Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a reciprocal exchange of information and data from networks and individual stations measuring ambient air pollution within the Member States (94/C 281/07) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(94) 345 final - 94/0194(SYN)

(Submitted by the Commission on 7 September 1994)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130s (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

In cooperation with the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas the fifth European Community action programme on the environment provides for the collection of baseline data on the environment and an improvement in their compatibility, comparability and transparency;

Whereas the objectives and tasks of the European Environment Agency are set out in Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 (1);

Whereas it is necessary to establish a procedure for the exchange of information on air quality in order to combat pollution and nuisance, this being one of the Community's objectives concerning the improvement of the quality of life and the harmonious development of economic activities throughout the Community;

Whereas the experience built up as the result of the exchanges of information established by Decisions 75/441/EEC and 82/459/EEC makes it possible to establish a more complete and more representative exchange of information by increasing the number of pollutants and stations considered;

Whereas using common criteria for validating and processing the measurement results will increase the compatibility and comparability of the data transmitted;

Whereas the information collected needs to be sufficiently representative to enable pollution levels to be mapped throughout the Community;

Whereas exchanging the results of measurements of pollution levels will make it possible to monitor long-term trends and improvements resulting from national and Community legislation to combat air pollution;

Whereas air-quality data need to be transmitted for the purposes of certain international programmes,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

A reciprocal exchange of information and data from networks and individual stations measuring ambient air pollution, hereinafter referred to as 'reciprocal exchange`, is hereby established. It shall apply to:

- networks and stations, covering detailed information describing the air-pollution monitoring networks and stations operating in the Member States, and

- measuring results, covering statistics and individual results obtained from the measurement of air pollution by stations in the Member States.

The Commission will be responsible for the operation of the reciprocal exchange; it will call upon the European Environment Agency for matters falling within the latter's sphere of competence.

Article 2

The reciprocal exchange shall cover the pollutants listed in Annex I to the extent that they are measured in the Member States.

Article 3

The following stations shall take part in the reciprocal exchange:

(a) all stations used for the purpose of implementing the air quality standards directives;

(b) additional stations selected by the Member States in order to estimate local pollution levels for pollutants listed in Annex I but not covered by the air quality standards directives;

(c) additional stations selected by the Member States in order to make a representative estimate of regional pollution levels for all the pollutants listed in Annex I:

(d) where possible, the stations which took part in the reciprocal exchange of information established by Decision 82/459/EEC.

Article 4

Networks and stations

1. The information to be communicated to the Commission shall concern the characteristics of the measurement stations, the measurement equipment and the operational procedures followed in those stations and the structure and organization of the networks to which they belong. The information required is specified in Annex II.

2. The Commission will make available to the Member States computer files containing the information already collected by its departments on the subject and software enabling them to be used and updated.

3. The Member States shall correct, amend and/or supplement that information. The updated computer files shall be sent to the Commission each year by 1 October at the latest; the first sending shall take place by 1 October 1994.

4. The technical procedures for the transfer of information shall be specified in a detailed technical note drawn up by the Committee referred to in Article 8.

5. The Commission shall include the information transmitted in its data base.

6. The Commission shall prepare each year a technical report on the information collected and shall make available to the Member States the updated 'networks-stations` data base.

Article 5

Measurement results

1. The following results shall be transmitted to the Commission:

(a) raw data and statistics corresponding to the recommended averaging times indicated in Annex I for at least 30 % of the stations referred to in Article 3 (a); those stations must be distributed over the entire national territory;

(b) raw data and statistics corresponding to the recommended averaging times indicated in Annex I for all the stations referred to in Article 3 (d);

(c) at least the statistics indicated in Annex I for all the other stations referred to in Article 3 but not mentioned above.

The results shall be expressed in accordance with Annex I.

2. Member States shall be responsible for validating the raw data transmitted or used to calculate the statistics values transmitted in accordance with the general rules set out in Annex III. Any aggregation of raw data and the calculation of statistics by a Member State shall comply with criteria at least as stringent as those indicated in Annex IV. A quality code, as set out in Annex V, shall be assigned to each item of data.

3. The Member States shall transmit the results for the calendar year by 1 October of the following year at the latest; the first transfer shall cover the calendar year 1992.

4. The technical procedures for the transfer of results shall be laid down in a detailed technical note drawn up by the Committee referred to in Article 8.

5. The Commission shall include the data transmitted in its data base.

6. The Commission shall prepare each year a technical report on the results collected and shall make available to the Member States the updated 'results` data base.

7. In agreement with the Member States, the Commission shall ensure the transfer to international bodies of selected data needed for the purposes of various international programmes.

Article 6

The information and results transmitted in the context of the reciprocal exchange shall be regarded as being accurate unless they are explicitly designated by the Member States as being temporary and/or not verified. In that event, the Member States shall endeavour to transmit the validated results as quickly as possible.

