CELEX: 51995PC0312
Language: en
Date: 1995-07-06
Title: Amended proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on AMBIENT AIR QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT

'* V*
                   COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
••    •"'"•À«;
 IP-'1
                                                  Brussels, 06.07.1995
                                                  COM(95) 312 final
                                                  94/0106 (SYN)
                                Amended proposal for a
                                COI JNOL DIRECTIVE
                                          on
                               AMBIENT AIR QUALITY
                         ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
               (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                                   of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak--- EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Pursuant to Article 130s(l) of the EC Treaty, the Council consulted the European
Parliament on the proposal for a Directive on ambient air quality assessment and
management (COM (94) 109 final - 94/0106 (SYN)). During the June 1995 plenary
session, Parliament approved "37" amendments, "24" of which were accepted by the
Commission either fully or in part.
The various amendments accepted and rejected are discussed below:
Amendments accepted by the Commission
Amendment 5 (new Article 4(1 )(a)) introduces the requirement for a regular review of
the quality objectives taking account of new scientific or technical developments. This
was already implicit in the Commission's initial proposal; the result will be a dynamic
process which will in any case be beneficial for air quality management in the Union.
The altered structure of Annex I proposed in amendments 6, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32,
33 and 34 (Article 4(l)(b) (new), Annex 1.1, Annex 1.1(6) (new), Annex 1.2, Annex 1.2(a)
(new)) provides for a third list of substances to be examined at a second stage and a
change in priorities for substances listed in the Commission's initial proposal. The
principle of an assessment, at a second stage, of the need to take account of new
pollutants is acceptable, but not all the substances proposed are sufficiently specific to the
issue of air quality or reliably measurable. Furthermore, the shortening of the deadlines
laid down for setting quality objectives, however desirable and understandable, can be
accepted to a certain extent only for priority substances such as benzene and carbon
monoxide.
The involvement of the European Environment Agency in the various tasks planned for
the Commission and detailed in amendments 10, 11, 15, 18, 19 and 20 (Articles 4(4),
4(5), 7(3)(a), 7(3)(b), 8, 9 and 11(1)) is justified in principle, but the many references to
the Agency in several articles are not justified. The Agency's role will be taken into
account in the form of a new recital.
Other amendments which are accepted in full or in principle improve or supplement the
proposed provisions from the operational point of view (7, 8, 13, 14, 16, 17, 35 and 36)
(Articles 4(l)(c), 4(2)(a) (new), 7(1), 7(3)(b), 7(3)(c), Annex II.5a (new) and Annex
 111.6).
 Amendments rejected by the Commission
 Amendments 39 (paragraphs 1 and 2), 22 and 23 provide for Parliament's involvement
 in the process for the submission of subsequent Commission proposals and in the work
 of the committee set up by the proposal. These amendments are not accepted since they
 ---pagebreak--- are incompatible with the cooperation procedure and with Council Decision 87/373/EEC
of 13 July 1987.1 The second part of amendment 11 is also rejected since it is
incompatible with the Commission's right of initiative.
Amendments 1, 37 and 38 require the introduction of the critical load concept. The
concept of critical load devised in the context of the United Nations protocols on
transboundary pollution is applicable only for a very limited number of substances
(essentially acidifying); the extension of the concept to other pollutants is not appropriate.
Hence they are rejected.
Amendment 3 on the provision of information to the public by Member States is not
accepted in view of the transparency policy introduced by the Commission, the provisions
of Directive 90/313/EEC on the freedom of access to information on the environment, and
the principle of subsidiarity which covers this aspect.
Amendments 16 and 21 concern information to and participation by non-governmental
organizations; the Commission acknowledges the importance of these organizations and
considers that they play an important and positive part in improving the environment.
Nevertheless, these amendments would give them a formal status linked to the
implementation of the Directive. The Commission considers that it is unnecessary and
inappropriate to grant such a status in the context of this proposal. Hence they are
rejected.
Amendments 39 (paragraph 3), 36, 27, 31 and 40, providing for an accelerated timetable
for pollutants in Annex I part 2, are not accepted because the Commission has already
agreed to earlier dates for benzene and CO, and in view of the amount of work and time
required to draw up new proposals.
Amendment 9 is unrealistic because each pollutant has its own specific problems and
hence the time required to implement the emission reduction measures will vary; it Is not
therefore possible to set an identical time limit for all substances.
Amendment 12 paragraph 1 would involve substantial costs to Member States. The
second paragraph of the amendment is of little practical value owing to the difficulty of
defining the phrase "high density" of industrial activity.
In accordance with Article 189a(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission hereby amends as
follows its proposal on ambient air quality monitoring to include the accepted
amendments.
        OJ L 197, 18.7.1987, p. 33.
 ---pagebreak--- Original text                               Amended text
Recital 3                                   Recital 3
Whereas the numerical values for the        Whereas the numerical values for the
ambient air quality objectives shall be     ambient air quality objectives shall be
based on the findings of work carried out   based on the findings of work carried out
by international scientific groups active   by international scientific groups active
in the field;                               in the field; whereas this work must
                                            cover in particular the analysis of the
                                            effects of the combined action of various
                                            pollutants or sources of pollution and the
                                            effect of climate on the activity of the
                                            various pollutants examined in the
                                            context of this Directive;
Recital 15b (new)                           Recital 15b (new)
                                            Whereas there is a need to avoid
                                            increasing the amount of information to
                                            be transmitted by the Member States;
                                            whereas the information gathered by the
                                            Commission pursuant to the
                                            implementation of this Directive may be
                                            useful to the European Environment
                                            Agency and may therefore be transmitted
                                            to it by the Commission;
                                            Recital 15c (new)
                                            Whereas the European Environment
                                            Agency must be involved in the
                                            Commission's work on tasks linked to
                                            the implementation of this Directive for
                                            which it is competent.
