EPA - Ireland's Environment 2016 - An Assessment

35 / 234

Other Transboundary Pollutants
Further information on the wide range of transboundary
pollutants covered by the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution can be found on the EPA website. 10
Responses
EU Legislation
Limits set for ambient air quality by the EU have not
been exceeded
Limit values have been established by the European Union
based on contributions by environmental and health
experts in order to help mitigate the impact on Member
State populations. Upon exceedance of these limit values,
Member States must implement air quality plans to assess
and combat the problem. Since the last State of the
Environment report (EPA, 2012), Ireland has not exceeded
any EU legislative limit or target values at the stations in
the current monitoring network.
Clean Air Policy Package
A new strategy on air pollution from the European
Commission
Following a review of the 2005 thematic strategy on air
pollution by the European Commission, a new strategy for
air quality was announced in 2013. Under the review, the
existing ambient air quality legislation remains unchanged,
though the 7th Environmental Action Programme11
10
11
commits to moving towards the WHO guide values by
2020. Overall national emissions are targeted under a
revision of the NEC Directive while emission standards from
Medium-sized Combustion Plants (MCP) have been agreed
and will come into force for new plant from 2017 and for
existing plant in 2025 and 2030 depending on size.12
WHO Guideline Values
Stricter air quality standards for key parameters
developed
The WHO has devised air quality guidelines for particulate
matter (PM10 and PM2.5), BaP, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and
sulphur dioxide (WHO, 2005; Krzyzanowski and Cohen,
2008). These guidelines were developed by the WHO in
order to inform policymakers and provide appropriate
air quality targets worldwide, based on the latest health
information available. Since 2012, the EPA’s annual
reports have been assessing air quality against these much
more stringent air quality indicators. There have been
exceedances of the guideline values for particulate matter,
ozone and PAHs (EEA reference level13 ) and the EPA has
called for the adoption of these more stringent WHO
guidelines for particulate matter and ozone.
Industry
Emissions of specific air pollutants from industry
and power have reduced in recent years
Industrial Emissions (IE) and Integrated Pollution Control
(IPC) licensing, enforced by the EPA, help to curb emissions
from industry and the power generation sectors of Ireland.
This has been effective – trends have shown all pollutants
decreasing or holding steady (EPA, 2015a) against a
backdrop of increased economic activity, which indicates
a decoupling of economic growth and emissions. The
introduction of the Medium Combustion Plant Directive will
have a positive impact on emissions from industry.
Residential Heating
A significant source of particulates that the extension
of the smoky coal ban aims to address
Comparison of national ambient air monitoring results
with WHO guideline values for particulates and PAHs
shows the need for progress with regard to reducing levels
of emissions attributable to residential heating. The ban on
the marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous fuel (the
“smoky coal ban”), which was first introduced in Dublin
in 1990 and extended over the intervening period to 26
other cities and towns, and now also includes a ban on use
of such fuels, has proved effective. The implementation of
a nationwide smoky coal ban, as announced by Minister
12
13
31 Chapter 2: Air Quality and Transboundary Air Emissions