South Bucks District Council April 2011 2010 Air Quality Progress Report for South Bucks District Council In fulfillment of Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 Local Air Quality Management April, 2011 Progress Report i April 2011 South Bucks District Council Local Dr Stuart Maxwell Authority Officer Department Environmental Health Address Capswood, Oxford Road, Denham, Bucks, UB9 4LH Telephone 01895 837326 e-mail [email protected] Report Reference number Date April 2011 ii Progress Report South Bucks District Council April 2011 Executive Summary There have been no major changes in pollution sources within the District since the 2009 Review and Assessment report. A new motorway service station opened in the district in February 2009 and a programme for monitoring NO2 and benzene was operated there during 2010. This showed that the relevant Air Quality Objectives were not exceeded. Owing to the largely rural nature of the district, the only significant sources of pollution are the motorways (M25, M40 and M4) which pass through the district, and an AQMA was declared around the motorways in 2004. Generally, however, NO2 levels seemed to be a little higher than previous years. This may have been a result of some unusually high levels in January 2009, which skewed the annual mean. Five tubes, out of 16 locations showed an exceedence. Three of the five tubes were those used for the co-location study at the continuous monitoring station, and adjoin the existing AQMA. Of the remaining two, one was the Tatling end site, with a bias corrected annual mean 43.15 μg/m3. Using the calculator at http://www.airquality.co.uk/laqm/tools/NO2withDistancefromRoadsCalculatorIssue2.xl s to correct for NO2 fall off with distance, it was found that there was a level of 36.5 μg/m3 at the nearest receptor. The remaining site was in Station Road in Beaconsfield, with a bias corrected annual 3 mean of 41.76 μg/m . At the nearest receptor, the concentration of NO2 was calculated to be 38.4 μg/m3. 3 The annual mean for PM10 was 21.2 μg/m when the volatile correction model was applied and 21 μg/m3 when the gravimetric correction factor of 1.3 was applied. Using the volatile correction model, there was one exceedence of the daily mean of 50 μg/m3, however, using the gravimetric correction there was no exceedence of the daily mean. Thus no detailed assessment is required for any pollutant in South Bucks District at the present time. Progress Report iii April 2011 South Bucks District Council Table of contents 1 Introduction 7 1.1 Description of Local Authority Area 7 1.2 Purpose of Progress Report 7 1.3 Air Quality Objectives 7 1.4 Summary of Previous Review and Assessments 9 2 New Monitoring Data 12 2.1 Summary of Monitoring Undertaken 12 2.2 Comparison of Monitoring Results with Air Quality Objectives 17 3 New Local Developments 28 3.1 Road Traffic Sources Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2 Other Transport Sources 28 3.3 Industrial Sources 32 3.4 Commercial and Domestic Sources 33 3.5 New Developments with Fugitive or Uncontrolled Sources 34 4 Local / Regional Air Quality Strategy 35 5 Planning Applications 36 6 Air Quality Planning Policies 37 7 Local Transport Plans and Strategies 38 8 Climate Change Strategies 39 9 Implementation of Action Plans 40 10 Conclusions and Proposed Actions 52 10.1 Conclusions from New Monitoring Data 52 10.2 Conclusions relating to New Local Developments 52 10.3 Other Conclusions 52 10.4 Proposed Actions 52 11 References 54 iv Progress Report South Bucks District Council April 2011 Appendices Appendix 1 QA:QC Data Appendix 2 Nitrogen Dioxide Passive Diffusion Tube Monitoring Results 2010 Appendix 3 TRL Report on Air Quality At Beaconsfield Motorway Service Station. List of Tables Table 1.1 Air Quality Objectives included in Regulations for the Purpose of Local Air Quality Management in England. Table 2.1 Details of Automatic Monitoring Sites. Table 2.2 Details of Non-Automatic Monitoring Sites Table 2.3a Results of Automatic Monitoring for Nitrogen Dioxide: Comparison with Annual Mean Objective. Table 2.3b Results of Automatic Monitoring for Nitrogen Dioxide: Comparison with 1-hour Mean Objective. Table 2.4a Results of Nitrogen Dioxide Diffusion Tubes 3 Table 2.4b Annual Mean NO2 Levels (μg/m ) Table 2.5a Results of PM10 Automatic Monitoring: Comparison with Annual Mean Objective Table 2.5b Results of PM10 Automatic Monitoring: Comparison with Annual Mean Objective (using Gravimetric Correction – factor of 1.3 applied) Table 2.5c Results of PM10 Automatic Monitoring: Comparison with Annual Mean Objective (corrected using Volatile Correction Model) Table 2.6 NO2 Levels at Beaconsfield Service Station Table 2.7 BTEX Levels at Beaconsfield