Statutory Instruments
1995 No. 3146

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
The Air Quality Standards (Amendment) Regulations 1995

Made
4th December 1995

Laid
8th December 1995

Coming into force
31st December 1995

The Secretary of State for the Environment, as respects England, the Secretary of State for Wales, as respects Wales, and the Secretary of State for Scotland as respects Scotland, being designated(1) Ministers for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972(2) in relation to the control of air pollution, in exercise of the powers conferred upon them by section 2(2) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Regulations—

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Air Quality Standards (Amendment) Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 31st December 1995.

(2) These regulations amend the Air Quality Standards Regulations 1989(3) (“the 1989 Regulations”) which implemented Council Directives 80/779/EEC, on air quality limit values and guide values for sulphur dioxide and suspended particulates(4), and 85/203/EEC, on air quality standards for nitrogen dioxide(5).

Amendment etc. of provisions in the 1989 Regulations

2.—(1) Regulation 2(2) of, and the Schedule to, the 1989 Regulations (areas temporarily exempted from the application of the limit values for suspended particulates) are hereby revoked.

(2) In regulation 6 of the 1989 Regulations (limit value for nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere)—

(a)after the words “to ensure that”, there shall be inserted the words “throughout Great Britain”; and

(b)for the words “table in Annex I to”, there shall be substituted the words “first indent of Article 2 of”.

John Gummer
Secretary of State for the Environment
27th November 1995

William Hague
Secretary of State for Wales
29th November 1995

M. Forsyth
Secretary of State for Scotland
4th December 1995

Explanatory Note

(This note does not form part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Air Quality Standards Regulations 1989 (“the 1989 Regulations”).
Regulation 2(1) of the 1989 Regulations implemented in Great Britain provisions of Council Directive 80/779/EEC on air quality limit values and guide values for sulphur dioxide and suspended particulates. Regulation 2(2) of the 1989 Regulations provided that regulation 2(1), insofar as it applied to suspended particulates, would not apply to the areas specified in the Schedule until 1st April 1993. That temporary exemption being spent, regulation 2(2) and the Schedule are now revoked.
Regulation 6 of the 1989 Regulations implemented in Great Britain provisions of Council Directive 85/203/EEC on air quality standards for nitrogen dioxide. These Regulations amend the implementation of the definition of “limit value”in Article 2 of that Directive.


(1)
S.I. 1988/785.

(2)
1972 c. 68.

(3)
S.I. 1989/317.

(4)
OJ No. L 229, 30.8.1980, p.30, as amended by the 1985 Act of Accession (OJ No. L 302, 15.11.1985, p.23) and Council Directives 81/857/EEC (OJ No. L 319, 7.11.1981, p.18), 89/427/EEC (OJ No. L 201, 14.7.1989, p.53) and 91/692/EEC (OJ No. L 377, 31.12.1991, p.48).

(5)
OJ No. L 87, 27.3.1985, p.1, as amended by Council Directives 85/580/EEC (OJ No. L 372, 31.12.1985, p.36) and 91/692/EEC (OJ No. L 377, 31.12.1991, p.48).