Legislative and policy framework
2.3 Clean Air Strategy The Government is currently developing Ireland’s first National Clean Air Strategy. This Strategy will provide the framework for a set of cross-Government policies and actions to reduce harmful emissions and improve air quality and public health to meet current and future EU and international obligations. The development of a specific framework of goals and targets will enable the Government to better align its climate and pollution policies in conjunction with the scientific data. Cork City Council will be cognisant of ongoing regulatory changes and will take the lead from the agreed National Strategy. Ireland’s draft Clean Air Strategy is available on the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment website https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/0b94e-national-clean-air-strategy-consultation/ 2.4 European Air Quality Policy and Directives EU legislation has developed over the last number of decades to set complementary legislation to bring about a reduction of emissions of air pollutants into the atmosphere, and limit the maximum concentrations for certain pollutants in the ambient air around us. The National Emissions Ceilings Directive (2001/81/EC) set emission reduction targets for defined air pollution parameters at EU and national level, as well as at source level with, for example, standards for road vehicles and industrial installations which were set on a prioritised basis. The Directive set national limits to be achieved since 2010, for four ‘classic’ air pollutants, namely; » oxides of nitrogen (NO X ) » sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) » volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and » ammonia (NH 3 ). Emissions of these pollutants have generally fallen significantly since the Directive was introduced in 2001, except for ammonia which has remained more or less stable over the early part of the 2000s when the Directive came into force, then falling around 6% broadly in line with a fall in the national livestock herd. However, emissions of ammonia are now forecast to increase in line with national plans for expansion within the agriculture sector. In contrast, over the same period, SO 2 emissions have decreased by 86%, NO X emissions by 45% and VOCs by 22%. Ireland has complied to date with the ceilings set for three of the pollutants, but reported emissions of NO X have remained above the 2010 emission ceiling. The first major instrument was the Air Quality Framework Directive 96/62/EC and its daughter Directives, which established standards for a range of pollutants including ozone, particulate matter (PM 10 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), in the period up to 2004. As part of the 2005 Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution, the EU Commission proposed to consolidate the Framework Directive and the first three daughter directives into a single Ambient Air Quality Directive, adopted as 2008/50/EC , and to set objectives for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ). Together with the fourth daughter Directive 2004/107/EC , the Ambient Air Quality Directive provides the current framework for the control of ambient concentrations of air pollution in the EU. » Directive 2004/107/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Fourth Daughter Directive)
relates to: • arsenic
• cadmium • mercury • nickel • polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air.
» Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe includes the following elements: • The merging of most of the existing legislation into a single directive (except for the Fourth Daughter Directive) with no change to existing air quality objectives • New air quality objectives for PM 2.5 including the limit value and exposure related objectives • The possibility to discount natural sources of pollution when assessing compliance against limit values • The possibility for time extensions of three years (PM 10 ) or up to five years (NO 2 , benzene) for complying with limit values.
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