The Air Quality Standards (Scotland) Regulations 2010

PART 1 S General

Citation, commencement and extent S

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Air Quality Standards (Scotland) Regulations 2010 and come into force on 11th June 2010.

(2) These Regulations extend to Scotland only.

Definitions S

2.  In these Regulations—

“ambient air” means outdoor air in the troposphere, excluding workplaces as defined by Council Directive 89/654/EEC M1 where provisions concerning health and safety at work apply and to which members of the public do not have regular access;

“AOT 40” (expressed in (μg/m³).hours) means the sum of the difference between hourly concentrations greater than 80 μg/m³ (= 40 parts per billion) and 80 μg/m³ over a given period using only the one-hour values measured between 0800 hours and 2000 hours Central European Time each day;

“arsenic”, “cadmium”, “nickel” and “benzo(a)pyrene” mean the total content of those elements and compounds within the PM₁₀ fraction present in ambient air;

“Directive 2004/107/EC” means Directive 2004/107/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air M2 ;

“Directive 2008/50/EC” means Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe M3 ;

“fixed measurements” means measurements taken at fixed locations, either continuously or by sampling from time to time, to determine levels of pollutants in accordance with the relevant data quality objectives;

“indicative measurements” means measurements which meet data quality objectives that are less strict than those required for fixed measurements;

“margin of tolerance” means the percentage of the limit value by which that value may be exceeded in a given year;

“oxides of nitrogen” means the sum of the volume mixing ratio (ppbv) of nitrogen monoxide (nitric oxide) and nitrogen dioxide expressed in units of mass concentration of nitrogen dioxide (μg/m³);

“ozone precursor substances” means substances which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone;

“PM₁₀” means particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet as defined in the reference method for the sampling and measurement of PM₁₀, EN 12341: 1998 M4 , with a 50 per cent efficiency cut-off at 10 μm aerodynamic diameter;

“PM_2.5” means particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet as defined in the reference method for the sampling and measurement of PM_2.5, EN 14907: 2005c, with a 50 per cent efficiency cut-off at 2.5μm aerodynamic diameter;

“particulate matter” means PM_2.5 and PM₁₀;

“pollutant” means any of the following:—

(a)

sulphur dioxide;

(b)

nitrogen dioxide;

(c)

oxides of nitrogen;

(d)

particulate matter;

(e)

lead;

(f)

benzene;

(g)

carbon monoxide;

(h)

arsenic;

(i)

cadmium;

(j)

mercury;

(k)

nickel;

(l)

benzo(a)pyrene or other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons;

(m)

ozone;

“polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” means those organic compounds composed of at least two fused aromatic rings made entirely from carbon and hydrogen; and

“total gaseous mercury” means elemental mercury vapour (Hg⁰) and reactive gaseous mercury, being water-soluble mercury species with sufficiently high vapour pressure to exist in the gas phase.

Marginal Citations

M1 O.J. No. L 393, 30.12.1989, p.1, amended by Directive 2007/30/EC (O.J. No. L 165, 27.6.2007, p.21).

M2 O.J. No. L 23, 26.1.05, p.3, amended by Regulation (EC) No. 219/2009 (O.J. No. L 87, 31.3.09, p.109).

M3 O.J. No. L 152, 11.6.08, p.1.

M4 These standards are issued by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). Copies may be obtained from CEN at 36, Rue de Strassart B-1050, Brussels, Belgium, http://www.cenorm.be.

Designation of competent authority S

3.  The Scottish Ministers are designated as the competent authority for the purposes of Directive 2008/50/EC (other than for the purpose specified in Article 3(f) of that Directive) and for the purposes of Directive 2004/107/EC.

Zones and agglomerations S

4.—(1) The Scottish Ministers must, for the purposes of these Regulations, divide the territory of Scotland into zones and agglomerations.

(2) A zone is classified as an agglomeration if it is a conurbation with a population in excess of 250,000 inhabitants.

(3) Unless the context otherwise requires, in these Regulations references to a zone includes a zone which has been classified as an agglomeration.