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This article discusses the lifelong impacts of air pollution and examines the legal framework for action. It explores the responsibilities of central government, local authorities, and the need for stronger legislation to meet air quality standards.
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Our right to clean air:Taking stock and looking forward Dominic Phinn – Business Engagement Katie Nield - UK Clean Air Lawyer
Central government responsibilities… Directive 2008/50/EC Article 13 – sets limit values Article 23 – requires air quality plans to keep the period of exceedance “as short as possible” Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 …establish the Secretary of State as the responsible authority
Air quality plans must… • aim to achieve compliance as soon as possible; • choose a route to compliance which reduces human exposure as quickly as possible; and • ensure that compliance with the limit values is not just possible but likely. (per Garnham J, ClientEarth (No.2)
Cost can only be secondary to efficacy…. X “…I reject any suggestion that the state can have any regard to cost in fixing the target date for compliance or in determining the route by which the compliance can be achieved where one route produces results quicker than another. In those respects the determining consideration has to be the efficacy of the measure in question and not their cost” per Garnham J, ClientEarth (No.2)
Local Authorities play a part… Part IV, Environment Act 1995 LAs must review and assess air quality Where national standards and objectives are not met, LAs must …designate AQMAs …draw up “action plans”
Local authorities have been pushed centre stage… s85 Environment Act 1995 The SoS has the power require action from LAs “appropriate for the implementation” of the Directive Ministerial directions have been issued to • 61 English LAs • 2 Welsh LAs …requiring each to come up with its own proposals for local measures to reduce NO2
“the 5” “the 23” “the 33” Birmingham Leeds Southampton Derby Nottingham Basildon Borough Council Bath and North East Somerset Council Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council Bristol City Council Bury Metropolitan Borough Council Coventry City Council Fareham Borough Council Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council Guildford Borough Council Manchester City Council Middlesbrough Borough Council New Forest District Council Newcastle City Council North Tyneside Council Rochford District Council Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Rushmoor Borough Council Salford City Council Sheffield City Council Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Surrey Heath Borough Council Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council Ashfield District Council Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Blaby District Council Bolsover District Council Bournemouth Borough Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council Broxbourne Borough Council Burnley Borough Council Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council Cheltenham Borough Council Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Kirklees Council Leicester City Council Liverpool City Council Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council Oldham Council Oxford City Council Peterborough City Council Plymouth City Council Poole Borough Council Portsmouth City Council Reading Borough Council Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council South Gloucestershire Council South Tyneside Council Southend-on-Sea Borough Council Stoke-on-Trent City Council Sunderland City Council Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council Walsall Council City of Wolverhampton Council 15 Sept 5 Oct 31 Dec
What we have seen so far Newcastle: ?Class D CAZ? Leeds: Class B CAZ Manchester: ?Class B/C CAZ? Sheffield: ?Class C CAZ? Derby: ??Traffic management?? Birmingham: Class D CAZ Bath: ?Class C CAZ? Southampton: !Class B CAZ!
Reasons to be cheerful? Reasons to be less than cheerful? • Some CAZ commitments • Delays • Row-backs (Southampton and Bath) • Lack of coherence • Central government in-action
No2pe... Particulate Matter NO2 • In 2010 - 40 out of 43 zones did not comply with legal limits • In 2017 - 37 out of 43 reporting zones still don’t comply • In 2016 - 44 UK cities exceeded the World Health Organisation guideline for PM2.5
What is going wrong? • The LAQM in and of itself has proved ineffective • Successive national air quality plans have been declared unlawful • Trend of reliance on local measures/decision-making The Government "should not have been in a position where ClientEarth had to take us to court." Michael Gove SoSEFRA, 18 April 2018
“The UK government will introduce new legislation outlining a strengthened, up to date legislative framework for tackling air pollution” Clean Air Strategy, Jan 2019 “We will introduce an environment Bill, and clean air will be part of that Bill” Theresa May, 18 July 2018
Working towards WHO guidelines “We will reduce PM2.5 concentrations across the UK, so that the number of people living in locations above the WHO guideline level of 10 μg/m3 is reduced by 50% by 2025. Clean Air Strategy, Jan 2019 • Good to see, BUT • What about the other half of the population? • Policy commitments are not enough to ensure govt is accountable • Stronger legally binding limits are needed to make cleaner air for all more than a “nice to have”
A more effective framework for action? BUT, with rhetoric focusing on more local powers, do we risk running into an old acquaintance…? “New legislation will create a stronger and more coherent framework for action to tackle air pollution” “This will include an up to date legislative framework for tackling air pollution at national and local level” Clean Air Strategy, Jan 2019
Filling the post-Brexit governance gap BUTthis risks being more… than… “we will create a pioneering new system of green governance, establishing an Office for Environmental Protection, to ensure we succeed in leaving the environment in a better condition than we found it”
