S.I. No. 244/1987 - Air Pollution Act, 1987 (Air Quality Standards) Regulations, 1987.

S.I. No. 244 of 1987.

AIR POLLUTION ACT, 1987 (AIR QUALITY STANDARDS) REGULATIONS, 1987.

The Minister for the Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 10 and 50 of the Air Pollution Act, 1987 (No. 6 of 1987), hereby makes the following Regulations:—

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Air Pollution Act, 1987 (Air Quality Standards) Regulations, 1987.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of October, 1987.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

a reference to a Council Directive is a reference to a Directive of the Council of the European Economic Communities;

a reference to the Schedule is a reference to the Schedule to these Regulations;

"air quality standard" means a concentration in the air of a pollutant, in the quantity specified in the Schedule, which is not to be exceeded for the period and under the conditions specified in the Schedule in relation to that pollutant;

"mean" is the value obtained by dividing the aggregate of values for a pollutant obtained during a specified period by the number of these values;

"median of daily values" is the middle value or the average of the two middle values in the ordered sequence of daily values for a pollutant obtained during a specified period;

"98 percentile" is the value below which fall ninety eight per cent. of the values for a pollutant obtained during a specified period;

"suspended particulates" includes smoke.

(2) In these Regulations, air quality standards are expressed in terms of microgrammes of the pollutant concerned per cubic metre of air (μg/m³);

3. The air quality standards for sulphur dioxide shall be those specified in Part I of the Schedule, measured by the method described in Annex III, Part A to the Council Directive No. 80/779/EEC⁽¹⁾ with suspended particulates measured by the method described in Annex III, Part B to that Directive.

4. The air quality standards for suspended particulates shall be those specified in Part II of the Schedule, measured by the method described in Annex III, Part B to the Council Directive No. 80/779/EEC.⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾O.J. No. L229/30, 30th August, 1980

5. The air quality standard for lead shall be that specified in Part III of the Schedule, measured in accordance with the criteria described in the Annex to the Council Directive No. 82/884/EEC.⁽²⁾

⁽²⁾O.J. No. L378/15, 31st December, 1982

6. The air quality standard for nitrogen dioxide shall be that specified in Part IV of the Schedule, measured by the method described in Annex IV to the Council Directive No. 85/203/EEC.⁽³⁾

⁽³⁾O.J. No. L87/1, 27th March, 1985

SCHEDULE

PART I

Air Quality Standards for Sulphur Dioxide

PART II

Air Quality Standards for Suspended Particulates.

PART III

Air Quality Standard for Lead

PART IV

Air Quality Standard for Nitrogen Dioxide

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment this 18th day of September, 1987.

PADRAIG FLYNN,

Minister for the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations specify air quality standards for sulphur dioxide, suspended particulates, lead and nitrogen dioxide. Similar standards are contained in the following EEC Directives to which these Regulations thus give effect:

— No. 80/779/EEC of 15th July, 1980 (O.J. No. L229/30, 30th August, 1980) on air quality limit values and guide values for sulphur dioxide and suspended particulates,

— No. 82/884/EEC of 3rd December, 1982 (O.J. No. L378/15, 31st December, 1982) on a limit value for lead in the air, and

— No. 85/203/EEC of 7th March, 1985 (O.J. No. L87/1, 27th March, 1985) on air quality standards for nitrogen dioxide.

Under section 50 (3) of the Air Pollution Act, 1987 , a local authority must take appropriate steps to secure compliance with an air quality standard where it is being, or is likely to be, exceeded in any part of their functional area.