Air Quality Laws Australia

3.50 As a result of the application of environmental standards, the Committee noted that many municipalities that collide with industrial sites, mines, or major transportation routes and infrastructure are exposed to air quality that does not meet the NEPM objective for health protection[59] and that at present, “monitoring of pollution and health effects on the ground is not satisfactory and is of concern to the local population.” [60] Representatives of Moranbah in Queensland submitted that the lack of information on population exposure was as concern to residents as the exposure itself. [61] 3.61 Interbranch organisations such as the NQBP have denied the negative characterisation of their supervisory practices. They told the Committee that their monitoring was carried out by “independent consultants” and was therefore a reliable indicator of air quality. [79] The Victorian EPA informed the Committee that it monitors industry-established monitoring equipment to ensure that the data is accurate and that appropriate monitoring standards and practices are being followed. [80] It should be noted that the Broken Hill and Cockle Creek pollution permits did not provide for specific limit values for air pollution, although air quality monitoring is required. Therefore, facility operators were required to operate in accordance with the relevant New South Wales air pollution standards set out in the general environmental legislation. So it seems that unless specific limits are set in pollution permits, regulators maintain their reluctance to take action against industrial polluters. For example, the Cockle Creek Smelter Pollution Permit required that air quality be monitored and reported in an annual report. The 2013-2014 annual report indicated that at a given monitoring point, the average annual lead content in the atmospheric concentration was 41.6 μg m−3.

This value is 83 times higher than the standards set by the AAQNEPM. In addition, the highest individual lead in air measurement was 254 μg m−3 at 508 times higher than the existing AAQNEPM. This suggests that in addition to the high background values of lead emissions, the plant also emitted significant spikes in lead emissions. Although these data are available, suggesting that air pollutant emissions from the Cockle Creek smelter were well above the applicable standards, the New South Wales EPA does not appear to have taken any action under the relevant legislation to limit this pollution. 3.46 The NEPM provides explicit guidance on the location and operation of performance monitoring stations in accordance with Australian Standard AS2922–1987: Ambient Air – Sampling Unit Location Guide. Stations should be designed to help maintain a representative measure of air quality that the general population of an area may experience. [52] The review of the NEPC provides an explanation of the intent behind this approach: 3.52 The Committee was informed that in the United States and the European Union, air quality monitoring takes into account public exposure rather than concentrations of air pollutants. [67] + Article resources [1] Dr. Melita D Keywood, Dr. Mark F. Hibberd, Dr. Kathryn M Emmerson.

“State of the Environment in Australia 2016: Atmosphere.” Australian Department of Environment and Energy website, 2017. [2] Clare Walter. “The Impact of Air Pollution on Public Health in Australia: Research, Policy and Planning Separate.” University of Melbourne website, December 16, 2019. [3] Australian Government. “National Air Quality Standards: Air Quality (2016)”. Australian Government State of the Environment website, 2016. [4] Australian Government. “National Clean Air Agreement”, Australian Government website, December 2015. [5] IQAir.

“World Air Quality Report 2019”. IQAir website, March 18, 2020. [6] Ting Xia et al. “Traffic-related air pollution and health co-benefits of alternative transport in Adelaide, South Australia”. Environment International 74, January 2015: pp. 281-290. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2014.10.004 [7] Adam Voiland. “A great dust storm is sweeping Across Australia.” NASA Earth Observatory website, January 11, 2020. [8] Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology. “Explanation: What is a dust storm?” Bureau of Meteorology website, January 8, 2019.

[9] BBC. “How did the fires in Australia start and what are we doing? A very simple guide.” BBC website, 7 January 2020. [10] Australian Parliament. “2019-20 Australian bushfires – frequently asked questions: a quick guide.” Australian Parliament website, 12 March 2020. [11] John Pickrell. “Smoke from the bushfires in Australia killed many more people than the fires, according to the study.” The Guardian, 20 March 2020. [12] Lisa Cox. “Australia`s power plants are among the worst in the world for toxic air pollution.” The Guardian, 19 August 2019. [13] BBC.

“Australia fires: A visual guide to the bushfire crisis”. BBC website, 31 January 2020. 3.47 Data from surveillance by state and territory governments are widely available. The committee learned that the New South Wales EPA offers hourly air quality updates and that residents can subscribe to SMS and email notifications informing them of days of high pollution. [54] Residents of Western Australia and Victoria can also view time updates on the websites of their respective agencies. [55] The results of data from regular point source monitoring, at least in Victoria, are presented “regularly” via the Internet and at community meetings. [56] A major problem with the different air pollution standards is that they set regional thresholds for air pollution. This approach tends to ignore the direct and localized impact of pollution on communities near polluting sites.15 As mentioned earlier, the AAQNEPM is only trying to obtain a representative measure of air quality in a given region, and monitoring under the AAQNEPM is not required at all in small communities – despite the fact that many industrial sites are located in these small regional towns. In addition, established standards often refer only to average concentrations of pollutants over defined periods of time. At Mount Isa, for example, the relevant standard for lead emissions is 0.5 μg m−3, on average over one year. In Port Pirie, on the other hand, the average annual limit of 0.5 μg m−3 is based on daily measurements (Taylor et al 2014). The problem with the time average is that it tends to mask short-term and high-intensity exposure episodes, and these can be very harmful to human health (EJA 2014).

In 2019, 13 of the 15 most polluted cities for annual PM2.5 concentration were in New South Wales. This can be attributed in part to the fact that air quality in New South Wales was the state most affected by the effects of the summer black wildfires.13 Australia`s most polluted city for PM2.5 pollution in 2019 was Armidale, almost exceeding the Australian pm2 standard, 5 of almost three times (average concentration of 23 μg/m3), followed by Tamworth (15.2 μg/m3) and the capital, the air quality in Canberra (15 μg/m3).4 In general, there is no general ban on causing air pollution. However, some laws may establish specific criminal offences related to carrying out polluting activities without authorization or appropriate authority, violation of a condition of such a permit, or failure to maintain or operate industrial facilities in a manner that prevents air pollution.