accurate and detailed assessment of the current and future air quality. The Local Authority will need to utilise sophisticated modelling and measurement techniques to predict whether a failure to achieve an air quality objective by the end of 2005 is likely.

If, on the basis of a third stage assessment, the Local Authority judges that an air quality objective is unlikely to be met in any part of its area, the Authority must declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). It must then bring forward, in writing, within a period of twelve months of declaring an AQMA, an Action Plan in the pursuit of the achievement of the air quality standards and objectives.

The first stage Review of significant sources, within and near to the West Midlands conurbation, and of the ambient levels of the prescribed air pollutants in the conurbation, was carried out in 1998.

The Stage 1 Reports, for the seven Metropolitan Authorities, were published in March 1999 ^{(Ref 3)} and were made available to the statutory consultees and other interested parties, as a basis for consultation on the future direction of Air Quality Management in the West Midlands.

The West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities had already undertaken some detailed Review and Assessment work for the DOE Pilot Study. The DETR recognised that the West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities would need to proceed to a detailed, third stage Assessment and that the second and third stage Assessment work could be combined (LAQM.G1 (97) section 2.03).

Thus, this report covers the second and third stages of the process envisaged by DETR. However, since 1997, the Government has reviewed the National Air Quality Strategy. It has re-assessed the air quality standards and objectives, in conjunction with terms of the EU Framework for Air Quality directive and its "daughter" directives, and has enacted revised air quality standards and objectives, as the Air Quality Regulations 2000. The standards and objectives laid down in these regulations, are summarised below:

For the readers' benefit, the section of the Stage 1 Report, dealing with the identification of the significant sources of pollution, is summarised in Chapter 2.

The concentrations of the prescribed air pollutants, measured across the conurbation in 1999, and an update of the trends in the concentrations of these pollutants, through the 1990s, are presented in the chapters 3 to 9, which Review and Assess the effects of the individual pollutants.