Article 7

Each Member State shall designate a central body responsible for the implementation and operation of the reciprocal exchange and shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

Article 8

This Decision shall be adapted to scientific and technical progress via the Committee set up by Directive 94/ . . ./EEC on ambient air quality assessment and management, in accordance with Article 12 of that Directive. Such adaptation shall concern:

- the preparation and updating of detailed technical notes concerning the transfer of data and information,

- the use of new technical means for the transfer of data and information,

- liaison with the activities undertaken by the Commission and the European Environment Agency concerning the emissions inventory,

- amendments to the list of pollutants given in Annex I,

- the incorporation of new concepts of measurement techniques in the reciprocal exchange procedure,

- the extension of the procedure to data and information from non-Community countries.

Article 9

This Decision shall apply with effect from 1 October 1994.

Article 10

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) OJ No L 120, 11. 5. 1990, p. 1.

ANNEX I

List of pollutants, recommended averaging times, statistical parameters and units of measurement

>TABLE>

The statistics, calculated over the calendar year, to be transmitted to the Commission are as follows:

- for pollutants 1 to 32:

the arithmetic mean, the median, the percentiles 98 (and 99,9 for pollutants for which the mean is calculated over one hour) and the maximum calculated from raw data corresponding to the recommended averaging times indicated in the table above; for pollutant 6 (ozone), the statistical parameters should also be calculated from mean values over eight hours,

- for pollutants 33 and 34:

the arithmetic mean, calculated from raw data corresponding to the recommended averaging times indicated in the table above.

The xth percentile should be calculated from the values actually measured. All the values should be listed in increasing order:

x1≤x2≤x3≤ . . . . . . ≤xk≤ . . . . . . ≤xn-1≤xn

the xth percentile is the value of k, calculated as follows:

k = (q * n)

where q is equal to x/100 and n is the number of values actually measured. The value of (q * n) should be rounded off to the nearest whole number.

All the results should be expressed in g/m3 (at the following conditions of temperature and pressure: 293 °K and 101,3 kPa) except for pollutants 33 and 34 for which the results should be expressed in g/m2/year.

ANNEX II

Information concerning networks, stations and measurement techniques

As much information as possible should be supplied about the following points:

I. Information concerning networks

- Name

- Abbreviation

- Geographical coverage (local industry, town/city, urban area/conurbation, county, region, entire country)

- Body responsible for network management:

- name

- name of person responsible

- address

- telephone and fax numbers

- legal status (private, semi-public, public)

- Technical body responsible for network maintenance:

- name

- name of person responsible

- address

- telephone and fax numbers

- Time reference basis (GMT, local)

- General information concerning:

- special protection areas and warning procedures in the geographical area where the network is located

- data-validation procedure

- statistical processing carried out

- information circulated/broadcast (brochures, reports, radio, TV)

- linkage with data bases containing information about the network

- other relevant information

II. Information concerning stations

II.1. General information

- Name

- Reference number or code

- Name of technical body responsible for the station (if different from that responsible for the network)

- Type of station (local, regional, Community air quality directives, GEMS, OECD, EMEP, other)

- Date when first operated

- Date when last operated

- Period of measurement over the year

- Geographical coordinates

- Altitude

- NUTS level III

- Pollutants measured

- Metereological parameters measured

- Prevailing wind direction

- Ratio between distance from and height of closest obstacles

- Other relevant information

II.2. Spatial characteristics

II.2.1. Immediate surroundings (100 m radius)

- General description: up to four of the following indicators:

- wide street with:

- large volume of traffic (in excess of 10 000 vehicles a day)

- moderate volume of traffic (between 2 000 and 10 000 vehicles a day)

- low volume of traffic (less than 2 000 vehicles a day)

- pedestrian area

- narrow street with:

- large volume of traffic (in excess of 10 000 vehicles a day)

- moderate volume of traffic (between 2 000 and 10 000 vehicles a day)

- low volume of traffic (less than 2 000 vehicles a day)

- pedestrian area

- canyon street with:

- large volume of traffic (in excess of 10 000 vehicles a day)

- moderate volume of traffic (between 2 000 and 10 000 vehicles a day)

- low volume of traffic (less than 2 000 vehicles a day)

- pedestrian area

- square

- footpath

- facade of building

- church tower, terrace

- courtyard, school, hospital

- trees

- vast flat area

- industrial area

- tunnel

- field, meadow/grassland

II.2.2. Local environment (5 km radius)

- Landscape morphology: the area around the station is divided into four sectors. For each sector give the percentage of the following morphological characteristics:

- urban - commercial

- urban - industrial

- urban - residential

- mixture of commercial, industrial and residential

- high industrial concentration

- moderate industrial concentration

- low industrial concentration

- commercial

- residential (detached dwellings)

- port

- airport

- forest/woodland

- park, natural area

- crop-growing area

- stock-farming area

- hills/mountains, valleys

- seaside or lakeside

- greenhouses

If information by sector is not available, the area should be described as a whole, giving up to four of the abovementioned parameters.

