13 Clean Air Programme
| (35690)
18155/13
+ ADDs 1-5
COM(13) 918
| Commission Communication : A Clean Air Programme for Europe
|
| Legal base
| — |
| Document originated
| 18 December 2013
|
| Deposited in Parliament
| 31 December 2013
|
| Department
| Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
|
| Basis of consideration
| EM of 14 January 2014
|
| Previous Committee Report
| None, but see footnotes
|
| Discussion in Council
| No date set
|
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important
|
| Committee's decision
| Cleared |
Background
13.1 The need for cleaner air has been
recognised for many years in order to address a range of environmental
and human health issues, with action having been taken at both
national and EU levels, as well as through active participation
in international agreements, notably the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). In particular, the EU has
focused on establishing minimum quality standards for ambient
air and tackling the problems of acid rain, eutrophication and
ground level ozone, but it has also sought to reduce emissions
from large combustion plant and mobile sources; to improve fuel
quality; and to integrate environmental protection requirements
into the transport and energy sectors.
13.2 However, despite significant improvements
having been made, serious air pollution continued to be a problem,
and the Sixth Environmental Action Programme (EAP) called for
the development of a thematic strategy on air pollution, in order
to avoid significant risks to human health and the
environment. Having examined whether the existing legislation
was sufficient to achieve these objectives by 2020, and concluded
that substantial problems would persist even with effective implementation
of that legislation, the Commission put forward in September 2005
a thematic strategy[58]
on air pollution, establishing interim objectives and proposing
appropriate measures for achieving them.
13.3 In particular, it suggested setting
health and environmental objectives and emission ceilings for
the main pollutants from 2010 onwards, involving significant reductions
in emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane
volatile organic compounds, ammonia, and primary particulate matter
compared with 2000 (although it also pointed out that a
large part of these reductions could be delivered by measures
already implemented by the Member States). The strategy also proposed
that the Air Quality Framework Directive[59]
should be combined with the three "daughter" directives[60]
adopted under it, with special arrangements for zones suffering
from exceptional problems; that exposure to particulate matter
should be controlled, with a cap of 25 µg/m3 on
the more hazardous fine particles below 2.5µg in diameter,
with all Member States having to achieve a uniform interim reduction
target of 20% between 2010 and 2020; and that a review should
be carried out of the National Emissions Ceilings Directive (2001/81/EC).
13.4 The Commission saw the proposed
Strategy as consistent with climate change policies, as helping
to halt the loss of biodiversity, and as supporting the EU Health
& Environment Action Plan. In addition, it noted that the
targets in it would require air quality concerns to be integrated
into other policy areas, including energy, transport and agriculture,
as well as emissions from small combustion plants.
The current document
13.5 The Commission says that, whilst
the EU's air quality standards still lag behind those of other
developed nations, compliance with some of them has been challenging,
and it has therefore put forward — as part of a wider Clean
Air package — this new strategy, which builds upon the measures
proposed in 2005. More specifically, it seeks to tackle the reasons
for non-compliance, proposes legislation to reduce harmful emissions
by 2030, and promotes measures which also mitigate climate change
on a timescale which the Commission says is consistent with meeting
the EU's commitments in that area.
SHORT TERM MEASURES TO DELIVER AIR QUALITY
13.6 The Commission notes that over
one-third of the EU's Air Quality Management Zones exceed limit
values for particulate matter (PM10), with 17 Member
States currently being subject to infringement proceedings, and
that a quarter of Zones exceed limit values for nitrogen dioxide.
It then identifies the part to be played in the short to medium
term by effective implementation of legislation on emissions from
light-duty vehicles, particularly of nitrogen oxides (NOx), where
those from cars type-approved since 2009 are about five times
the limit value, and where it says that, following the CARS 2020
Communication[61] in
2010, robust emission limits based on real-world driving conditions
will applied for type approval no later than 2017.
13.7 In addition, the Commission says
that Member States will be able to reinforce the development and
implementation of air pollution control programmes by drawing
on finance under the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment
Funds (ESIF) and the new LIFE instrument, whilst the scope for
local action will be enhanced by Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans
and Urban Vehicle Access Regulations. However, it says that the
policy review has concluded that the Ambient Air Quality Directive
should not be revised at present, with the focus being on achieving
compliance with existing standards by 2020 at the latest, and
using a revised National Emission Ceilings Directive (see below)
to bring down pollution in the period to 2030.
