Commentary on Sections Part 1 – Air quality Chapter 1 – National targets Section 6 - Review of targets
32.Subsection (1) places a duty on the Welsh Ministers to review targets set under sections 1 and 2.
33.Under subsection (2), when undertaking a review, the Welsh Ministers must seek advice from persons they consider to be independent and to have relevant expertise. They must also have regard to scientific knowledge about air pollution. This could include, for example, international evidence on the health and environmental effects of air pollution and the economic, technical and social analyses, and the feasibility of meeting targets.
34.Under subsection (3), in carrying out a review of a target in respect of a pollutant for which guidelines have been published by the World Health Organisation in its most recent global air quality guidelines, the Welsh Ministers must have regard to the guidelines in respect of that pollutant.
35.Subsection (4) requires the Welsh Ministers, once they have carried out the review, to publish and lay before Senedd Cymru a statement about the steps, if any, they intend to take under section 1 or section 2 in relation to each target as a result of the review.
36.Subsection (5) provides that where the Welsh Ministers determine that no steps will be taken in relation to a target, the statement must include the reasons for that decision.
37.Subsections (6) and (7) set out when the targets set under sections 1 and 2 must be reviewed. The first review must be completed within 5 years beginning with the day on which the first target is set. Subsequent reviews must be completed within 5 years of the day on which the previous review was completed.
38.Subsection (8) clarifies that a review is completed when the Welsh Ministers have laid the statement referred to in subsection (4) before Senedd Cymru and published it.