Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Council Directive relating to limit values for benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air"

(1999/C 138/12)

On 10 March 1999, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 130s of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 2 March 1999. The rapporteur was Mr Gafo Fernández, with Mr Chiriaco and Mrs Davison as co-rapporteurs.

At its 362nd plenary session (meeting of 25 March), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 91 votes to one, with six abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. The proposal under discussion follows on from Directive 96/62/EC on air quality, which laid down the need to guarantee ambient air quality by setting limit values for a list of pollutants, including benzene and carbon monoxide. The current proposal may therefore be regarded as a "daughter directive" of Directive 96/62/EC.

1.2. The legal basis is Article 130s, although the recitals also refer to Article 130r (the precautionary principle) and Article 129 (health protection).

1.3. The impact of these pollutants on public health has been scientifically proven. More specifically, benzene is considered carcinogenic, although only in the event of long-term exposure. Carbon monoxide reduces the blood's capacity to carry oxygen and in high concentrations can cause lethal poisoning, although only in enclosed spaces.

1.4. Emissions of these pollutants have various sources, although the largest one is the use and combustion of fuel oil and petrol in road transport vehicles. In the case of carbon monoxide, burning of forest, savannah and agricultural waste accounts for half the global emissions. It is, therefore, no surprise that urban areas with dense road traffic have a high concentration of potential risk areas.

1.5. It is hoped that the entry into force of a number of EU environmental measures will significantly reduce the current concentration levels. In particular:

- In relation to road traffic: the entry into force of the Auto-Oil programme and of directives on improving the efficiency of private vehicles.

- In relation to industrial emissions: the entry into force of the IPPC Directive and the VOC Directive, Stage I.

1.6. In the lead-up to this proposal, the Commission considered a series of reference documents and studies, including the following:

- indicative air quality levels established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in relation to carbon monoxide;

- extending to benzene the principle, accepted in the drinking water directive, whereby limit values are set on the basis of a one in a million increased risk of contracting cancer over a lifetime;

- report entrusted by the European Commission to an external consultancy, on the economic assessment of air quality targets for benzene and carbon monoxide;

- studies and results of the Auto-Oil programme.

Experts from the Member States, industry, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were also consulted.

1.7. The lines of action to measure, monitor and enforce such air quality levels are structured around the following three types of measures:

- setting limit values for concentrations of benzene and carbon monoxide in accordance with a pre-established schedule;

- establishing a uniform network of measurement stations including alternative equipment or systems capable of measuring these pollutants throughout the Community;

- informing the public of the real air quality in each individual measuring area.

1.8. Lastly, by 31 December 2004 the Commission has to publish a report on the implementation of this directive as part of the air quality strategy; the report will also contain proposals for the revision of the directive.

2. General comments

2.1. The Committee welcomes this second directive arising from Directive 96/62/EC on ambient air quality and urges the Commission to submit proposals for the remaining pollutants still requiring regulation.

2.2. The Committee is aware that the database on the various parameters for ambient air quality for the Community as a whole is still inadequate. This stems from the extreme complexity of defining the areas, the responsibility of the national authorities in this matter, and the pinpointing of air quality "hot spots" within specific areas. These factors are compounded by the complexity of the measurement systems, based on a combination of direct measurements, indirect systems, and mathematical estimation models.

2.3. Consequently, while it fully endorses the objectives laid down in Article 1, the Committee would have preferred references to establishing concentration limits for benzene and carbon monoxide or maintaining good air quality where it already exists to have been tied in with a parallel improvement in measurement and monitoring systems in general, and especially with the urgent identification of air quality hot spots, for which special measures need to be introduced.

2.4. The Committee takes the view that the general limit established for benzene and the temporary waivers for regions with severe socio-economic problems need to be differentiated in several respects. The reasons are as follows:

2.4.1. Insufficient accuracy of measurement systems (criteria for determining areas, the combination of direct measurement and modelling systems) compared with the extremely low permissible concentration limit for benzene in ambient air (0,000005 g/m3 or 5 µg/m3) as provided for in the draft directive.

2.4.2. The absence of WHO guidelines, which are replaced, according to the Commission document, by a range of between 0,2 and 20 µg/m3 , equivalent to the one in a million increased risk of contracting cancer if continuously exposed over a lifetime to such concentrations of benzene in ambient air.

2.4.3. The fact that it is difficult to identify these hot spots and generally impossible to reduce their average levels in a short space of time. Nevertheless, the Committee is in full agreement with the limit of 5 µg/m3 proposed by the Commission.

2.5. The Committee believes that both the limit proposed for carbon monoxide (10 mg/m3) and the date provided for its entry into force (1 January 2005) are acceptable.

2.6. The Committee calls on the Commission and the Member States, during the period up to the entry into force of this directive and all of those relating to air quality, to improve the systems used to define areas so that these directives may be implemented. It also calls on them to employ the best available measurement technologies in order to improve our knowledge and achieve more accurate measurement of air quality and of its development with the introduction of the set of measures described in point 1, and the precise and systematic identification of all air quality hot spots.

2.7. The Committee fully supports the public information system provided for in Article 6 and sees this as an essential aspect of informing the public and of making it generally aware of air quality problems and of the need to seek global solutions to these.

Brussels, 25 March 1999.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI

APPENDIX

to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee

Rejected amendment

The following amendment, which was supported by more than a quarter of the votes cast, was discussed and rejected in the plenary session:

Point 2.4.3

"Replace by the following:

The difficulty in identifying these hotspots, especially in urban areas, and the general impossibility of reducing their average levels in a short space of time could justify the option, in the case of socio-economic problems, of calling for blanket extensions of five years or more.

Consequently, to avoid failure to comply with the directive's rules, the 5 µg/m3 limit should be retained, along with a limit of 10 µg/m3 in hotspots only, to be accompanied by an obligation on the competent authority to adopt all suitable preventive measures to bring it down to 5 µg/m3."

Reason

A literal application of the Commission Report's proposal under point 4.6.3 (page 17 of the English text) could compromise all limit values as the extremely wide range of socio-economic problems stemming from strict implementation of the rules could prompt all Member States to request an extension of the date of enforcement, both in and outside hotspots.

Result of the vote

For: 36, against: 57, abstentions: 7.