LONGER TERM MEASURES TO REDUCE AIR POLLUTION
13.8 The Commission says that a combination
of legislation and targets has delivered real benefits for human
health and the environment in areas such as acidification and
reducing emissions of particulate matter, and in stimulating innovation
in abatement, but that considerable health and environmental impacts
remain, with air pollution being the main environmental cause
of premature deaths (resulting in over 400,000 such deaths in
2010) and 62% of EU ecosystem areas exceeding critical loads for
eutrophication. It goes on to comment that, even if existing legislation
is observed in full, these problems will still persist, with premature
mortality in 2025 being reduced by little more than one-third
compared with 2005, and only minor further improvements expected
for eutrophication. It therefore proposes new air pollution policy
objectives for the period up to 2030, which it suggests would
deliver an additional health improvement of about one-third and
an additional reduction in eutrophication of about one-half[62]
compared with existing legislation, producing benefits which would
greatly outweigh the compliance costs involved.
13.9 The Commission says that, in order
to deliver these targets, a combination of regulatory and non-regulatory
measures will be needed, with the EU and Member States working
together. It suggests that this will involve:
Revising the National Emission Ceilings Directive
This is the subject of a separate proposal,[63]
but the Commission says that the aim is to extend the policy horizon
to 2030, and to strengthen coherence with the assessment and management
of the standards contained in the Ambient Air Quality Directive
and with climate change mitigation. For 2030, the proposal includes
cost-effective national emission reduction obligations for the
four original air pollutants (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,
non-methane volatile organic compounds, and ammonia) and two new
ones (fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and methane).
In addition, there would be two interim milestones — one
in 2020 for transposition of the EU's new international obligations
agreed under a recently adopted amendment to the Gothenburg Protocol
(see below), and the other in 2025, which will aim to maintain
the trajectory between 2020 and 2030.
Industrial emissions, eco-design and non-road
mobile machinery
The Commission says that, whilst the
National Emission Ceilings Directive gives Member States maximum
flexibility to identify appropriate measures, support is also
needed through targeted EU source controls, which — with
the exception of ammonia (see below) — continue to make
a significant contribution to reducing emissions. These include
the Ecodesign Directive (which tackles emissions from domestic
combustion sources); the Industrial Emissions Directive (which
covers the main industrial sources, including in particular combustion
plants over 50MW); and the Non-Road Mobile Machinery Directive
(which will be revised to extend the capacity range and machinery
types covered, and to align controls with limits for heavy-duty
vehicles).
Directive on medium combustion plants
The Commission notes that the main gap
in EU source legislation (other than agriculture) concerns emissions
from installations of a thermal capacity between one and 50 MW,
and it has therefore put forward a draft Directive[64]
to limit the emission of certain pollutants (notably nitrogen
oxides, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter) from medium combustion
plants through appropriate limit values, coupled with a registration
scheme.
Emissions of ammonia from agriculture
The Commission notes that the proposed
National Emission Ceilings Directive requires a reduction in emissions
of ammonia by 2030, and provides for a set of source measures
for Member States when developing national programmes. However,
it observes that the latter would in this instance deliver only
about one-quarter of the required reduction, and says that options
for further source controls will be examined, including a general
requirement for a nutrient balance in the application of fertiliser,
specific controls on manure management, and labelling and other
provisions for inorganic fertilisers.
Emissions from shipping
The Commission says that a revision
in 2012 of the Directive on the Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels
(2012/33/EU) has put in place additional measures, with previous
analysis having shown that emissions from shipping will continue
to affect air quality on land, and that reductions from that sector
would be cost-effective. It will therefore seek to encourage action
in this area by enabling reductions from shipping to be offset
against the corresponding obligations for land-based sources in
2025 and 2030. However, it also points out that the international
character of shipping and Europe's dependence on it means that
preference must always be given to policy development through
the International Maritime Organisation.
