The Air Quality Limit Values (Scotland) Regulations 2003

Made: 10th September 2003

Laid before the Scottish Parliament: 11th September 2003

Coming into force: 2nd October 2003

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Citation, commencement and extent

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Interpretation

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Designation of competent authority

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Duty to ensure that ambient air quality is improved

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Target values and long-term objectives for ozone

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Assessment of ambient air quality

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Classification of zones

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Review of classifications

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Method of assessment of ambient air quality

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Action plans

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Action to be taken where limit values are exceeded

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Programmes and measures to address ozone levels

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Zones where the levels are lower than the limit value

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Public information

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Information requirements

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Revocations and transitional provisions

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SCHEDULE 1 — LIMIT VALUES, MARGINS OF TOLERANCE, INFORMATION AND ALERT THRESHOLDS

PART I — SULPHUR DIOXIDE

Limit values for sulphur dioxide

1.1

	Averaging period	Limit value	Margin of tolerance (a)	Date by which limit value is to be met
1 Hourly limit value for the protection of human health	1 hour	350 μg/m³, not to be exceeded more than 24 times a calendar year	60 μg/m³, reducing to 30μg/m³ on 1st January 2004 and to 0 μg/m³ on 1st January 2005	1st January 2005
2 Daily limit value for the protection of human health	24 hours	125 μg/m³, not to be exceeded more than 3 times a calendar year	None	1st January 2005

Alert threshold for sulphur dioxide

1.2

500 μg/m³ measured over three consecutive hours at locations representative of air quality over at least 100 km2 or an entire zone, whichever is the smaller.

Minimum details to be made available to the public when the alert threshold for sulphur dioxide is exceeded

1.3

Details to be made available to the public should include at least–

• (a) the date, hour and place of the occurrence and the reasons for the occurrence, where known;

• (b) any forecasts of–

• (i) changes in concentration (improvement, stabilisation, or deterioration), together with the reasons for those changes;

• (ii) the geographical area concerned; and

• (iii) the duration of the occurrence;

• (c) the type of population potentially sensitive to the occurrence; and

• (d) the precautions to be taken by the sensitive population concerned.

PART II — NITROGEN DIOXIDE (NO2) AND OXIDES OF NITROGEN (NOx)

Limit values for nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen

2.1

	Averaging period	Limit value	Margin of tolerance	Date by which limit value is to be met
1 Hourly limit value for the protection of human health	1 hour	200 μg/m³ NO₂, not to be exceeded more than 18 times a calendar year	70 μg/m³, reducing on 1st January 2004 and on 1st January of each following year by equal annual amounts to reach 0 μg/m³ by 1st January 2010	1st January 2010
2 Annual limit value for the protection of human health	Calendar year	40 μg/m³ NO₂	14 μg/m³, reducing on 1st January 2004 and on 1st January of each following year by equal annual amounts to reach 0 μg/m³ by 1st January 2010	1st January 2010

Alert threshold for nitrogen dioxide

2.2

400 μg/m³ measured over three consecutive hours at locations representative of air quality over at least 100 km² or an entire zone or agglomeration, whichever is the smaller.

Minimum details to be made available to the public when the alert threshold for nitrogen dioxide is exceeded

2.3

Details to be made available to the public should include at least–

• (a) the date, hour and place of the occurrence and the reasons for the occurrence, where known;

• (b) any forecasts of–

• (i) changes in concentration (improvement, stabilisation, or deterioration), together with the reasons for those changes;

• (ii) the geographical area concerned; and

• (iii) the duration of the occurrence;

• (c) the type of population potentially sensitive to the occurrence; and

• (d) the precautions to be taken by the sensitive population concerned.

PART III — PARTICULATE MATTER (PM10)

1

24-hour limit value for the protection of human health

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Annual limit value for the protection of human health

PART IV — LEAD

	Averaging period	Limit value	Margin of tolerance	Date by which limit value is to be met
Annual limit value for the protection of human health	Calendar year	0.5 μg/m³	0.2 μg/m³, reducing on 1st January 2004 to 0.1μg/m³ and on 1st January 2005 to 0 μg/m³	1st January 2005

PART V — BENZENE

	Averaging period	Limit value	Margin of tolerance	Date by which limit value is to be met
Limit value for the protection of human health	Calendar year	5μg/m³	5μg/m³ reducing on 1st January 2006 and every 12 months thereafter by 1 μg/m³ to reach 0 μg/m³ by 1st January 2010	1st January 2010

PART VI — CARBON MONOXIDE

6.1

	Averaging period	Limit value	Margin of tolerance	Date by which limit value is to be met
Limit value for the protection of human health	Maximum daily 8-hour mean	10mg/m³	4 mg/m³ reducing on 1st January 2004 to 2 mg/m³, and to 0 mg/m³ on 1st January 2005	1st January 2005

6.2

The maximum daily 8-hour mean concentration shall be selected by examining 8-hour running averages, calculated from hourly data and updated each hour. Each 8-hour average so calculated shall be assigned to the day on which it ends, i.e. the first calculation period for any one day shall be the period from 17:00 on the previous day to 0100 on that day; the last calculation period for any one day shall be the period from 1600 to 2400 on that day.

PART VII — OZONE

Information and alert thresholds for ozone

7.1

	Parameter	Threshold
(a) The exceedance of the threshold is to be measured or predicted for three consecutive hours.	(a) The exceedance of the threshold is to be measured or predicted for three consecutive hours.	(a) The exceedance of the threshold is to be measured or predicted for three consecutive hours.
Information threshold	1 hour average	180μg/m³
Alert threshold	1 hour average[^f01000]	240μg/m³

Minimum details to be supplied to the public when the information or alert threshold is exceeded or exceedance is predicted

7.2

Details to be supplied to the public on a sufficiently large scale as soon as possible should include the following.

