MARCH 1999

AIR QUALITY


NATIONAL AIR QUALITY STRATEGY REVIEW.
Proposals have been published to amend the National Air Quality Strategy. In the Review, five pollutant standards are to be toughened whilst particulates (PM10) are to be relaxed. The Review of the National Air Quality Strategy is a consultation document; final policy is expected by the end of this year.

A summary of the proposed changes for the eight pollutants is given below:

Sulphur Dioxide
The 100ppb (267 µgm-3) as 99th percentile of 15 minute means is to remain. However, four new limits are also proposed. A new 1-hour objective of 131ppb (350 µgm-3) with maximum of 24 exceedences per year by 2004; a new 24 hour objective of 46.8ppb (125 µgm-3) with maximum 3 exceedences per year by end of 2004 and new national annual and winter objectives of 7ppb (20 µgm-3) by end of 2000.

Nitrogen Dioxide
A new hourly mean limit of 104.6ppb (200 µgm-3) to be achieved by 2005 with a maximum of 18 exceedences. The annual mean for NO2 of 21ppb (40 µgm-3) remains the same but there is also a new annual objective of 15.7ppb (30 µgm-3) to protect vegetation.

Carbon Monoxide
The current running 8-hour mean of 10ppm (12mgm -3) is retained but is to be achieved by 2003 rather than 2005.

Lead
The current annual mean of 0.5 µgm-3 is retained but is to be achieved by 2004 and then a tougher standard of 0.25 µgm-3 to be achieved by 2008.

Ozone
The current running 8-hour mean of 50 ppb (100µgm-3) is unchanged.

Particles (PM10)
There is a new annual objective of 40 µgm-3, whilst the running 24 hour mean remains at 50 µgm-3 with a maximum of 35 exceedences (previously only 4 allowed) by end of 2004. The provisional objective of 50 µgm-3 with maximum of 4 exceedences to be achieved by end of 2005. There is a new provisional annual objective of 20 µgm-3by end of 2009 and a running 24 hour mean of 50 µgm-3 with maximum of 7 exceedences by end of 2009.

1,3, butadiene
The current running annual mean of 1ppb (3 µgm-3) is retained but is to be achieved by 2003 rather than 2005.

Benzene
The current standard is retained 5ppb (16 µgm-3) running annual mean but to achieved by end of 2003. A new provisional objective is proposed, 1ppb (3.2 µgm-3) by 2005.

Copies of the Review of the National Air Quality Strategy can be obtained from DETR Free Literature, Tel: 0870 122 6236, Fax: 0870 1226237 or via the Internet

http://www.detr.gov.uk/

Sources: DETR Review of the National Air Quality Strategy, 1999; Air Quality Management, January 1999.


ROADSIDE VEHICLE TESTING
The pilot scheme to test roadside vehicle emissions in 7 local authorities is now under review. The government will now decide whether to grant all local authorities power to conduct vehicle emission spot checks or to abandon the project. The seven Local Authorities involved in the pilot scheme, Glasgow, Westminster, Middlesborough, Birmingham, Canterbury, Bristol and Swansea, tested emissions from more than 15,000 vehicles, 6.1% of which failed the emissions test. On the spot fines of £60 were issued to the owners of the vehicles which failed the test. A significant number of the vehicles failing the test throughout the pilot studies were diesel taxis.

Roads minister, Lord Whitty, told parliament that the £60 fixed penalty is unlikely to cover the costs of such a scheme.

Sources: Local Transport Today, 11th February 1999, Air Quality Management January 1999.


WESTMINSTER DECLARES AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT AREA
Westminster City Council has declared the whole borough an Air Quality Management Area, being the first London Borough to do so. The council believes that emissions of particulates and nitrogen dioxide will not meet the 2005 objectives set in the National Air Quality Strategy. Action plans in Westminster are likely to include setting up a low emission zone in which vehicles that fail to meet emission standards are banned.

Source: Local Transport Today, February 11th 1999.


LOS ANGELES INTERNET SITE FOR MOTORISTS
A traffic information service has been set up on the Internet to assist Los Angeles motorists reach their destinations in the shortest possible times. This service enables the user to find the fastest route from a starting point to a destination before leaving work or home. Information is displayed as maps showing current traffic speeds. These are calculated from Caltrans sensors which are located on the major arterial routes in Los Angeles.

This initiative is intended to reduce travelling time, reduce fuel consumption and reduce air pollution. The service is also available by freephone. Traffic Assist can be accessed at the following Internet address:

http://www.trafficassist.com

Source: South Coast Air Quality Management District Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 2, January 1999.


NORTHERN IRELAND AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS SOUGHT
Belfast is the UK's hotspot for smoke and sulphur dioxide pollution. In 1996, the 15 minute mean for sulphur dioxide was exceeded 666 times at one Belfast site and 338 times at another, compared to 97 exceedences at the worst English site.

In an attempt to reduce emissions from the major source in Northern Ireland - large-scale domestic use of solid fuel, new regulations are seeking to limit the sale of solid fuels with a sulphur content of more than 2%. The sale or delivery of non-authorised fuels is also to be prohibited in smoke control areas.

Source: ENDS December 1998.


