CLIENT:
Cork City Council
PROJECT NAME: REPORT TITLE:
Cork City Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy
SEA Environmental Report
4.8 Air Quality and Noise The Air Quality in Ireland 2022 report prepared by the EPA identifies that:
• Air quality in Ireland is generally good, however, there are concerning localised issues that are negatively impacting the air we breathe. • Air quality monitoring results in 2022 show that the main pollutants are fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) from solid fuel combustion and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) from vehicle emissions. • People’s health and the health of our environment is impacted by these pollutants. • Ireland’s ambition in the Clean Air Strategy is to move towards the World Health Organisation (WHO) Air Quality guidelines 47 , this will be challenging but will have a significantly positive impact on health. The National Clean Air Strategy (DECC, 2023) referred to the most recent projections by the EPA in 2022 and states that Ireland is on track to meet the majority of EU commitments for national emissions levels by 2030, and there was only one exceedance of EU ambient air quality limit values since 2010. Under the Clean Air for Europe Directive [Directive 2008/50/EC], EU member states must designate "Zones" for the purpose of managing air quality. For Ireland, four zones were defined in the Air Quality Standards Regulations (2011). The Cork City conurbation is defined as ‘Zone B’ out of the four zones in Ireland. The current air quality in Cork City is identified by the EPA as being of Good 48 status. The EEA 49 states that "environmental noise can be defined as unwanted or harmful outdoor sound". The EU Noise Directive (2002/49/EC) relates to the assessment and management of environmental noise 50 . This Directive called for the development of strategic noise maps and action plans for major roads, railways, airports and cities. Existing noise related impacts can be seen in Figure 4-10; these were considered throughout the SEA process in the development of the Strategy. The SEA considered Air Quality and Noise using data from the following sources:
EPA
• •
WHO
47 World Health Organization. 2021.WHO global air quality guidelines: particulate matter (PM nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/345329. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO 48 EPA AirQuality.ie - 07/03/2024 49 EEA. 2022. Noise Data Briefing. Available at: Noise — European Environment Agency (europa.eu). 50 This was transposed into Irish national legislation via the Environmental Noise Regulations (S. I. No. 140 of 2006). 2.5 and PM 10 ), ozone,
www.fehilytimoney.ie
P23-206
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