Local Action Needed To Meet National Pollution Targets

摘要

In February, the Chairman of NSCA Council, Keith Horton, wrote to the Transport Minister, Lord Macdonald, asking him to clarify the Government's position on whether local transport management measures will be required to meet the national Air Quality Objectives. Government policy, supported by NSCA and reiterated in the recent Air Quality Strategy, had been that technological improvements to road vehicles would not be sufficient to achieve either the national Air Quality Objectives or the EU Limit values for some pollutants, in some areas. In this case, locally directed traffic management measures, such as Low Emission Zones, would supplement national action. Recent press reports and briefings however, had suggested a shift in policy towards the sole use of technological improvements to improve air quality.