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SCHEDULE 2 — TARGET VALUES AND LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES FOR OZONE CONCENTRATIONS IN AMBIENT AIR

PART I — DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION

1.1

In this Schedule–

• (a) all values shall be expressed in μg/m³;

• (b) the volume shall be standardised at the following conditions of temperature and pressure: 293K and 101,3kPa;

• (c) the time shall be specified in Central European Time;

• (d) “AOT40” (expressed in (μg/m³) hours) means the sum of the difference between hourly concentrations greater than 80 (g/m³ (which equals 40 parts per billion) and 80 (g/m³ over a given period using only the 1 hour values measured between 8:00 and 20:00 Central European Time each day;

• (e) in order to be valid, the annual data on exceedances used to check compliance with the target values and long-term objectives below must meet the criteria set out in Part II of Schedule 10.

PART II — TARGET VALUES FOR OZONE

1

Target value for the protection of human health

2

Target value for the protection of vegetation

PART III — LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES FOR OZONE

1

Long-term objective for the protection of human health

2

Long-term objective for the protection of vegetation

SCHEDULE 3 — UPPER AND LOWER ASSESSMENT THRESHOLDS AND EXCEEDANCES

PART I — UPPER AND LOWER ASSESSMENT THRESHOLDS

1.1

The following upper and lower assessment thresholds will apply:–

SULPHUR DIOXIDE a Health protectionEcosystem protection Upper assessment threshold60% of 24-hour limit value (75 μg/m³), not to be exceeded more than 3 times in any calendar year60% of winter limit value (12 μg/m³)Lower assessment threshold40% of 24-hour limit value (50 μg/m³), not to be exceeded more than 3 times in any calendar year40% of winter limit value (8 μg/m³)

NITROGEN DIOXIDE AND OXIDES OF NITROGEN b Hourly limit value for the protection of human health (NO₂)Annual limit value for the protection of human health (NO₂)Annual limit value for the protection of vegetation (NOx) Upper assessment value70% of limit value (140 μg/m³), not to be exceeded more than 18 times in any calendar year80% of limit value (32 μg/m³)80% of limit value (24 μg/m³)Lower assessment value50% of limit value (100 μg/m³), not to be exceeded more than 18 times in any calendar year65% of limit value (26 μg/m³)65% of limit value (19.5 μg/m³)

PARTICULATE MATTER c 24-hour averageAnnual average Upper assessment threshold60% of limit value (30 μg/m³), not to be exceeded more than seven times in any calendar year70% of limit value (14 μg/m³)Lower assessment threshold40% of limit value (20 μg/m³), not to be exceeded more than seven times in any calendar year50% of limit value (10 μg/m³)

LEAD d Annual average Upper assessment threshold70% of limit value (0.35 μg/m³)Lower assessment threshold50% of limit value (0.25 μg/m³)

BENZENE e Annual Average Upper assessment threshold70% of limit value (3.5 μg/m³)Lower assessment threshold40% of limit value (2 μg/m³)

CARBON MONOXIDE f Eight-hour average Upper assessment threshold70% of limit value (7mg/m³)Lower assessment threshold50% of limit value (5mg/m³)

PART II — DETERMINATION OF EXCEEDANCES OF UPPER AND LOWER ASSESSMENT THRESHOLDS

2.1

Exceedances of upper and lower assessment thresholds must be determined on the basis of concentrations during the previous five years where sufficient data are available. An assessment threshold will be deemed to have been exceeded if it has been exceeded during at least three separate years out of the previous five years.

2.2

Where fewer than five years' data are available, measurement campaigns of short duration during the period of the year and at locations likely to be typical of the highest pollution levels may be combined with results obtained from emission inventories and modelling to determine exceedances of the upper and lower assessment thresholds.

SCHEDULE 4 — LOCATION OF SAMPLING POINTS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF RELEVANT POLLUTANTS AND OZONE IN AMBIENT AIR

The following considerations will apply to fixed measurement.

PART I — MACROSCALE SITING

Protection of human health

1.1

Sampling points directed at the protection of human health should be sited–

• (a) to provide data on the areas within zones where the highest concentrations occur to which the population is likely to be directly or indirectly exposed for a period which is significant in relation to the averaging period of the limit value;

• (b) to provide data on levels in other areas within the zones which are representative of the exposure of the general population;

• (c) sampling points should in general be sited to avoid measuring very small micro-environments in their immediate vicinity. As a guideline, a sampling point should be sited to be representative of air quality in a surrounding area of no less than 200 m2 at traffic-orientated sites and of several square kilometres at urban-background sites;

• (d) sampling points should also, where possible, be representative of similar locations not in their immediate vicinity;

• (e) account should be taken of the need to locate sampling points on islands, where that is necessary for the protection of human health.

Protection of ecosystems and vegetation

1.2

Sampling points targeted at the protection of ecosystems or vegetation should be sited more than 20 km from agglomerations or more than 5 km from other built-up areas, industrial installations or motorways. As a guideline, a sampling point should be sited to be representative of air quality in a surrounding area of at least 1000 km2. A sampling point may be sited at a lesser distance or to be representative of air quality in a less extended area, taking account of geographical conditions.

Account should be taken of the need to assess air quality on islands.

1.3

PART II — MACROSCALE SITING: OZONE