The Air Quality Standards (Scotland) Regulations 2007
| Year | 2007 |
2007 No. 182
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
The Air Quality Standards (Scotland) Regulations 2007
Made 6th March 2007
Laid before the Scottish Parliament 7th March 2007
Coming into force 29th March 2007
The Scottish Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19721and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Regulations:
PART 1
General
Citation, commencement and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Air Quality Standards (Scotland) Regulations 2007 and shall come into force on 29th March 2007.
(2) These Regulations extend to Scotland only.
Definitions
2.—(1) In these Regulations–
“action plan” means an action plan required by regulation 11;
“additional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” means those organic compounds, other than benzo(a)pyrene and basic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are composed of at least two fused aromatic rings made entirely from carbon and hydrogen;
“agglomeration” has the meaning given in regulation 5(2);
“air quality standards” means limit values, target values, and long-term objectives;
“alert threshold” means an alert threshold set out in Schedule 3;
“ambient air” means outdoor air in the troposphere, excluding work places;
“assessment” (unless the context indicates otherwise) means any method used to measure, monitor, calculate, predict or estimate the concentration of a pollutant;
“attainment date” means the date (or in the case of ozone, year) specified for the relevant air quality standard in Schedule 1;
“basic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” means–
(a) benzo(a)anthracene;
(b) benzo(b)fluoranthene;
(c) benzo(j)fluoranthene;
(d) benzo(k)fluoranthene;
(e) dibenz(a,h)anthracene; and
(f) indeno (1,2,3 cd)pyrene;
“combined measurement” means an assessment of a Group A or Group B pollutant by means of a combination of fixed measurement and modelling techniques;
“concentration” means–
(a) for pollutants other than Group B pollutants, the concentration of the relevant pollutant in ambient air; or
(b) for Group B pollutants, the total content of the relevant pollutant in the PM10 fraction in ambient air,
and, in both cases, a reference to a concentration is to a concentration assessed by the Scottish Ministers in accordance with these Regulations;
“fixed measurement” means measurement in accordance with regulation 14(1) for a Group A or Group B pollutant or regulation 14(3) for ozone;
“Group A pollutants” means benzene, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, PM10 and sulphur dioxide;
“Group B pollutants” means arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, cadmium and nickel and their compounds;
“improvement plan” means an improvement plan required by regulation 8;
“information threshold” means the information threshold set out in Part 2 of Schedule 3;
“limit value” means a maximum permitted concentration of a Group A pollutant set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1;
“long term objective” means a maximum concentration of ozone set out in Part 4 of Schedule 1 which is to be achieved in the long term;
“lower assessment threshold” means the lower assessment threshold specified for the relevant pollutant in Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 4;
“margin of tolerance” means an amount specified in Part 2 of Schedule 1 by which a limit value may be exceeded;
“oxides of nitrogen” means the sum of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide added as parts per billion and expressed as nitrogen dioxide in microgrammes per cubic metre;
“ozone precursor substances” means substances which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone;
“PM2·5” means particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet with a 50% efficiency cut-off at 2.5μm aerodynamic diameter;
“PM10” means particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet with a 50% efficiency cut-off at 10μm aerodynamic diameter, in relation to which, in the case of assessments of Group B pollutants, the inlet shall be as defined in CEN standard EN 12341 19982;
“pollutant” means–
(a) any Group A pollutant;
(b) any Group B pollutant;
(c) ozone; or
(d) except in Part 2 of these Regulations, any pollutant to which Part 3 of these Regulations applies;
“polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” mean–
(a) the basic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; and
(b) any of the additional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which the Scottish Ministers decide should be monitored for the purpose of regulation 19(1);
“rural background station” means a station referred to in the fourth row (rural background) of the table in Part 3 of Schedule 6;
“target value” means a maximum concentration of a Group B pollutant set out in Part 3 of Schedule 1 or of ozone set out in Part 4 of Schedule 1;
“upper assessment threshold” means the upper assessment threshold specified for the relevant pollutant in Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 4; and
“zone” means one of the parts of the territory of Scotland into which the Scottish Ministers has divided Scotland under regulation 5(1) for the purposes of Part 2 of these Regulations and references to a zone shall (unless the context indicates otherwise), include an agglomeration.
