Air quality management program
The EPA air quality program currently covers metropolitan Adelaide,
Pt Pirie and Whyalla. Samples are collected and analysed by different
types of equipment, some for continuous monitoring at different
sites, others for particular specific monitoring tasks.
As a condition of certain licences that are administered by the
EPA, the licensee must provide monitoring data.
There has also been a successful reduction in emissions in recent
years due to industry-focused legislation and voluntary improvements
by industrial and commercial operations. Consequently, air pollutants
have decreased significantly in the Adelaide region or have been
held below current ambient air quality goals despite growth in
the urban population and the associated community. Airborne lead
in particular has reduced with the phasing out of leaded petrol.
Information about common pollutants and monitoring details can
be found in various EPA air
quality monitoring reports.
Ambient air quality management
Ambient quality refers to the overall quality when all the impacting
factors are considered, rather than the specific effect of particular
discharges.
In 1998, the National Environment Protection Council (NEPC) adopted
outdoor air quality standards that apply in all states and territories
of Australia. These standards, tabled in the National
Environment (Ambient Air Quality) Protection Measure, also
known as the Ambient Air Quality NEPM, consider six relatively
common pollutants, including particles less than 10 microns in
diameter (PM10). (The width of a human hair
is approximately 20-40 microns). This NEPM is currently under
review and details are available at the Environment Protection
and Heritage Council (EPHC) website.
The EPA is currently reviewing its ambient air monitoring program
to determine the most efficient manner to meet monitoring requirements.
Managing very fine particles
In December 2000, the NEPC resolved to investigate whether a
new ambient air quality standard for particles less than 2.5 microns
(PM2.5) is needed in Australia. In September
2001, the NEPC began the statutory process to vary the Ambient
Air Quality NEPM to include PM2.5.
Following this resolution, the NEPC released the National
Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure Discussion
Paper-setting a PM2.5 standard in Australia. Public consultation
on this paper encouraged stakeholders to provide input into the
development of a new standard for PM2.5.
The paper outlined the methodology that will be used to establish
the standard, the sources of data, and the health outcomes that
will be applied. It also foreshadowed the standard's form and
identified monitoring issues.
A draft variation to the Ambient Air Quality NEPM and an impact
statement were subsequently developed and released for consultation
in late 2002. All documents developed in the consultation process
can be viewed at the Environment Protection and Heritage Council
(EPHC) website, which now hosts all NEPC web material.
In May 2003, the NEPC made the Variation to the Ambient Air Quality
NEPM, which strengthens air quality standards to help protect
Australians from the adverse health impacts of small pollutant
particles. The Variation introduces advisory reporting standards
for fine particles 2.5 micrometres or less in size (known as PM2.5).
These are known to produce respiratory and cardiovascular illness.
The advisory reporting standards will assist in gathering sufficient
data nationally on fine particles; the information will be used
to inform the review process for the Ambient Air Quality NEPM,
which is scheduled to commence in 2005. The final documents for
the Variation can be viewed at the Environment Protection and
Heritage Council (EPHC) website.
Air Toxics
In June 2001, the NEPC started developing a NEPM for air toxics
to address benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, xylenes and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These 'air toxics' exist at relatively
low concentrations in urban airsheds, with significantly elevated
levels only occurring near sources such as industrial sites, heavily
trafficked roads and areas affected by wood smoke.
An 'issues paper' was released for public consultation in September
2001. This paper explored the issues relating to air toxics and
the broad direction that the NEPM might take. It discussed the
differences between air toxics and the criteria pollutants addressed
through the Ambient Air Quality NEPM. Based on feedback from the
issues paper a discussion paper was released for public consultation
in March 2002.
Outcomes from public consultation on the discussion paper demonstrated
support for the development of the NEPM. As data on levels of
the five air toxics is limited, it has been judged inappropriate
at this stage to develop any form of national environment protection
standards in the proposed NEPM. Therefore, it was proposed to
incorporate a set of 'investigation levels' for each of the air
toxics in the NEPM.
Following this, the Air Toxics NEPM was made in South Australia
in December 2004. The current version of the NEPM (along with
other associated documents) can be accessed at the Environment
Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) website.
Each jurisdiction is required to
- report annually on their monitoring results
- evaluate the nature and significance of any exceedences of
the investigation levels
- indicate the nature of any action planned or taken in relation
to such exceedences and progress in meeting the goal of the
NEPM.
While there are no direct impacts, other than for governments,
there may be a range of indirect effects where NEPM monitoring
prompts additional action to reduce air toxic emissions, in particular
from domestic wood heating, motor vehicles and industrial sources.
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This page was last modified 01-04-2008
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