Commentary on Sections Part 1 – Air quality Chapter 1 – National targets Section 1 – Air quality targets: general
6.Subsection (1) gives the Welsh Ministers a power to make regulations that set long-term targets in respect of any matter relating to air quality in Wales.
7.Subsection (2) places a duty on the Welsh Ministers to exercise the power in subsection (1) to set a long-term target for one of the following pollutants: ammonia, PM10 (defined in subsection (8)), ground level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide or sulphur dioxide.
8.Any target set under these regulations must, under subsection (3), specify a standard to be achieved and a date by which that standard is to be achieved. Subsection (8) explains that these are referred to as the “specified standard” and “specified date” in Chapter 1 of the Act (and these references have the same meaning within these Explanatory Notes).
9.A standard might be specified, for example, in relation to a concentration of an air pollutant with harmful effects on public health, ecosystems and biodiversity.
10.The specified standard must be capable of being objectively measured and so the process of setting targets will need to take this into account. Subsection (4) enables the Welsh Ministers to make provision within the regulations about how the matter in respect of which the target is set is to be measured. The method of measurement will need to be clear and repeatable.
11.Subsection (5) provides that regulations setting the target required by subsection (2) must specify that the target is set to comply with that subsection.
12.Subsection (6) provides that a target is a “long-term target” if the specified date for that target is at least 10 years after the date on which the target is set. Subsection (7) explains that a target is set when the regulations setting it come into force.