Service Station Table 9.1 Action Plan Progress List of Figures Fgure 1.1 Map of AQMA Showing Diffusion Tube Locations Figure 2.1 Map and Ariel Photograph of M25 and Oxford Road (A40) Showing Location of Automatic Monitoring Station Figure 2.2: Location of Tatling End Diffusion Tube in Relation to Major Roads, AQMA, and Relevant Exposure. Figure 2.3: Aerial View of M25 after Completion of Widening Work. Figure 2.4 NO2 data from Beaconsfield Service Station Figure 3.1. Map Showing Monitoring Locations at Beaconsfield Service Station. Progress Report v April 2011 South Bucks District Council vi Progress Report South Bucks District Council April 2011 1 Introduction 1.1 Description of Local Authority Area South Bucks District is a small semi rural district covering approximately 50 square miles in the south of Buckinghamshire. It flanks Greater London to the east, and has southern and western boundaries along the River Thames. The population is approximately 63,700. Some 87% of the district is designated as Green Belt. There is no major urban centre within the district, but there are over 20 towns and villages, the largest of which are Beaconsfield, Burnham and Gerrards Cross. Air Quality in the area is generally good, although an Air Quality Management Area adjacent to the M4, M40 and M25 motorways as they pass through the district. However, in 2006, at all monitoring locations within the district, the National Air Quality Strategy Objectives for NO2 were met. The Review and Assessment process has suggested that the objectives for other pollutants should also be met, even though these are not measured directly. The relative prosperity in the District has led to higher than average levels of car ownership and use. Only 11.1% of households in the District have no car or van, compared to 26.8% nationally. About 65% of residents use a car to travel to work and only 1.5% uses a bus. Commuting levels into and out of the district are high. In 2001, about 19,300 people out of a working population of 30,000 travelled out of the district to work. Of the 29,700 people working in the District, about 19,000 of them travelled in from elsewhere. Only 10,700 both live and work in the District. 1.2 Purpose of Progress Report Progress Reports are required in the intervening years between the three-yearly Updating and Screening Assessment reports. Their purpose is to maintain continuity in the Local Air Quality Management process. They are not intended to be as detailed as Updating and Screening Assessment Reports, or to require as much effort. However, if the Progress Report identifies the risk of exceedence of an Air Quality Objective, the Local Authority (LA) should undertake a Detailed Assessment immediately, and not wait until the next round of Review and Assessment. 1.3 Air Quality Objectives The air quality objectives applicable to Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) in England are set out in the Air Quality (England) Regulations 2000 (SI 928), and the Air Quality (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 (SI 3043) and reviewed in the 2007 Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are shown in Table 1.1. This table shows the objectives in units of microgrammes per Progress Report 7 April 2011 South Bucks District Council cubic metre μg/m3 (for carbon monoxide the units used are milligrammes per cubic metre, mg/m3). Table 1.1. includes the number of permitted exceedences in any given year (where applicable). Table 1.1 Air Quality Objectives included in Regulations for the purpose of Local Air Quality Management in England. Pollutant Date to be Concentration Measured as achieved by Benzene 16.25 µg/m3 Running annual 31.12.2003 mean 5.00 µg/m3 Running annual 31.12.2010 mean 1,3-Butadiene 2.25 µg/m3 Running annual 31.12.2003 mean Carbon monoxide 10.0 mg/m3 Running 8-hour 31.12.2003 mean Lead 0.5 µg/m3 Annual mean 31.12.2004 0.25 µg/m3 Annual mean 31.12.2008 Nitrogen dioxide 200 µg/m3 not to be 1-hour mean 31.12.2005 exceeded more than 18 times a year 40 µg/m3 Annual mean 31.12.2005 3 Particles (PM10) 50 µg/m , not to be 24-hour mean 31.12.2004 (gravimetric) exceeded more than 35 times a year 40 µg/m3 Annual mean 31.12.2004 Sulphur dioxide 350 µg/m3, not to be 1-hour mean 31.12.2004 exceeded more than 24 times a year 125 µg/m3, not to be 24-hour mean 31.12.2004 exceeded more than 3 times a year 266 µg/m3, not to be 15-minute mean 31.12.2005 exceeded more than 35 times a year 8 Progress Report South Bucks District Council April 2011 1.4 Summary of Previous Review and Assessments The initial round of review and assessment for South Bucks District Council identified that the whole District would meet all of the National Air Quality Strategy Objectives.