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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what role the Environment Agency has in the Government's assessment of whether expansion of Heathrow Airport would be compatible with air quality legislation.

Along with other Statutory Environmental Bodies, the Environment Agency is a member of the Department for Transport’s Appraisal of Sustainability Steering Group which is considering the range of environmental, social and economic impacts associated with the short-listed options for airport capacity in the south east. This is part of the work that the Secretary of State for Transport outlined in his oral statement in December last year, which confirmed that the Government would be starting work on preparing the building blocks for an Airports National Policy Statement.