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Pollutants Examined in the Review &
Assessment Process
Benzene (C6H6)
1,3 Butadiene
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Lead (Pb)
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Fine Particles (PM10)
Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
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Local Air Quality
Management
The Environment Act 1995 requires local
authorities to review and assess air quality in the district
against objectives laid down by regulation. (objectives at
http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/laqm/information.php?info=objectives)
Where the local authority considers that an objective is
unlikely to be met then it must declare an air quality
management area where the problem has been identified. It must
then draw up an action plan explaining the measures it will take
in pursuit of the air quality objectives.
The government has set out a timetable for the key
stages of the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) process. The
process has been going on since 1998 and the timetable below shows
the stages from 2005. The hyperlinks indicate the activity
undertaken by the Council
|
LAQM Activity |
Completion Date |
Which Authorities? |
|
Updating & Screening Assessment (USA) |
End of April 2006
(completed) |
All authorities |
|
Detailed Assessment |
End of April 2007
(not required by T&W) |
Those authorities which have identified the need for one in
their April 2006 USA |
|
Progress Report |
End of April 2007
(completed) |
Those authorities which have identified that there was no need
for a detailed assessment in their April 2006 USA |
|
Progress Report |
End of April 2008 |
All authorities |
|
USA |
End of April 2009 |
All authorities |
|
Detailed Assessment |
End of April 2010 |
Those authorities which have identified the need for one in
their April 2009 USA |
|
Progress Report |
End of April 2010 |
Those authorities which have identified that there was no need
for a detailed assessment in their April 2006
USA |
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The first review and assessment report was
produced in December 2000. This examined emissions from traffic,
industry and domestic sources in accordance with guidance provided
by the former Department of Environment Transport and the
Regions.
The report concluded that there was a likelihood of exceedences of
the nitrogen dioxide air quality objective at four separate areas
in Telford.
On 25 March 2002 the council made an
Air Quality Management Order declaring four
separate Air Quality Management Areas. It also required
Environmental Health to complete a further review of air quality
in those areas and to produce an action plan for each
area.
Review & Assessment of Air Quality 2003
-
In 2003 we undertook a further review and
assessment of air quality using revised monitoring, modelling and
emissions inventories (Stage 4). We concluded that concentrations
of nitrogen dioxide are confidently predicted to be below the
annual average air quality standard of 40 mg m -3 for the
year 2005 at each of the previously declared air quality management
areas.
The order was subsequently revoked but it is included here for sake
of completeness. There are still no Air Quality Management Areas in
the borough (January 2008)
Updating and Screening Assessment
2003
The updating and screening assessment (USA)
provides an update with respect to air quality issues within the
Shropshire Air Quality Management Group (SAQMG.) There have been
a number of changes since the last round of review and
assessments which have been taken into account in this
assessment including:
-
a revised National Air Quality Strategy (2000)
and Addendum (2003);
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new Air Quality Regulations (2000 and
2002);
-
new guidance documents LAQM.PG (03) and LAQM.TG
(03);
-
new vehicle emissions factors (2002);
and
-
updated information on likely background
concentrations and projection factors for future air
quality.
The USA has included consideration of new emissions sources, in
addition to all existing emission sources previously identified in
the first round.
The USA considers the seven priority health based air quality
objectives as laid down in Regulations and assesses the likelihood
that the air quality objectives will be met by their target dates.
If the air quality objectives are unlikely to be met, a detailed
assessment will be required. The provisional fine particles
(PM10) objectives for 2010 have been considered briefly,
although no detailed assessment of the 2010 PM10
objectives is required at this stage as the objectives have not
been laid down in Regulations.
Detailed Assessments 2004
The conclusions of the Updating
and Screening Assessment showed that:
- there was a potential to exceed the sulphur dioxide
(SO2)15-minute mean air quality objective with emissions
from Ironbridge Power Station; and
- there was a potential to exceed the nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) annual mean air quality objective with emissions
from road traffic in the Ironbridge Gorge.
Detailed assessments of both sources were carried out and a
brief methodology and conclusions are given below. You will find a
link to the report at the end of each description.
