EN Official Journal of the European Union L 226/4

COMMISSION DIRECTIVE (EU) 2015/1480

of 28 August 2015

amending several annexes to Directives 2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the rules concerning reference methods, data validation and location of sampling points for the assessment of ambient air quality

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2004/107/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air (1), and in particular Article 4(15) thereof,

Having regard to Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (2), and in particular Article 28(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) In accordance with Article 4(15) of Directive 2004/107/EC, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 219/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), the Commission is empowered to amend certain provisions of Annexes IV and V.

(2) Annex IV to Directive 2004/107/EC, lays down data quality objectives that need to be updated in order to achieve better clarity.

(3) Annex V to Directive 2004/107/EC lays down the reference methods for assessment of concentrations, and such methods should be updated in order to reflect the development of the relevant standards.

(4) In accordance with Article 28(1) of Directive 2008/50/EC the Commission is empowered to amend certain provisions of Annexes I, III, VI and IX.

(5) Section C of Annex I to Directive 2008/50/EC lays down criteria for the quality assurance for ambient air quality assessment, which need to be clarified and complemented taking into account the quality assurance programmes organised by the Commission's Joint Research Centre and introducing the obligation of reviewing the quality control system in order to ensure the continued accuracy of monitoring devices.

(6) Sections C and D of Annex III to Directive 2008/50/EC lay down criteria for the siting of sampling points, which need to be clarified and complemented in the light of the experience gained in implementing the Directive.

(7) Section A of Annex VI to Directive 2008/50/EC lays down the reference method for the measurement of certain pollutants, which need to be adapted having regard to the experience gained in implementing the Directive and taking into account the most recent standards for the sampling and measurement of particulate matter.

(8) In accordance with the Joint Political Declaration of Member States and the Commission of 28 September 2011 on explanatory documents (4), Member States have undertaken to accompany, in justified cases, the notification of their transposition measures with one or more documents explaining the relationship between the components of a directive and the corresponding parts of national transposition instruments.

(9) The measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the Ambient Air Quality Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Annexes IV and V to Directive 2004/107/EC are amended in accordance with Annex I to this Directive.

Article 2

Annexes I, III, VI and IX to Directive 2008/50/EC are amended in accordance with Annex II to this Directive.

Article 3

The provisions of this Directive should be read in conjunction with those of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), in particular as regards the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies, and do not introduce any derogation or exception to the above Regulation.

Article 4

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 31 December 2016 at the latest. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions.

When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 5

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 6

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 28 August 2015. For the Commission The President Jean-Claude JUNCKER

(1) OJ L 23, 26.1.2005, p. 3.

(2) OJ L 152, 11.6.2008, p. 1.

(3) Regulation (EC) No 219/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 adapting a number of instruments subject to the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty to Council Decision 1999/468/EC with regard to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny — Adaptation to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny — Part Two (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 109).

(4) OJ C 369, 17.12.2011, p. 14.

(5) Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 339/93 (OJ L 218, 13.8.2008, p. 30).

ANNEX I Directive 2004/107/EC is amended as follows: (1) Section I of Annex IV is amended as follows: (a) the table is replaced by the following: ‘Benzo(a)pyrene Arsenic, cadmium and nickel Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons other than benzo(a)pyrene, total gaseous mercury Total deposition — Uncertainty Fixed and indicative measurements 50 % 40 % 50 % 70 % Modelling 60 % 60 % 60 % 60 % — Minimum data capture 90 % 90 % 90 % 90 % — Minimum time coverage Fixed measurements (1) 33 % 50 % Indicative measurements (1) (2) 14 % 14 % 14 % 33 % (b) in the third paragraph, the following sentence is deleted: ‘Twenty-four hour sampling is also advisable for the measurement of arsenic, cadmium and nickel concentrations.’ (c) after the third paragraph the following text is inserted: ‘The provisions on individual samples in the previous paragraph apply also to arsenic, cadmium, nickel and total gaseous mercury. Moreover, sub–sampling of PM10 filters for metals for subsequent analysis is allowed, providing there is evidence that the sub-sample is representative of the whole and that the detection sensitivity is not compromised when compared with the relevant data quality objectives. As an alternative to daily sampling, weekly sampling for metals in PM10 is allowed provided that the collection characteristics are not compromised.’ (2) Sections I to IV of Annex V are replaced by the following: ‘I. Reference method for the sampling and analysis of arsenic, cadmium and nickel in ambient air The reference method for the sampling of arsenic, cadmium and nickel in ambient air is described in EN 12341:2014. The reference method for the measurement of arsenic, cadmium and nickel in ambient air is that described in EN 14902:2005 “Ambient air quality — Standard method for the measurement of Pb, Cd, As and Ni in the PM10 fraction of suspended particulate matter”. A Member State may also use any other methods which it can demonstrate give results equivalent to the above method. II. Reference method for the sampling and analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air The reference method for the sampling of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air is described in EN 12341:2014. The reference method for the measurement of benzo(a)pyrene in ambient air is that described in EN 15549:2008 “Air quality — Standard method for the measurement of concentration of benzo[a]pyrene in ambient air”. In the absence of a CEN standard method for the other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons referred to in Article 4(8), Member States are allowed to use national standards methods or ISO methods such as ISO standard 12884. A Member State may also use any other method which it can demonstrate give results equivalent to the above method. III. Reference method for the sampling and analysis of mercury in ambient air The reference method for the measurement of total gaseous mercury concentrations in ambient air is that described in EN 15852:2010 “Ambient air quality — Standard method for the determination of total gaseous mercury”. A Member State may also use any other method which it can demonstrate give results equivalent to the above method. IV. Reference method for the sampling and analysis of the deposition of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons The reference method for the determination of the deposition of arsenic, cadmium, and nickel is that described in EN 15841:2009 “Ambient air quality — Standard method for determination of arsenic, cadmium, lead and nickel in atmospheric deposition”. The reference method for the determination of the deposition of mercury is that described in EN 15853:2010 “Ambient air quality — Standard method for determination of mercury deposition”. The reference method for the determination of the deposition of benzo(a)pyrene and the other polycyclic hydrocarbons referred to in Article 4(8) is that described in EN 15980:2011 “Air quality. Determination of the deposition of benz[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[j]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene”.’ (1) Distributed over the year to be representative of various conditions for climate and anthropogenic activities (2) Indicative measurement being measurements which are performed at reduced regularity but fulfil the other data quality objectives’