european environment agency introduction to air quality assessments designation of zones,...

European Environment Agency

Introduction to Air Quality Assessments

Designation of zones, requirements on assessments

Frank de Leeuw

Air Quality support meeting

Dublin, 23 October 2013

European Environment Agency2

AQ assessment: legal setting

2004/107/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic hydrocarbons in ambient air

2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe.

2011/850/EU: reporting

2004/224/EC: plans & programs

Info: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/index.htm


AQ Directive, objectives

“defining and establishing objectives for ambient air quality designed to avoid, prevent or reduce harmful effects on human health and the environment as a whole”

“maintaining the air quality where it is good and improving it in other cases”


AQ Directive sets

Environmental objectives (limit values, target values, critical levels) for different

protection targets:• human health• vegetation

pollutants:• SO2, NO2, PM10, PM2.5, CO, benzene, O3,

As, Cd, Ni, B(a)P• SO2, NOx, O3


AQ assessments: where?

Health protection:Member States shall establish zones and agglomerations throughout their territory. Air quality assessment and air quality management shall be carried out in all zones and agglomerations.

However, compliance with LV shall not be assessed on locations where the general public has no access, on industrial premises (occupational safety rules) and on the carriageway of roads.

Vegetation:The risk posed by air pollution to vegetation and natural ecosystems is most important in places away from urban areas. The assessment of such risks and the compliance with critical levels for the protection of vegetation should therefore focus on places away from built-up areas.


Designation of zones

Health protection: assessment of AQ must be made throughout the whole country, irrespective of concentration levels and availability of monitoring data.

Therefore, zones should cover the whole territory and total population!!!

Further criteria on zone designation: none !!

Considerations: AQ management, responsibilities, concentration levels/gradients/source contributions, number, ….

6


Introduction

•What is a zone?

part of a territory of a MS, as delimited by that MS, for the purposes of air quality assessment and management.

Agglomeration: a zone that is a conurbation with a population in excess of 250 000 inhabitants or less, with a given population density per km2 to be established by the MS.


Some examples: Germany

Different zones per pollutant; zoning changes over timeZone may cover non-adjacent areas (with similar AQ characteristics)


UK

Same set of 43 zones designated for ALL pollutants;

No change in zoning since 2004


Kosovo

10

name code pol type area popPrishtina XK0001 SH; NH; PM10; PM2,5; C; O; ag 711 255273 Kosovo XK0002 SO2;NH;PM10;PM2.5;L;C;B;O;M nonag 10178 1610473

Total population: 1800000

Area 10908


Republic of Macedonia

name code pol type area popEastern Zone SH, NH, PM10, C,O nonag 13183 681252Western Zone SH, NH, PM10, C,O nonag 10476 770413Skopje agglo SH, NH, PM10, C,O ag 1718 601057

Total population 2059794Area (km2) 25220


Assessment methods

Assessmment methods depend on concentrationsL

evel

LV

UAT (x%)

LAT (y%)

Compliance Assessment

non-compliance

compliance

regime 1

regime 2

regime 3

LV

UAT (x%)

LAT (y%)

UAT UAT

LATLAT


Assessment methods

Assessment regime dictates number of sampling points and data quality:

1) Fixed measurements, DQO set in Directive. Less sampling points are required when supplementary information from models or indicative measurements is used.

2) Smaller number of fixed measurements.

3) Modelling, indicative measurements or objective estimates.


Zone/ agglomerati

onSO2 NO2 PM10 CO O3

Agglomeration

Skopje 1 1 1 1 1

ZoneEast 1 1 1 2 1West 2 2 1 1 1

Assessment modes in zones and agglomerations

Mode 3

Mode 1

Mode 2

LV

UAT

LAT



Fixed measurements


Minimum monitoring station in zones and agglomerations


Zone Population SO2 NO2 PM10 CO O3

Skopje 578 144 2 2 3 2 2

East 680 596 2 2 3 2 2

West 763 807 1 1 4 3 2

Total 5 5 10 7 6

european environment agency introduction to air quality assessments designation of zones,...

Documents