Ironbridge Power Station
A review of the air quality
monitoring data for SO2 during 2004 and 2005 to date has
been carried out.
This, together with the fuel management strategy agreed with the
Environment Agency (EA), improved reporting links from the
monitoring stations back to the power station and advice received
from Department of Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
means that unless the number of yearly exceedences of the 15
minutes mean level of 266 µg/m3 actually breaches the Government
Objective of 35 permitted occurrences in 2005 then further action
is not necessary.
On this basis, it is not currently necessary for Borough of Telford
& Wrekin (BTW), Bridgnorth District Council (BDC) or Shrewsbury
& Atcham Borough Council (SABC) to declare Air Quality
Management Areas (AQMAs) for the pollutant Sulphur Dioxide
(SO2) from Ironbridge Power Station. However, SABC, BTW
and BDC will continue to review the monitoring results and liaise
closely with the EA who will enforce the Permit condition
regulating emissions from the power station requiring strict
compliance with the national air quality objective for
SO2 and with others designed to minimise emissions from
the installation.
Further review and assessment of air quality will be undertaken in
accordance with the timetable required by DEFRA's statutory local
air quality management Guidance to Local Authorities, including the
production of Progress Reports. Any necessary actions as a
consequence of this future work will be taken when required and
reported on.
Full details of the report can be found
here
Emissions from traffic in the Ironbridge Gorge
The council
installed a continuous monitor along the Wharfage Ironbridge to
provide real time monitoring data of nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions
from road traffic for six months.
Results of the annualised mean NO2 concentration
monitored at Ironbridge for 2004 is well below the annual mean
objective. There were no exceedences of the hourly objective during
the period.
Full details of the December 2005 report can be found on this
link.
Progress Report 2005.
Following consultation on the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM)
process, the Government concluded that it was too 'stop-start' and
that gaps of several years might occur between reviews when local
progress could falter. Therefore, Updating and Screening
Assessments are now required at intervals of three years whilst
Progress Reports maintain continuity and are to be produced in the
intervening years. The next Updating and Screening Assessment is to
be completed by April 2006. Progress Reports are designed to ensure
continuity in the LAQM process and are intended to assist local
authorities
The report was written jointly by the Shropshire consortium of
local authorities and lists details about Bridgnorth District
Council, North Shropshire District Council, Oswestry Borough
Council, Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council, South Shropshire
District Council and Borough of Telford & Wrekin.
The progress report contains the introduction
and details about changes that have taken place in the Borough
of Telford & Wrekin area. For details on the other
authorities findings please refer to their websites.
Updating & Sceening Assessment 2006
The screening assessment concluded that no detailed assessment
was required for Carbon Monoxide, Benzene, 1-3 Butadiene, Lead,
Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide or PM10.
The assessment looked at the provisional annual PM10 objectives
for 2010 and they are predicted to be exceeded and therefore
further assessment of PM10 maybe required in the future if the
objectices are included in the Regulations at a later date.
The Council will continue with its monitoring programme of
nitrogen dioxide.
Progress Report 2007
Details of the progress report for Telford & Wrekin Council
only, can be found above
Progress Report 2008 (Final)
The report
is published by the Shropshire Local Air Quality Management
Group. Pages 1 to 11 describes the extent of the report; pages
12 to 84 contains details of industry and monitoring in the
other Shropshire Local Authorities; pages 85 to 92 identifies
new industrial processes and contains nitrogen dioxide diffusion
tube monitoring for the years 2003 - 2007.
Updating & screening Assessment
2009
The report concludes that the review of 2008 monitoring data has
highlighted no measured exceedences of the Air Quality Standards
across the borough. No detailed assessment is required for any
pollutant.
There are no roads or junctions that require assessment using
the DMRB air quality model. No detailed assessment is required for
any road sources in the borough.
There are 12 new Part B Processes and 6 biomass combustion
processes operating since the last round of review and assessment.
The Part B processes have been assessed and there are no
significant releases to warrant a detailed assessment. No emissions
data was available for the biomass process. The Council will
request this information from the operators and undertake a
screening exercise using the appropriate nomograms in the
future.
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