Scientists' contributins

Evidence of current urban Air Quality Management practices in England

Clare Beattie, Alex Newton and Professor Jim Longhurst.
Air Quality Management Research Group,
University of the West of England

  

1. Introduction

A project currently underway at the University of the West of England is investigating urban air quality management (AQM) practices in England. The initial phase of the project involved a comprehensive questionnaire survey of district and county authorities, involving departments that the researchers identified as part of the problem or solution of urban air pollution.

The impact of air pollution, particularly on human health, is an issue of significant public and governmental concern. The UK has addressed these concerns through the Environment Act, 1995, resulting in the UK National Air Quality Strategy (1997). The Air Quality Regulations subsequently gave legal weight to standards and objectives for seven pollutants, which local authorities are obliged to reach by 2005.

The aim of this article is to give early indications of how these legislative changes are being implemented by local authorities in England. It should be noted that these are very much preliminary results in an ongoing project. Further details are available on request from the authors.


2. Evidence of current AQM practice

The results presented in this article are primarily from a survey of Environmental Health Officers carried out in April 1998. They represent a 56% response rate. Some results have been presented from the surveys of planning, economic development and transportation departments of local authorities carried out in June 1998 (30-50% response rates). All English authorities considered by the authors as 'urban' were included in the survey.

Monitoring Air Quality

All authorities except one were doing some form of monitoring, although this varied from a few NO2 diffusion tubes to a comprehensive monitoring strategy for all seven pollutants covered by the Air Quality Regulations. Many authorities (60%) were also planning to expand their networks in the next 12 months. A similar survey was carried out in 1994 (Crabbe & Elsom, 1995). Although not directly comparable, this previous study had a similar sampling strategy and found that 55% of major urban authorities did not have permanent real-time monitors. Four years on, 33% of authorities do not have real-time monitors of any sort. This represents a significant expansion of the local authority network in a relatively short space of time. In parallel, the national monitoring network (AUN) has also expanded rapidly, now with 96 automatic sites in operation in the UK.

Modelling Air Quality

Modelling is one of the more complex aspects of AQM, requiring skilled technical staff and substantial resource input. 42% of authorities surveyed had used some sort of dispersion model, which is in stark contrast to the situation in 1994 when only 5% of authorities had used any modelling techniques (although 19% had plans to do so) (Crabbe & Elsom, 1995). This is an area rapidly expanding with 54% of local authorities intending to undertake some modelling activity in the next 12 months, 51% of these for the first time.

Air Pollution Groupings

For any long-term air quality strategy, air pollution groupings are essential (particularly involving environmental health officers, economic development officers, planning officers and transport planners), both within local authorities and between neighbouring local authorities. It is vital for the success of AQM that air quality implications are considered at the outset of any planning processes (for example transport, land use or strategic economic plans), and that due to its transboundary nature regional collaborations are formed. There is evidence that professions other than environmental health are participating, but particularly in regional groups, the environmental health profession still predominates. Economic development officers in particular are underrepresented. This is further demonstrated by many economic development respondents indicating that they did not know enough about AQM to answer certain parts of the questionnaire. Many of these groups are only just forming, with many authorities commenting that they have only had one or two meetings. As changes in planning policy are likely to take some years before an impact on air quality is apparent, the issue of involving different professions must be addressed as soon as possible.

Dissemination of information

The effective dissemination of information is central to the AQM process as it is generally believed that public attitudes and behaviour will have to change, particularly with regard to transport choices, if the air quality objectives will be achieved by 2005. Public information strategies appear to be one of the elements of the process most lacking. Few authorities have effective, tested measures in place for disseminating up to date information, except in regular (mainly annual) air quality reports. Many authorities commented that they are only just beginning to address the issue of how to disseminate air quality information, particularly as more monitoring information becomes available.

Progress with the 'review and assessment of air quality' process

Local authorities are required to undertake a review and assessment of air quality in their area by December 1999. This is a three-stage process of which all local authorities should complete the first stage, the results of which will indicate whether it is necessary to go on to a second, more complicated, stage, and similarly the third stage. Where any of the objecti ves set out in the Air Quality Regulations are not likely to be achieved within the local authority area by 2005, the authority will have to designate an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). An action plan covering the designated area will then have to be prepared, setting out how the authority intends to achieve the objectives.

At present, 73% of urban authority respondents were at the first stage, with 12% on the second and 5% on the third stage. 10% of local authorities had not yet started. When asked what stage they envisaged reaching, 4% thought only a first stage would be necessary, 27% thought a second stage would be sufficient and 63% envisaged reaching a third stage. 6% were unsure. 38% of local authorities questioned thought they would have to designate an air quality management area, with 18% thinking this would be unnecessary and 44% unsure.


3. Conclusions

From the results of the questionnaire survey, it is clear that urban authorities in England are still at a very early stage of the AQM process. However, elements indicative of more advanced air quality management practices are increasing. It is therefore difficult to estimate how rapidly progress will be made with the AQM process, in order that the objectives set out in the Air Quality Regulations will be achieved by 2005. The next two years will be critical in the implementation of AQM with all local authorities having to undertake a review and assessment of air quality in their area. The authors intend to continue to monitor the process as it evolves.

Possible obstacles to the implementation of AQM include a lack of collaboration between different professions involved in the process. This study has illustrated that the involvement of other professions is vital and at present environmental health departments dominate. Land use and transport planners appear to be more involved at the present time than economic development officers.

Lack of funding is widely perceived within local authorities to be the main obstacle to an improvement in air quality. This may in time change, with an increase in funding for many of these measures through supplementary credit approval, and also in the July 1998 Integrated Transport White Paper.

One of the areas that is lacking in the process is the dissemination of information to the public. The dissemination of information is necessary for two main reasons. The first is to disseminate day to day air quality information and the second to make people more aware of the issues and policy choices, particularly with regard to their transport choices. Few authorities are publishing daily reports/ forecasts, but this may in some part be due to the lack of real-time monitoring equipment in some areas. 43% of authorities were said to have policy measures in place to increase the awareness of the implications of transport policy and choices. At the present time it is unknown whether this will significantly change behaviour or attitudes. What is clear is the need to rigorously test the effectiveness and efficiency of these policies and measures.

There is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding many of the parameters, for example the impact on air quality of many traffic management measures, the best ways of disseminating information and procedures for accurately quantifying emissions. More research is required, not only within these areas, but also epidemiology, modelling techniques and the role of technology (such as cleaner fuels) in the process.

The study will continue to investigate in more depth the levels of integration and co-operation within and between district and county authorities, between neighbouring authorities and also between other participants involved in the AQM process, for example the environment agency and air quality consultants. An analysis of these results will be available over the coming months. The project will also attempt to investigate the development of the process as it moves from the domain of environmental health departments to planning, highways and economic development departments, which will be absolutely vital in providing long term solutions to poor air quality.


References

Clare Beattie and Alex Newton are Research Assistants within the Air Quality Management Resource Centre, University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY. For more information, do not hesitate to contact us on 0117 965 6261 ext 3825, or e-mail Clare.Beattie@uwe.ac.uk
Scientists' contributins

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