CLIMATE CHANGE


1998 HOTTEST YEAR ON RECORD, AGAIN
On 17th December 1998 the World Meteorological Organisation revealed preliminary data indicating that 1998 will be about 0.58°C warmer than the 1961 to 1990 baseline average. This surpasses the previous record of 0.43°C set in 1997. Seven out of the ten warmest years since records began have occurred during the 1990s.

For the first time satellite measurements of surface temperature appear to be in agreement with the ground-based measurements. Until now data from satellites have been used by global warming skeptics to refute the existence of a warming trend. However, the 12-month global average temperature from December 1997 to November 1998 was 0.465°C above the 1982-1991 baseline temperature.

Source: Global Environmental Change Report, Vol. 10, No. 24, 24th December 1998.


TOP COMPANIES TO REPORT GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
In February, Michael Meacher, the UK Environment Minister, announced that top UK companies have pledged to report on their greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on climate change. The Minister was keen to stress that reporting need not be 'glossy', but instead innovative and cost-effective, for example via the Internet. The draft guidance has been given early backing by a number of companies, including Wessex Water, Severn Trent, Anglian Water, Tarmac, Eastern Electricity, Railtrack, Boots, Cable & Wireless and NatWest.

Source: DETR News Release, 23rd February 1998, no. 156.


UNCERTAINTY OVER CLIMATE CHANGE SHOULD NOT DELAY RESPONSE
In January, one of the most respected scientific bodies in the world, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), consisting of 35,000 members representing a broad range of earth sciences, released its position statement on climate change.

The AGU argue that although the "increase in global average surface temperature over the last 150 years appears to be unusual in the context of the last few centuries, it is not clearly outside the range of [natural] climate variability of the last few thousand years". Nevertheless, "there is no known geological precedent for the transfer of carbon from the Earth's crust to atmospheric carbon dioxide in quantities comparable to the burning of fossil fuels, without simultaneous changes in other parts of the carbon cycle and climate system". Despite evidence from the geologic past, however, uncertainties about the current response of climate to human-induced changes remain, largely because of the inherent complexity of the climate system.

In light of the scientific uncertainty, the AGU have adopted the precautionary principle, and consider that whilst uncertainty about how mankind is influencing the present and future climate still remains, such "scientific uncertainty does not justify political inaction to mitigate human-induced climate change".

Source: Global Environmental Change Report, Vol. 11, No. 3, 12th February 1999.


MORE HOUSES MEANS MORE CO2
According to Cambridge Econometrics, the economic and industrial forecaster, the growth in the number of homes in the UK projected to occur over the next 15 years will prevent the UK from achieving its carbon dioxide emission reduction targets early in the next century.

Currently, the UK is committed to a 12.5% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2008-2012 (as part of a Europe-wide cut of 8%), and the Government's own objective of a 20% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010. Cambridge Econometrics have forecast that with the projected growth in homes, UK carbon dioxide emissions will only fall by 7.5% by 2010, with emissions from the domestic sector rising 13%, the fastest projected rate of any emission sector. Although emissions from other sectors, including electricity generation and manufacturing are projected to fall (21% and 25% respectively), increased emissions from more homes using more energy-consuming appliances may put pay to achieving the carbon dioxide reduction targets.

Source: Global Environmental Change Report, Vol. 11, No. 3, 12th February 1999.


OZONE DEPLETION


OZONE DEPLETION OVER GREENLAND
According to scientists at the Danish Meteorological Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, springtime ozone levels over Greenland have declined substantially over the last 10 years. The researchers found that monthly average spring ozone concentrations were lower in all years compared to the previous decade, and that ozone depletion was most pronounced when the polar vortex was most developed. The polar vortex is a naturally occurring atmospheric circulation which partially isolates air in the polar regions during the winter and spring months, enhancing ozone losses due to chlorine loading from CFC emissions.

Source: Global Environmental Change Report, Vol. 11, No. 2, 29th January 1999.


EARLY PHASE-OUT FOR OZONE-DEPLETERS
In December 1998 the European Union's Council of environment ministers negotiated a first-reading agreement on draft legislation that aims to phase out EU production and use of HCFCs.

Whilst HCFCs have been used in place of their more damaging predecessors the CFCs, the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer had included a phase-out time table for these substances as well. The Copenhagen Amendment to the Montreal Protocol agreed in 1992 aimed to phase out HCFCs completely by 2029, and to reduce levels by 35% and 90% by 2004 and 2019 respectively. Under the new EU deal, HCFCs in the EU are to be phased out completely by 2026, with a reduction of 65% by 2008.

Source: Global Environmental Change Report, Vol. 11, No. 1, 15th January 1999.


TRANSPORT


GROCERY RETAILER TACKLES TRAFFIC CONGESTION
Safeway, the UK grocery retailer, has produced a briefing note detailing the company's approach towards tackling the issue of traffic congestion. The traffic reduction strategies include the shifting of road freight to rail, the use of satellite communication for vehicles, and the reduction of delivery curfews to limit deliveries during peak travelling times. In order to minimise night-time disturbance to residents, quieter Compressed Natural Gas (CHG) vehicles are being used to service stores.

Source: Safeway Briefing Note: How Safeway is Tackling Road Congestion