Air Quality Updating and Screening Assessment for East Hampshire
August 2003
Executive Summary
The Environment Act 1995 requires Local Authorities to periodically review and assess local air quality against the air quality objectives contained in the Air Quality Regulations. Local Authorities are currently undertaking the second round of the review and assessment process. The second round is undertaken in two stages. Initially an Updating and Screening Assessment (USA) is carried out. Where a significant risk of exceeding one or more of the air quality objectives is identified it will be necessary for the Local Authority to proceed to a Detailed Assessment. Where a Local Authority does not need to undertake a Detailed Assessment, an annual Air Quality Progress Report is required instead.
This document forms the Air Quality Progress Report for East Hampshire District Council. In writing this report the Council has had regard to the Government’s published guidance contained in Progress Report Guidance LAQM.PRG(03)5.
East Hampshire District Council completed the Updating and Screening Assessment in August 2003. The results of this assessment showed that no pollutants were expected to exceed the air quality objectives and therefore there was no requirement to proceed to a Detailed Assessment. However the USA highlighted several areas which the Council needed to investigate further, including nitrogen dioxide levels adjacent to the A3 at Bramshott Chase, exposure to sulphur dioxide at the Mid Hants Watercress Line engineering depot at Ropley and particulate emissions from an aggregate recycling facility at Bordon Sandpit in Sleaford. These are included in the Progress Report.
The report provides the latest nitrogen dioxide and PM10 monitoring results from the air quality monitoring station at Horndean and from the nitrogen dioxide diffusion tube monitoring carried out across the District.
The results from the air quality monitoring station show that the nitrogen dioxide and PM10 concentrations are likely to meet the air quality objectives in 2004/05 at this location. The diffusion tube monitoring shows possible exceedences of the annual mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide in 2005 at the A3 Bramshott Chase and A325 Chalet Hill, Bordon. The report recommends that the Council proceeds to a Detailed Assessment of nitrogen dioxide concentrations at these locations.
A full copy of the report can be found below
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