Air Quality Standards and Targets

• Energy Act 1976: Consent is required for natural gas to be disposed of by flaring or venting and this applies to all onshore hydrocarbon fields as well as offshore fields. More information is available through the Flaring and/or Venting pages.
• Environmental Protection Act 1990 many of the most polluting processes were made subject to IPPC Regulations. Additional processes were made subject to Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) under the responsibility of the relevant local authority(ies) (see below).
• Environment Act (1995) set the framework for the National Air Quality Strategy first published in 1997 and most recently updated in 2007.

The National Air Quality Strategy is implemented in the UK through the following Regulations:

• The Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010
• Air Quality Regulations (Wales) Regulations 2010
• Air Quality Regulations (Scotland) Regulations 2010
• Air Quality Standards Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 2010/188

• Environmental Protection (Control of Substances that Deplete the Ozone layer) Regulations 1996

Administered by Defra these regulations control the production, supply, use trading and emission of controlled substances which deplete the ozone layer.

• The Solvent Emissions (England and Wales) Regulations 2004
• The Solvent Emissions (Scotland) Regulations 2010

The Solvent Emissions Regulations relate to the control of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain activities and installations.

Government policy on air pollution seeks policy linkages between local air pollution and global climate change and the energy generation industries including the oil and gas industry in Air Pollution: Action in a Changing Climate (Defra: 2010).

Part IV of the Environment Act 1995: Local Air Quality Management Policy Guidance (PG09) February 2009

Activities listed under the IPPC Regulations will require IPPC Permit(s)
                                   
No specific consent is required  for oil and gas installations under the requirements of the Local Air Quality Management Strategies (LAQMS), however air quality management is integrated with the planning system within local authorities and impacts on air quality both from process and also transport related emissions are likely to be of ‘material consideration’ within any planning decision.

In order to address air quality issues with the operation of existing, or whist seeking permission for new onshore oil and gas infrastructure the local authority may require the application of air quality management measures for individual facilities; such as Sustainable Travel Plans.                

see IPPC Permits

see IPPC Permits

Air quality objectives are defined for the following key air pollutants: benzene, 1-3 butadiene, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter (PM10) and sulphur dioxide.

These standards relate to background concentrations of these key pollutants and not to emission levels from any individual process or facility. As such there are no standards within the Air Quality set of Regulations which apply specifically to the contribution of oil and gas installations to these background concentrations.

Each Local Authority is responsible for monitoring and reporting on their performance against these standards in the LAQM: Progress Reports

Each Local Authority is responsible for monitoring and reporting on their performance against these standards in the LAQM: Progress Reports.

Where Local Air Quality Monitoring identifies an exceedence or risk of exceedence of the air quality objective(s) for any of the key air pollutants identified within the regulations the Local Authority has the power to designate and Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).

The vast majority of the action plan tools available to local authorities are related to the control of transport related emissions and can be applied to transport operations of oil and gas installations in the same way as any other business operating in the Local Authority Area.

LAQM reports are to be updated on a 3 yearly cycle of review and assessment

None known at present