The Air Quality Standards (Wales) Regulations 2007

1. Introductory Text

2. PART 1 General

   1. 1. Title, commencement and application

   2. 2. Definitions

   3. 3. Designation of National Assembly for Wales

3. PART 2 Group A and Group B pollutants and ozone

   1. CHAPTER 1 Air quality standards

      1. 4. Preliminary and application

      2. 5. Zones and agglomerations

      3. 6. Air quality standards

   2. CHAPTER 2 Attainment of air quality standards

      1. 7. General attainment measures

      2. 8. Improvement plans

      3. 9. Other improvement measures

   3. CHAPTER 3 Maintenance of air quality standards and action plans

      1. 10. Maintenance of air quality standards

      2. 11. Action plans

   4. CHAPTER 4 Assessment

      1. 12. Duty to assess air quality

      2. 13. Assessment methods

      3. 14. Fixed measurement

      4. 15. Sampling points

      5. 16. Other assessment requirements

4. PART 3 Other pollutants and background monitoring

   1. 17. Measurement of PM_2·5

   2. 18. Measurement of ozone precursor substances

   3. 19. Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

   4. 20. Background monitoring

5. PART 4 Public information and participation

   1. 21. General requirements

   2. 22. Information regarding zones

   3. 23. Information on concentrations

   4. 24. Information on breach of alert or information threshold

   5. 25. Information on breach of air quality standards

   6. 26. Ozone annual report

   7. 27. Information on action and improvement plans

   8. 28. Public participation in improvement plans

6. PART 5 Final and miscellaneous provisions

   1. 29. Collation of information etc.

   2. 30. Revocations

7. Signature

8. 1. SCHEDULE 1

      Air quality standards

      1. PART 1 Limit values for Group A pollutants

         1. Benzene

         2. Carbon monoxide

         3. Lead

         4. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx)

         5. PM₁₀

         6. Sulphur dioxide

      2. PART 2 Margins of tolerance for benzene and nitrogen dioxide

      3. PART 3 Target values for Group B pollutants

         1. 1. The target values in the table below in each case...

         2. 2. The attainment date for each of these target values is...

      4. PART 4 Target values and long-term objectives for ozone

         1. 3. In this Part— (a) all values must be expressed in...

         2. Target values

         3. Long-term objectives

   2. SCHEDULE 2

      Information to be included in an Improvement Plan

      1. 1. Localisation of excess pollution— (a) region; (b) city (map); and...

      2. 2. General information— (a) type of zone (city, industrial or rural...

      3. 3. Responsible authorities (names and addresses of persons responsible for the...

      4. 4. Nature and assessment of pollution— (a) concentrations observed over previous...

      5. 5. Origin of pollution— (a) list of the main emission sources...

      6. 6. Analysis of the situation— (a) details of those factors responsible...

      7. 7. Details of those measures or projects for improvements which existed...

      8. 8. Details of those measures or projects adopted with a view...

      9. 9. Details of the measures or projects planned or being researched...

      10. 10. List of the publications, documents and work used to supplement...

   3. SCHEDULE 3

      Alert and information thresholds

      1. PART 1 Alert thresholds for nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide

      2. PART 2 Alert and information thresholds for ozone

   4. SCHEDULE 4

      Assessment thresholds

      1. PART 1 Assessment thresholds for Group A pollutants

         1. Benzene

         2. Carbon monoxide

         3. Lead

         4. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx)

         5. PM₁₀

         6. Sulphur dioxide

      2. PART 2 Assessment thresholds for Group B pollutants

         1. Arsenic

         2. Benzo(a)pyrene

         3. Cadmium

         4. Nickel

      3. PART 3 Determination of when assessment thresholds are exceeded

         1. 1. Exceedances of upper and lower assessment thresholds must be determined...

         2. 2. Where fewer than five years' data are available, measurement campaigns...

   5. SCHEDULE 5

      Location of sampling points

      1. PART 1 Macroscale siting for Group A pollutants

         1. 1. Sampling points for the protection of human health

         2. 2. Sampling points should in general be sited to avoid measuring...

         3. 3. Sampling points should also, where possible, be representative of similar...

         4. 4. Account should be taken of the need to locate sampling...

         5. 5. Protection of ecosystems and vegetation

         6. 6. Account should be taken of the need to assess air...

      2. PART 2 Macroscale siting for Group B pollutants

         1. 7. The sites of sampling points should be selected in such...

         2. 8. Sampling points should in general be sited so as to...

         3. 9. Where the objective is to assess background levels the sampling...

         4. 10. Where contributions from industrial sources are to be assessed, at...

         5. 11. Sampling points should also, where possible, be representative of similar...

      3. PART 3 Macroscale siting for ozone

         1. 12. Sampling points for ozone must be located in accordance with...

         2. 13. For rural and background stations, consideration should be given, where...

      4. PART 4 Microscale siting

         1. 14. The following guidelines should be met as far as practicable—...

