The Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010
2010 No. 1001
Environmental Protection
The Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010
Made 25th March 2010
Laid before Parliament 30th March 2010
Coming into force 11th June 2010
The Secretary of State, having been designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to the environment, makes the following Regulations under the powers conferred by that section.
PART 1
General
Citation, commencement, application and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 and come into force on 11th June 2010.
(2) They apply in England, except regulations 3(a), 23, 24, 25(4) and 32 which extend to the United Kingdom3.
Definitions
2. In these Regulations—
“ambient air” means outdoor air in the troposphere, excluding workplaces where members of the public do not have regular access;
“AOT 40” (expressed in (μg/m3)∙ hours) means the sum of the difference between hourly concentrations greater than 80 μg/m3 (=40 parts per billion) and 80 μg/m3 over a given period using only the one-hour values measured between 08.00 hours and 20.00 hours Central European Time (CET) each day;
“arsenic”, “cadmium”, “nickel” and “benzo(a)pyrene” mean the total content of those elements and compounds within the PM10 present in ambient air;
“Directive 2008/50/EC” means Directive 2008/50/ECof the European Parliament and of the Council on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe4;
“Directive 2004/107/EC” means Directive 2004/107/ECof the European Parliament and of the Council relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air5;
“fixed measurements” means measurements taken at fixed locations, either continuously or by sampling from time to time, to determine levels of pollutants in accordance with the relevant data quality objectives;
“indicative measurement” means measurements which meet data quality objectives that are less strict than those required for fixed measurements;
“margin of tolerance” means the percentage of the limit value by which that value may be exceeded in a given year;
“oxides of nitrogen” means the sum of the volume mixing ratio (ppbv) of nitrogen monoxide (nitric oxide) and nitrogen dioxide expressed in units of mass concentration of nitrogen dioxide (μg/m3);
“ozone precursor substances” means substances which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone;
“PM10” means particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet as defined in the reference method for the sampling and measurement of PM10, EN 12341, with a 50% efficiency cut-off at 10 μm aerodynamic diameter;
“PM2.5” means particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet as defined in the reference method for the sampling and measurement of PM2.5, EN 14907, with a 50% efficiency cut-off at 2.5μm aerodynamic diameter;
“particulate matter” means PM2.5and PM10;
“pollutant” means any of the following—
(a) sulphur dioxide,
(b) nitrogen dioxide,
(c) oxides of nitrogen,
(d) particulate matter,
(e) lead,
(f) benzene,
(g) carbon monoxide,
(h) arsenic,
(i) cadmium,
(j) mercury,
(k) nickel,
(l) benzo(a)pyrene or other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
(m) ozone;
“polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” means those organic compounds composed of at least two fused aromatic rings made entirely from carbon and hydrogen;
“relevant administration” means—
(a) the Welsh Ministers for Wales;
(b) the Scottish Ministers for Scotland; and
(c) the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland;
Designation of competent authority
3. The Secretary of State is designated as the competent authority—
(a) for the United Kingdom for the purposes of article 3(f) of Directive 2008/50/EC, and
(b) save as set out in paragraph (a), in England for the purposes of Directive 2008/50/ECand for the purposes of Directive 2004/107/EC.
Zones and agglomerations
4.—(1) The Secretary of State must, for the purposes of these Regulations, divide the territory of England into zones and agglomerations.
(2) A zone will be classified as an agglomeration if it is a conurbation with a population in excess of 250,000 inhabitants.
(3) In these Regulations references to a zone include a zone which has been classified as an agglomeration.
(4) Zones are identified on a map published by the Secretary of State in January 2010.6
PART 2
Assessment of ambient air quality
CHAPTER 1
Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, lead, benzene and carbon monoxide
Assessment thresholds
5.—(1) The Secretary of State must classify each zone according to whether or not the upper or lower assessment thresholds specified in Section A of Annex II to Directive 2008/50/ECare exceeded in relation to sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, lead, benzene and carbon monoxide.
(2) The Secretary of State must review the classification of zones carried out in accordance with paragraph (1) at least every five years, and must do so more frequently than every five years if there are significant changes in the activities which may affect levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide or oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, lead, benzene or carbon monoxide in ambient air.
(3) When reviewing the classification of zones in accordance with assessment thresholds, the Secretary of State must comply with Section B of Annex II to Directive 2008/50/EC.
Assessment criteria
6.—(1) The Secretary of State must assess the level of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, lead, benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air in all zones.
(2) In all zones where the level of those pollutants exceeds the upper assessment threshold referred to in regulation 5, fixed measurements must be used, but may be supplemented by modelling or indicative measurements or both in order to provide adequate information on the spatial distribution of the ambient air quality.
(3) In all zones where the level of those pollutants is below the lower assessment threshold referred to in regulation 5, modelling or estimation techniques or both may be used instead of measurement.
(4) In all other zones a combination of fixed measurements together with modelling or indicative measurements or both may be used.
(5) In addition to the measurements referred to in paragraphs (1) to (4), the Secretary of State must measure PM2.5 at rural background locations away from significant sources of air pollution, in order to provide information on an annual average basis on the total mass concentration and chemical speciation concentrations of that pollutant.
(6) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) to (4), measurements must be carried out in accordance with the criteria set out in sections A and C of Annex I to Directive 2008/50/EC, and for the purposes of paragraph (5), measurements must be carried out in accordance with the criteria set out in Annex IV to the same Directive.
(7) Save as provided for in paragraph (8), measurements for the purposes of this regulation must be taken in accordance with the reference measurement methods specified in Section A and Section C of Annex VI to Directive 2008/50/EC.
(8) Alternative methods to those referred to in paragraph (7) may be used provided the conditions set out in Section B of that Annex are complied with.
(9) Where measurements are supplemented by modelling or indicative measurement then the Secretary of State must take account of the results of those supplementary methods in assessing ambient air quality for the purposes of these Regulations.
(10) In this Regulation, “chemical speciation concentrations” means the concentrations of different chemical components or species of PM2.5.
Location and number of sampling points
7.—(1) The Secretary of State must install sampling points in accordance with Schedule 1 for the assessment of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, lead, benzene and carbon monoxide.
(2) In zones where fixed measurement is the sole source of information for the assessment of air quality, the number of sampling points must be more than or equal to the minimum number specified in Section A of Annex V to Directive 2008/50/ECfor the purpose of assessing compliance with limit values and alert thresholds.
(3) In zones other than agglomerations where fixed measurement is the sole source of information for the assessment of air quality, the number of sampling points must be more than or equal to the minimum number specified in Section C of Annex V to Directive 2008/50/ECfor the purpose of assessing compliance with critical levels for the protection of vegetation.
(4) In zones where the information from fixed measurement is supplemented by information from modelling or indicative measurement or both, the number of sampling points in either Section A or C of Annex V, or both, may be reduced by up to 50% provided that the following conditions are met—
(a)
(a) the supplementary methods provide sufficient information for the assessment of air quality in relation to limit values or alert thresholds,
(b)
(b) the supplementary methods provide sufficient information to inform the public as to the state of ambient air quality, and
(c)
(c) the number of sampling points to be installed and the spatial resolution of other techniques are sufficient for the concentration of the relevant pollutant to be established in accordance with the data quality objectives specified in Section A of Annex I to Directive 2008/50/ECand enable assessment results to meet the criteria in Section B of the same annex.
(5) For the measurement of PM2.5 in rural background locations, the Secretary of...
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