Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

(asked on 25th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to assess in which areas of the UK roadside air pollution is most prevalent and dangerous; and what steps he is taking with local authorities to tackle air pollution in those areas.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 2nd February 2021

The 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations outlines how local authorities with persistent NO2 exceedances, identified using national modelling, must take robust action to improve air quality. We are working closely with these local authorities and making £880m of funding available to deliver compliance with NO2 levels as soon as possible.

Local authorities are also required to review and assess local air quality. If their assessment shows that local pollution levels exceed local air quality objectives they must declare an Air Quality Management Area and develop an Air Quality Action Plan with the aim of reducing air pollution to within statutory limits.

Local authorities have a range of powers to take action to reduce pollution from road vehicles, such as restricting car access around schools and enforcing anti-idling laws. In addition, Defra’s Air Quality Grant programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution. The Government has awarded over £64 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997.

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