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Back in 2013, Defra tried to slash air quality monitoring and reporting across England as part of Government’s ‘Red Tape’ challenge. They put those proposals on ice after 18,000 people responded to their consultation, protesting that air quality monitoring and reporting aren’t ‘red tape’ – they’re vital for protecting public health.
Just before Christmas, Defra revived their plans in a new consultation.
They are less explicit about wanting to slash air quality monitoring and reporting – but the figures in their impact assessment show that this is exactly what they’re proposing. Curiously, this consultation was published exactly one month after the European Court of Justice ruled that the UK must clean up its illegal breach of EU air quality legislation as soon as possible - something Defra say in their consultation won’t happen in London, Leeds and Birmingham until after 2030!
Defra claims that less ‘emphasis’ on monitoring and reporting will make local authorities focus more on actions to clean up England’s air. This is nonsensical. Without comprehensive air quality monitoring and reporting, communities have little hope of stopping new polluting developments, be it roads or power stations, on air pollution grounds.
Without data to show that air pollution limits are being breached, local authorities will have no incentives to do anything about this.
Defra also wants to scrap legal limits for four air pollutants – two of which happen to be of particular concern in relation to fracking.
Please click here if you would like to read an in-depth analysis of Defra’s proposals by Clean Air in London.
The consultation closes on 30th January.
If you have the time, then you might want to do your own personal response via the consultation webpage
Sharing your concerns with your MP would help, too – to find out how to contact your MP, click here
You can also read further information about air pollution and the hazards to human health here
Source: Biofuel Watch
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