Air quality action plans in the UK: An overview and evaluation of process and practice

Abstract

Local Air Quality Management is an effects-based process by which local authorities are required to review and assess their local air quality in relation to health-based air quality objectives. Where it is predicted that objectives will not be met and members of the public are exposed to elevated levels of pollutants, authorities are required to declare Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) and subsequently develop and implement Air Quality Action Plans (AQAPs) to improve air quality to acceptable levels. The majority of AQMAs (>90%) are predominantly transport related, and as such Local Transport Plans (LTPs) will be critical to the successful implementation of measures to improve air quality. LTPs are currently moving into the second round of a 5-year cycle of planning, with Plans being submitted to Government in July 2005 to cover the 2006-2011 period. In order to align AQAP and LTP more closely, and to reduce the number of policies and plans required of councils, local authorities with air quality problems arising from transport emissions have the freedom to include AQAPs within their LTP. LTP’s now include air quality as one of the four priorities. This move to integrate the two processes is seen largely as positive, but it is still unknown how the two processes (which still work to different timescales and report to different government departments) will be implemented in practice. This paper will provide an overview of the air quality action planning and local transport planning processes and then review three case study local authorities to examine the practice of air quality action planning in the context of air quality, organisational and political challenges.