Non-regulatory measures
The Commission suggests that a number
of such measures should be taken, including active engagement
with the farming sector through the establishment on an agricultural
platform as part of the European Clean Air Forum (see below);
mobilisation of international action by encouraging ratification
of the 2012 amendment to the Gothenburg Protocol (including, where
appropriate, the provision of financial assistance through EU
development cooperation); and promoting an integrated approach
to research and innovation under the Horizon 2020 programme.
GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS
13.10 The Commission says that the new
air policy, and the enhanced focus on Horizon 2020 will provide
a stimulus to the economy through enhanced labour productivity
and markets for environmental technology and services, and it
also notes that the market for this technology is increasingly
international and highly competitive.
MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REVIEW
13.11 The Commission says that it will
set up a Clean Air Forum to facilitate implementation of the strategy,
and that progress will be reviewed every five years, with the
first review by 2020, when progress towards the new policy targets
for 2020 will be assessed using relevant indicators.
13.12 The Commission has carried out
a highly detailed impact assessment of the whole package, and
suggests that seeking to achieve 70% of the maximum technically
feasible reduction of health impacts by 2030 would reduce the
total external costs of around €212 billion by about €40
billion, including direct economic benefits (such as labour productivity,
health care costs, and reduced crop losses) amounting to more
than €2.8 billion, whilst annual compliance costs across
the EU would be €3.3 billion However, it does not detail
the likely impact on the UK, and the Government says that it will
be seeking further information from the Commission, and will be
undertaking its own analysis of the likely risks, costs and benefits
of the proposals, including those on business, human health and
environmental issues (such as biodiversity).
Gothenburg Protocol
13.13 The most relevant international
arrangement in this area is the Gothenburg Protocol to the CLRTAP,
which aims to abate acidification, eutrophication and ground-level
ozone, and the package includes a proposal[65]
to ratify, on behalf of the EU, an amendment to the Protocol agreed
in 2012, which sets out new national emission reduction commitments,
to be met by 2020 and beyond. The EU is a Party to the Protocol,
which sets limits for the Union as well as for individual Member
States. and the amended Protocol would become part of EU law upon
ratification, its alignment with the amended Protocol being achieved
through several legal instruments, including the revised National
Emission Ceilings Directive and the proposed Directive on medium-sized
combustion plants.
The Government's view
13.14 In his Explanatory Memorandum
of 14 January 2014, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan
Rogerson) says the Government is committed to improving air quality
in the UK, and welcomes the Commission's proposals in principle.
He has also commented on individual aspects of the package —
such as the proposed amendment to the National Emissions Directive,
and the proposal to regulate emissions from medium-sized combustion
plants — on which we are reporting separately. He adds that
the package will now be considered by the Council and European
Parliament, and that the process of negotiating and agreeing the
different elements may well take up to three years. In the meantime,
the Government will provide further information once it has made
a preliminary assessment of the likely risks, costs and benefits,
its expectation being that it will be able to provide the first
such indication by Easter 2014.
Conclusion
13.15 This is a wide-ranging and
important document, which sets out a range of measures which need
to be taken, both in the short term and in the medium to longer
term, to reduce further the adverse effects of atmospheric pollution
on human health and the environment, and for that reason, we are
drawing it to the attention of the House. However, it seems to
us that the main focus will switch to the two measures —
dealing with national emissions limits and emissions from medium
combustion plants — which have been the subject of specific
proposals, and which we are also drawing to the attention of the
House (and holding under scrutiny). In view of this, we do not
think it likely that this over-arching Communication will require
further consideration, and we are therefore clearing it.
58 See (26900) 12735/05: HC 34-x (2005-06), chapter
8 (16 November 2005) and HC 34-xvi (2005-06), chapter 7 (25 January
2006). Back
59
Directive 96/62/EC OJ No. L 296, 21.11.96, p.55. Back
60
Covering respectively sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, oxides
of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead, benzene and carbon monoxide,
and ozone. Back
61
See (34409) 15962/12: HC 86-xxiii (2012-13), chapter 6 (12 December
2012). Back
62
Thus, as compared with 2005, premature mortality in 2030 would
fall by 52%, rather than 40% under current legislation, whilst
the ecosystem areas exceeding euthrophication limits would fall
by 35% rather than 22%. Back
63
(35693) 18167/13: see chapter 4 of this Report. Back
64
(35694) 18170/13: see chapter 5 of this Report. Back
65
(35692) 18165/13. Back
|