(2) Subject to paragraph 1 words and expressions used both in these Regulations and in the following Directives shall have the same meaning in these Regulations as in the relevant Directive–
(a)
(a) Council Directive 96/62/ECon ambient air quality assessment and management3;
(b)
(b) Council Directive 1999/30/ECrelating to limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air4;
(c)
(c) Directive 2000/69/ECof the European Parliament and of the Council relating to limit values for benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air5;
(d)
(d) Directive 2002/3/ECof the European Parliament and of the Council relating to ozone in ambient air6; and
(e)
(e) Directive 2004/107/ECof the European Parliament and of the Council relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air7.
Designation of competent authority
3. The Scottish Ministers are designated as the competent authority for the purposes of Article 3 (implementation and responsibilities) of Council Directive 96/62/ECon ambient air quality assessment and management.
PART 2
Group A and Group B pollutants and ozone
CHAPTER 1
Air Quality Standards
Preliminary and application
4.—(1) This Part applies in respect of the following pollutants:–
(a)
(a) Group A pollutants;
(b)
(b) Group B pollutants; and
(c)
(c) ozone.
(2) The Scottish Ministers shall ensure that all measures taken under Chapters 2 or 3 of this Part–
(a)
(a) take into account an integrated approach to the protection of air, water and soil; and
(b)
(b) have no significant negative effect on the environment in–
(i) any other member State; or
(ii) any other part of the United Kingdom.
Zones and agglomerations
5.—(1) The Scottish Ministers shall, for the purposes of this Part, divide the territory of Scotland into zones.
(2) A zone shall be classified as an agglomeration for the purposes of this Part where–
(a)
(a) it has a population in excess of 250,000 inhabitants; or
(b)
(b) in any other case, the Scottish Ministers determine that its population density per km2 is sufficiently high to justify such a classification.
(3) The Scottish Ministers may establish different zones for different pollutants where they consider this appropriate.
Air quality standards
6.—(1) Schedule 1 prescribes the following air quality standards–
(a)
(a) for Group A pollutants, the limit values set out in Part 1 of that Schedule;
(b)
(b) for Group B pollutants, the target values set out in Part 3 of that Schedule; and
(c)
(c) for ozone, the target values and long-term objectives set out in Part 4 of that Schedule.
(2) Limit values–
(a)
(a) shall be attained by the attainment date specified for the limit value concerned; or
(b)
(b) apply when these Regulations come into force if no attainment date is specified.
(3) Target values shall be attained from the attainment date specified, in so far as this is possible through measures required by regulation 7.
(4) In the case of benzene and nitrogen dioxide, the margins of tolerance set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 apply within the periods specified.
CHAPTER 2
Attainment of air quality standards
General attainment measures
7.—(1) The Scottish Ministers shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the air quality standards set out in regulation 6 are attained.
(2) In the case of Group B pollutants, the necessary measures are–
(a)
(a) measures not entailing disproportionate costs; and
(b)
(b) in so far as concentrations of a relevant pollutant arise as a result of emissions from installations to which Council Directive 96/61/ECconcerning integrated pollution prevention and control8applies, the application of best available techniques to prevent pollution from those installations in accordance with that Directive9.
(3) In the case of ozone, the necessary measures are measures the Scottish Ministers consider to be proportionate and, in relation to the long term objectives, cost effective.
Improvement plans
8.—(1) This regulation applies in respect of each zone in which prior to the attainment date–
(a)
(a) concentrations of benzene or nitrogen dioxide exceed a limit value plus the applicable margin of tolerance; or
(b)
(b) concentrations of ozone exceed a target value.
(2) Where paragraph (1)(a) applies, the Scottish Ministers shall prepare and implement an improvement plan for the pollutant in question or, where concentrations of both pollutants exceed the level referred to, a single improvement plan for both pollutants.
(3) Where paragraph (1)(b) applies, the Scottish...
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