         2. 15. The following factors may also be taken into account—

      5. PART 5

         1. 16. Documentation and review of site selection

         2. 17. For ozone, this requires screening and interpretation of the monitoring...

   6. SCHEDULE 6

      Minimum number of sampling points

      1. PART 1 Group A pollutants: human health-based limit values and alert thresholds

         1. 1. This Part sets out the minimum number of sampling points...

         2. Diffuse sources

         3. 2. Point sources

      2. PART 2 Group A pollutants: limit values for the protection of ecosystems or vegetation

         1. 3. The Table below sets out the minimum number of sampling...

         2. 4. In island zones, the number of sampling points for fixed...

      3. PART 3 Group B pollutants

         1. 5. This Part sets out the minimum number of sampling points...

         2. Diffuse sources

         3. 6. Point sources

      4. PART 4 Ozone

         1. 7. Except insofar as otherwise provided by regulation 15(5) or (6),...

      5. PART 5 Ozone: minimum number of sampling points for fixed measurements for zones attaining the long-term objectives

         1. 8. In cases where zones attain the long-term objectives, the number...

         2. 9. The number of stations located in agglomerations and other zones...

         3. 10. The number of rural background stations should be 1 per...

   7. SCHEDULE 7

      Requirements for assessment methods other than fixed measurement

      1. PART 1 Group A pollutants

         1. 1. The following information must be compiled for zones within which...

         2. 2. Where possible, maps must be compiled showing concentration distributions within...

      2. PART 2 Group B pollutants

         1. 3. Requirements for air quality models

         2. 4. Requirements for objective estimation techniques

         3. 5. Standardisation

      3. PART 3 Ozone and ozone precursor substances

         1. 6. The following information should be compiled for zones within which...

         2. 7. The National Assembly must ensure that maps are compiled showing...

   8. SCHEDULE 8

      Data quality objectives

      1. PART 1 Group A pollutants and PM_2·5

         1. 1. Group A pollutants (other than benzene and carbon monoxide) and PM_2·5

         2. 2. The accuracy of the measurement is defined as laid down...

         3. 3. The accuracy for modelling and objective estimation is defined as...

         4. 4. The requirements for minimum data capture and time coverage do...

         5. 5. The National Assembly may allow for random measurements to be...

         6. 6. Benzene and carbon monoxide

         7. 7. The uncertainty (on a 95% confidence interval) of the assessment...

         8. 8. The uncertainty for modelling and objective estimation is defined as...

         9. 9. The requirements for minimum data capture and time coverage do...

         10. 10. The National Assembly may allow for random measurements to be...

      2. PART 2 Group B pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and total gaseous mercury

         1. 11. The data quality objectives set out in the table and...

         2. 12. The uncertainty (expressed at a 95 % confidence level) of...

         3. 13. The requirements for minimum data capture and time coverage do...

         4. 14. The National Assembly may allow for use of wet only...

         5. 15. The National Assembly may apply a minimum time coverage lower...

      3. PART 3 Ozone and nitrogen dioxide assessed at ozone sampling points

         1. 16. The data quality objectives set out in the table and...

         2. 17. The uncertainty (on a 95% confidence interval) of the measurement...

         3. 18. The uncertainty for modelling and objective estimation means the maximum...

         4. 19. “Time coverage”(“yr amser a gwmpesir”) means the percentage of time...

         5. 20. “Data capture” (“y data a gipir”) means the ratio of...

   9. SCHEDULE 9

      Reference methods

      1. PART 1 Group A pollutants

      2. PART 2 Group B pollutants in ambient air

      3. PART 3 Ozone

      4. PART 4 Other reference methods

   10. SCHEDULE 10

       Ozone precursor substances

       1. 1. Objectives

       2. 2. An additional aim is to support the understanding of ozone...

       3. 3. Substances

       4. 4. A list of volatile organic compounds recommended for measurement by...

       5. 5. Reference methods

       6. 6. Monitoring sites

   11. SCHEDULE 11

       Public information where alert or information thresholds are exceeded

       1. PART 1 Alert thresholds for nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide

          1. 1. In cases where the alert thresholds for nitrogen dioxide or...

       2. PART 2 Alert and information thresholds for ozone

          1. 2. In cases where either the information threshold or the alert...

          2. 3. Information on any observed exceedance— (a) the location or area...

          3. 4. Forecast for the following afternoon, day or days—

          4. 5. Information on the type of population concerned, possible health effects...

          5. 6. Information provided under this Schedule must also include—

   12. SCHEDULE 12

       Collation of information and criteria for aggregating data and calculating statistical parameters

       1. PART 1 Information to be submitted to the Commission

          1. 1. The following information on ozone concentrations must be obtained and...

          2. 2. The National Assembly must also ensure that the following information...

          3. 3. Data compiled in monthly reports will be considered provisional and...

       2. PART 2 Criteria for aggregating data and calculating statistical parameters

          1. 4. In this Part, percentiles are to be calculated using the...

          2. 5. The following criteria are to be used for checking validity...

   13. SCHEDULE 13

       Revocations

9. Explanatory Note