Article 4(1)                                Article 4(1)
 1. For those substances listed in Annex I,  1. For those substances listed in Annex I,
the Commission, after consultations with    the Commission, after consultations with
the advisory Committee referred to in       the advisory Committee referred to in
Article 12, shall submit to the Council     Article 12, shall submit to the Council
proposals for the setting of the ambient    proposals for the setting of the ambient
 air quality objectives according to the    air quality objectives according to the
 following timetable:                       following timetable:
 ---pagebreak--- - no later than 31 December 1996 for        - no later than 31 December 1996 for
substances 1 to 5;                          substances 1 to 5;
- in accordance with Article 8 of Council   - in accordance with Article 8 of Council
Directive 92/72/EEC for ozone;              Directive 92/72/EEC for ozone;
- as soon as possible and no later than 31  - no later than 30 June 1998 for
December 1999 for substances 7 to 14;       substances 7 and 8;
                                            - as soon as possible and no later than 31
                                            December 1999 for substances 9 to 14;
Article 4(1 )(b) (new)                      Article 4(1 )(b) (new)
                                            (b) The Commission shall ensure that the
                                            quality objectives referred to in the
                                            previous paragraphs are reviewed at
                                            regular intervals taking account on each
                                            occasion of new developments in
                                            scientific research in the relevant
                                            epidemiological fields, and new advances
                                            in measuring techniques.
Article 4(1 )(c) new                        Article 4(1 )(c) new
                                            (c) The Commission shall as soon as
                                            possible, examine the need and
                                            procedures for setting air quality
                                            objectives in relation to other substances
                                            listed in Annex 1.3
Article 4(2)(a)                             Article 4(2)(a)
(a) the measurement                         (a) the measurement
         the location of the sampling                the location of the sampling
         points;                                     points;
         the minimum number of                       the minimum number of
         sampling points;                            sampling points;
         the measuring techniques.                   the measuring and sampling
                                                     techniques.
Article 7(1)                                Article 7(1)
 1. Member States shall take appropriate     1. Member States shall take appropriate
measures to ensure that, within the time    measures to ensure that, within the time
 limits which will be fixed in the Acts     limits which will be fixed in the Acts
 referred to in Article 4, the limit values  referred to in Article 4, the limit values
 set at Community level are not exceeded.    set at Community level are not exceeded.
                                             The Member States shall take such
 ---pagebreak---                                           measures subject to the regulations
                                          governing the operation of industrial
                                          installations, taking into account the
                                          forthcoming directive on integrated
                                          pollution prevention and control.
Article 7(2)                              Article 7(2)
2. Member States shall make short-term    2. Member States shall make short-term
plans for action to be taken in cases     plans for action to be taken in cases
where an exceedance is forecast in order  where an exceedance is forecast in order
to reduce the likelihood of exceedance    to reduce the likelihood of exceedance
and to limit its duration.                and to limit its duration.
                                          Where applicable, these short-term plans
                                          shall also provide for the temporary
                                          suspension of activities which contribute
                                          towards exceeding the limit values, and
                                          the prohibition of road traffic.
Article 7(3)                              Article 7(3)
 3. send these plans or programmes to the 3. send these plans or programmes to the
 Commission as soon as possible and at    Commission as soon as possible and at
the latest within two years after the end the latest within one year after the end of
 of the year during which levels were     the year during which levels were
 observed;                                observed;
 Annex 1.1                                Annex 1.1
 1. Pollutants covered bv EC Directives    1- Stage one pollutants
                                                   4. suspended particulate matter
                                                   (SPM, PMIO^
 2. Other ambient air pollutants for       2. Other ambient air pollutants for
 consideration                             consideration
 7. carbon monoxide (CO)                   7. benzene ( Q H J
  8. cadmium (Cd)                          8. carbon monoxide (CO")
 9. acid deposition                        9. cadmium
  10. benzene (C6H6)                       10. acid deposition
  11. poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)     IL poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)
  (Benzo-a-pyrene (BaP) as indicator)      (Benzo-a-pyrene (BaP) as indicator)
  12. arsenic (As)                         12. arsenic (As)
  13. fluoride                             13. fluoride
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                     #
14. nickel (Ni)                           14. nickel compounds classified as
                                         carcinogenic under category L of
                                         Directhre67/548/EEC
                                         3. Pollutants that should be considered at
                                         a second stage:
                                         -ffoxjns
                                         -VQÇ
                                         - methane
                                         - ammonia
                                         - nitric acid
                                         - poly-aromatic hydrocarbons in general.
Annex II, point 5a (new)                 Annex II, point 5a (new)
                                         5a Risk assessment methods may also be
                                         used.
Annex III, point 6, first indent         Annex III, point 6, first indent
Details of those factors responsible for Details of those factors responsible for
the excess (transport, formation)        the excess (transport (including
                                         transfrontier transporta formation)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                     ISSN 0254-1475
                                                             COM(95) 312 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                             14
                                     Catalogue number : CB-CO-95-344-EN-C
                                                              ISBN 92-77-91173-5
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