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Local Air Quality Management

The national Air Quality Strategy and Air Quality Regulations allocates each local authority to take responsibility for the air quality within its boundaries, and to work towards meeting the overall objectives required by the NAQS. This move is often described as Local Air Quality Management (LAQM).

Local authorities are required to periodically review and assess the current and future quality of air in their areas against those in the strategy and report annually to DEFRA by way of Progress Reports, Updating & Screening Assessments or Detailed Assessments.  Such reports help retain and provide information on air quality and identify any risks or likely risks of exceedence of the applied air quality objectives.

The Ten Year Air Quality Timetable

 * All local authorities in England and Wales (except for those London local authorities that have designated AQMAs; they will be expected to submit an updating and screening assessment by end of 2003 or earlier if possible and complete the second round by end of 2004 – where detailed assessments are required)

Requirements

Each stage of review and assessment has required either:

Annual Progress Reports:      Report progress on implementing local air quality management; and in achieving, or in many cases maintaining, concentrations below the air quality objectives.  The minimum requirements of the report are to summarise new monitoring results and new local developments or permitted processes that might affect local air quality.

Updating and Screening Assessments:       Identify new sources or further risks to air quality in the area and further assess the risk of exceedences of the air quality objectives, including those not monitored.  This is achieved by inputting a variety of data including transportation information, i.e. traffic, speed, and vehicle classification data and also local meteorological data into a computerised dispersion model, which is further validated using actual monitored air quality results. 

Detailed Assessments:    Further assessment of an area using dispersion modelling where either of the above stages has identified a risk of exceedence of an air quality objective.  Detailed assessments may require the use of a more robust air quality monitoring method, i.e. chemiluminescence monitoring.

Air Quality Management Area?  In areas where a Detailed Assessment has established that an air quality objective is not anticipated to be met, Local Authorities are required to declare Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) and implement action plans to improve air quality, i.e. the implementation of traffic schemes.

Stages of Review and Assessment

The Borough of Poole have produced the following stages of Review and Assessment of air quality to date:

Stage 1 (2000) After considering air pollution monitoring data from both local monitoring and other national information, the report concluded that objectives for Benzene, 1,3-Butadiene, Carbon monoxide, Lead and Sulphur dioxide were already met or will achieve the set objective. It was however reported that Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulates (PM10) may not reach the required objective by 2005.

Stage 2 (2000) A second stage review was carried out for Nitrogen dioxide and PM10. It concluded that there was little risk that the air quality objective for both pollutants would be exceeded in the area because of road traffic emissions. The report recommended that a third stage review and assessment for PM10 and NO2 was not required.

Updating and Screening Assessment (USA) 2003

The purpose of the USA was to identify new sources or further risks to air quality in the area and further assess the risk of exceedences of the air quality objectives.

Conclusions drawn from the report highlighted that a detailed assessment was not required for any pollutants and that air quality objectives were likely to be met. However, it was reported the NO2 diffusion tube site at Poole Road should be investigated in detail for the next progress report.

It was also suggested that any long term planning of air quality monitoring should include a review of the current monitoring locations to identify any site changes to collect more specific data.

Progress Report 2004

All monitoring data for 2003 was assessed within this report and it highlighted that the 2005 objective to be met by 31st December 2005 for nitrogen dioxide could be at risk of exceedence at four locations. These locations were:

• Poole Road
• Ashley Road
• Commercial Road
• Mountbatten Roundabout.

The Borough of Poole concurred with the advise of DEFRA (Department of Environment Food & Rural Affairs) in September 2004 to proceed to a detailed assessment at each of these locations to assess further these risks of exceedence. The detailed assessment is currently being undertaken for the Borough of Poole by specialist air quality consultants which includes both three months of continuous monitoring at Poole Road and dispersion modelling at each of the locations. The report will be submitted to Defra in June 2005.

Progress Report 2005

All monitoring data for 2004 was assessed within this report and it concluded that air quality is similar to that of the previous year and the Updating and Screening Assessment produced in 2003, whereby it is still likely that all of the measured pollutants and monitored sites will meet the objectives set for 2005 and 2010, with the exception of those sites currently under Detailed Assessment; Poole Road, Ashley Road, Commercial Road and the Mountbatten Roundabout.

Detailed Assesment 2005

Results of the Detailed Assessment will be published on this site once available.

Two sites where levels of Nitrogen Dioxide exceeded the recommended limit of 40mg/m³ were at Ashley Road and the Mountbatten Arms roundabout.

The local Air Quality Management Detailed Assessment recommended that we should declare these sites AQMA’s. However, the diffusion tubes at these localities were situated at kerbside locations where relevant exposure does not take place, thus do not provide information on concentrations at locations where members of the public are regularly present.

The tubes at the Mountbatten Arms roundabout site were relocated to a site where public exposure does take place, at Dolberry Road South, and continuous monitoring was carried out over a three month period. Results indicated that we are meeting our objectives. Similarly, the tubes at Ashley Road were subjected to a three month period of continuous monitoring and results indicated that we are meeting our objectives at this locality too.

Updating and Screening Assessment 2006

The USA Report 2006 was submitted to DEFRA who were satisfied with the findings.