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'
Date: 1999-03-25
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: air quality, carbon, greenhouse gas, hydrocarbon, pollution control

C 138/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

18.5.1999

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 Ferna´ndez, 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 Direc-
tive 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).

The impact of

1.3.
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.

In the lead-up to this proposal,

1.6.
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 drink-
ing 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
governmental organizations (NGOs) were also consulted.

from the Member States,

industry, and non-

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
individual measuring area.

the real air quality in each

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.

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C 138/43

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,
indirect
based on a combination of direct measurements,
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 (cri-
teria for determining areas, the combination of direct measure-
ment and modelling systems) compared with the extremely
low permissible concentration limit for benzene in ambient air
(0,000005 g/m3 or 5 (cid:237)g/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

Brussels, 25 March 1999.

0,2 and 20 (cid:237)g/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 (cid:237)g/m3 proposed by the Com-
mission.

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.

The Committee fully supports the public information
2.7.
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.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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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 (cid:237)g/m3 limit should be retained, along with
a limit of 10 (cid:237)g/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 (cid:237)g/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.