Review and Assessment
Under the Environment Act 1995, Local Authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are required to carry out a Review and Assessment of their local air quality. The process involves a three stage phased approach.
Stage 1 is an initial screening of industrial, transport and other sources, such as domestic emissions, which have a significant impact within the local authority area and the identification of pollutants of concern locally. Every Authority must carry out Stage 1. If this indicates a possible exceedance of any Air Quality Objective, the Authority should proceed to Stage 2.
Stage 2 is a more detailed screening assessment of all the pollutants identified as significant locally in the first stage; if this indicates that relevant Objectives may not be met, it will be necessary to proceed to Stage 3.
Stage 3 is an accurate detailed review of pollutants, using computer modelling and monitoring techniques to predict the likelihood of exceeding the AQS objectives. An Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) could be declared after this stage if the review establishes that AQS objectives are likely to be exceeded after the relevant target date.
At the time of writing, almost all Local Authorities in England, Wales and Scotland have completed this process.
The Review and Assessment process in NI was to be given a statutory basis by the Local Air Quality Management Bill. This Bill was introduced in the NI Assembly in June and was at Committee Stage in the legislative process when suspension of the Assembly occurred on 13 October. The provisions of the Bill are now contained in the Environment (Northern Ireland) order 2002.
In NI all 26 district councils have voluntarily completed stage 1 of the review and assessment process.
AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT AREAS DECLARED IN NI
Strabane, Belfast and Carrickfergus are the first areas in Northern Ireland to have established Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs). These are zones where the air quality has been assessed by the district council as being not likely to meet air quality standards. Within Strabane District Council, 3 zones (Strabane, Newtownstewart and Castlederg) have been declared due to high levels of particulates. In Carrickfergus 2 AQMAs have been declared for particulates .One is in Carrickfergus town and the other in Greenisland. The cause of the pollution is thought to be the amount of solid fuel burnt in these areas.
In Belfast, the City Council has recently declared 4 AQMAs due to high levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulates. This pollution is believed to be primarily due to vehicle exhaust emissions. Over the next year Councils will be developing Air Quality Action Plans to improve air quality. These Plans will be prepared in conjunction with other relevant statutory bodies, such as Roads Service, Planning Service and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
In addition 6 other district councils have also declared AQMAs. They are Antrim,Ards,Ballymena,Ballymoney, Derry and Newtownabbey. They are all for PM10 , apart from Derry which is for NO2 and Antrim which is for SO2.