- Total population of the area

II.2.3. Characterization of stations in terms of traffic

- Total number of vehicles per day

- Distance of monitor from centre-line of road

- Average speed of traffic

- Characteristics of traffic:

- regular congestion affecting at least 50 % of vehicles using the road

- normal road with a speed limit of 50 km/h without regular congestion

- road with a speed limit in excess of 50 km/h but not a motorway

- motorway

- Buses and heavy goods vehicles as a percentage of total traffic

- Ratio between the distance to the centre-line of the road and the height of office/apartment blocks

- Type of road:

- road in open country; no building or trees within 100 m (or so few that the evenness of the land is not affected)

- road with buildings at least 3 m high on both sides; no gap wider than 25 m and at least 75 m of buildings per 100 m of road; the ratio between the height of buildings and the distance from them to the centre-line of the road is 1,5 to 3 on one side and at least 3 on the other

- special instance of the preceding type of road, where the ratio is less than 1,5 for both sides of the road

- road with buildings at least 3 m high on one side and a ratio between height of buildings and distance from the centre-line of the road less than 3; no buildings on the other side or a ratio well in excess of 3, preferably in excess of 10

- basic road type - any road which cannot be classified in any of the other categories

III. Information concerning measurement techniques

- Date when pollutant first measured

- Date when pollutant last measured

- Equipment:

- name

- analytical principle

- date when first used

- date when last used

- Characteristics of sampling:

- height of sampling point

- length of sampling line

- result-integrating time (for monitors with continuous output)

- sampling time (for monitors where the sample is analysed in the laboratory or without continuous output)

- Calibration:

- type: automatic, manual, automatic and manual

- method

- frequency

- Zero adjustment:

- type: automatic, manual, automatic and manual

- method

- frequency

- Maintenance:

- frequency of maintenance

- frequency of checking of calibration system

ANNEX III

Raw data validation procedure

The purpose of the raw data validation procedure is to filter out incorrect or doubtful data before they are transferred to the final data base or to an outside user.

The validation procedure should comprise at least the following two stages:

- the first stage consists in marking the data: they are not corrected or rejected and remain physically available. Events to be taken into consideration in this connection are, for example: disturbances due to maintenance, calibration or technical problems, off-scale measurements, and data indicating rapid variations, such as excessive falls or rises.

The data should also be revised on the basis of criteria based on a knowledge of climatic and meteorological influence specific to the site during the measurement period,

- the purpose of the second stage, to be carried out subsequently, is to detect erroneous measurements by techniques such as comparison with preceding months and with other pollutants and standard deviation analysis.

The validation list drawn up during the first stage should also be examined and verified.

After the two stages, erroneous data can be physically rejected and need not be transmitted. Nevertheless, the reason for rejecting them should be indicated at the time of transfer by means of one of the quality codes indicated in Annex V.

ANNEX IV

Criteria for the aggregation of raw data and the calculation of statistical parameters

(a) Aggregation of raw data

The criteria for the calculation of one-hour and 24-hour values from data with a smaller averaging time are:

- for one-hour values:

at least 75 % of data accepted (codes V, O, R defined in Annex V)

- for 24-hour values:

over 50 % of one-hour data accepted (codes V, O, R defined in Annex V) and not more than 25 % of successive data values not accepted (codes C, Z, M, D, N, T defined in Annex V)

(b) Calculation of statistical parameters

- For the mean and the median:

over 50 % of data accepted (codes V, O, R defined in Annex V)

- For the percentiles 98, 99,9 and the maximum:

over 75 % of data accepted (codes V, O, R defined in Annex V)

The ratio between the number of valid data (codes V, O, R defined in Annex V for the two seasons of the year considered cannot be greater than 2, the two seasons being winter (from January to March inclusive and from October to December inclusive) and summer (from April to September inclusive).

ANNEX V

Quality codes

(a) Raw data quality codes

These codes characterize the validity and quality of the raw data

Data accepted:

V = valid data

O = corrected data

R = reconstructed data

Data rejected:

C = data disturbed by the calibration procedure

Z = data disturbed by the zero-adjustment procedure

M = data disturbed by the maintenance procedures

D = erroneous data due to technical deficiency

N = erroneous data for unknown reason

Temporary data:

T = data not subjected to adequate validation procedures

(b) Aggregated data quality codes

These codes characterize the validity and quality of the aggregated data. They are similar to those defined for raw data. The code adopted on aggregation is the code assigned to the most frequent raw data.

Data accepted:

V = valid data

O = corrected data

R = reconstructed data

Data rejected:

C = data disturbed by the calibration procedure

Z = data disturbed by the zero-adjustment procedure

M = data disturbed by the maintenance procedures

D = erroneous data due to technical deficiency

N = erroneous data for unknown reason

Temporary data:

T = data not subjected to adequate validation procedures

(c) Statistical data quality codes

These codes characterize the validity and quality of the statistical data:

Valid data:

V = valid data (number and distribution of raw data V, O, R sufficient)

Data rejected:

I = number of raw data V, O, R insufficient

R = insufficient distribution of raw data over the period considered

Temporary data:

T = data calculated on the basis of raw data not subjected to adequate validation procedures.