Executive Summary
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2015 Air Quality Updating and Screening Assessment for North Hertfordshire District Council In fulfillment of Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 Local Air Quality Management September 2015 North Hertfordshire District Council Local Authority David Carr – Environmental Protection Officer Officer Department Environmental Protection Council Offices, Gernon Road, Address Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG3 6JF Telephone 01462 474 263 e-mail [email protected] Report Reference NHDC USA 2015 number Date September 2015 North Hertfordshire District Council - LAQM USA 2015 1 North Hertfordshire District Council Executive Summary As required by Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC) has undertaken the 2015 Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment (USA) of air quality for the district. This USA report is a review of air pollution measurement data compared to the national air quality objectives for human health. In addition the report is a review of any new or existing potential sources of air pollution and an assessment of their potential impacts on air quality for the population of the district. NHDC assessed new and existing sources of air pollution from within the district and did not identify any new, or previously unrecognised existing, sources that were likely to be responsible for national air quality objectives for human health being exceeded. NHDC monitored appropriate locations within the district in 2014 and with the exception of two areas of the district the air quality objectives were not exceeded. Therefore, although the majority of the population of the district is not exposed to air pollution at a level above the national air quality objectives for human health there are two areas where this does not appear to be the case. The two areas are identified below. The mean annual average air quality objective for nitrogen dioxide in 2014 was exceeded at Stevenage Road, Hitchin. This is consistent with the findings of all of the Local Air Quality Management reporting since the 2010 Progress Report and is consistent with the area having been designated an Air Quality Management Area in 2013. The mean annual average air quality objective for nitrogen dioxide was exceeded at the north end of Park Way, Hitchin, at the Payne’s Park roundabout. This monitoring location was introduced for the first time in March 2011 following the 2011 Detailed Assessment Report and in all subsequent years the objective was exceeded at that location. A 2014 Detailed Assessment Report was undertaken to investigate whether an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) should be designated as a result of the nitrogen dioxide concentrations in the area. It concluded that although concentrations were close to exceeding objectives at 41 Upper Tilehouse Street the case for an AQMA was not strong enough. However, as at August 2015 this conclusion under question by Defra and their consultant, so it may yet become necessary to extend the Stevenage Road AQMA to include 41 Upper Tilehouse Street, or to designate a new AQMA at 41 Upper Tilehouse Street. North Hertfordshire District Council - LAQM USA 2015 2 North Hertfordshire District Council NHDC will continue to: monitor air quality in its District implement measures identified in its Action Plan for the AQMA at Stevenage Road, Hitchin take whatever action is agreed as necessary with regard to the air quality issue at 41 Upper Tilehouse Street, Hitchin. North Hertfordshire District Council - LAQM USA 2015 3 North Hertfordshire District Council Table of contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................... 2 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Description of Local Authority Area ................................................................................... 7 1.2 Purpose of Report .............................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Air Quality Objectives ........................................................................................................ 8 1.4 Summary of Previous Review and Assessments ............................................................ 10 2 New Monitoring Data ..................................................................................... 13 2.1 Summary of Monitoring Undertaken ................................................................................ 13 2.1.1 Automatic Monitoring Sites .............................................................................................. 13 2.1.2 Non-Automatic Monitoring Sites ...................................................................................... 17 2.2 Comparison of Monitoring Results with AQ Objectives ................................................... 33 2.2.1 Nitrogen Dioxide .............................................................................................................. 33 2.2.2 PM10 ................................................................................................................................. 40 2.2.1 Sulphur Dioxide................................................................................................................ 41 2.2.2 Benzene ........................................................................................................................... 41 2.2.3 Other pollutants monitored .............................................................................................. 41 2.2.4 Summary of Compliance with Air Quality Strategy Objectives ........................................ 43 3 Road Traffic Sources ..................................................................................... 44 3.1 Narrow Congested Streets with Residential Properties Close to the Kerb ..................... 44 3.2 Busy Streets Where People May Spend 1-hour or More Close to Traffic ....................... 45 3.3 Roads with a High Flow of Buses and/or HGVs. ............................................................. 45 3.4 Junctions .......................................................................................................................... 45 3.5 New Roads Constructed or Proposed Since the Last Round of Review & Assessment 45 3.6 Roads with Significantly Changed Traffic Flows .............................................................. 45 3.7 Bus and Coach Stations .................................................................................................. 45 4 Other Transport Sources ............................................................................... 46 4.1 Airports ............................................................................................................................. 46 4.2 Railways (Diesel and Steam Trains) ............................................................................... 47 4.2.1 Stationary Trains .............................................................................................................. 47 4.2.2 Moving Trains .................................................................................................................. 47 4.3 Ports (Shipping) ............................................................................................................... 47 5 Industrial Sources .......................................................................................... 48 5.1 Industrial Installations ...................................................................................................... 48 5.1.1 New or Proposed Installations for which an Air Quality Assessment has been undertaken ......................................................................................................................................... 48 5.1.2 Existing Installations where Emissions have Increased Substantially or New Relevant Exposure has been introduced........................................................................................................ 48 North Hertfordshire District Council - LAQM USA 2015 4 North Hertfordshire District Council 5.1.3 New or Significantly Changed Installations with No Previous Air Quality Assessment ... 48 5.2 Major Fuel (Petrol) Storage Depots ................................................................................. 48 5.3 Petrol Stations.................................................................................................................. 48 5.4 Poultry Farms................................................................................................................... 48 6 Commercial and Domestic Sources ............................................................. 49 6.1 Biomass Combustion – Individual Installations ............................................................... 49 6.2 Biomass Combustion – Combined Impacts ..................................................................... 49 6.3 Domestic Solid-Fuel Burning ........................................................................................... 49 6.4 Fugitive or Uncontrolled Sources..................................................................................... 49 7 Conclusions and Proposed Actions ............................................................. 50 7.1 Conclusions from New Monitoring Data .......................................................................... 50 7.2 Conclusions from Assessment of Sources .....................................................................