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Air Quality Consultants, in partnership with Zanokuhle Environmental Services (a leading South African consultancy) is advising the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in South Africa on its Air Quality Management Planning (AQMP) process.  The project will assess the current effectiveness of the AQMP process and then advise on the development of a National AQMP Support Programme to assist DEA in harmonising AQMP procedures and ensure consistency in developing AQMPs in South Africa.  Air Quality Consultants has played a major role in undertaking appraisals of the AQMPs completed to date, and in compiling and evaluating the results of a questionnaire that was sent out to AQMP practitioners and relevant stakeholders.  The outcome of this work will feed into subsequent revisions and unification to the existing Manual for Developing and Implementing Priority Area Air Quality Management Plans and the National Air Quality Management Planning Manual (that ZES and AQC helped develop in 2007).

As part of this project, Stephen Moorcroft, a Director of Air Quality Consultants, recently attended a two-day capacity building workshop in Pretoria on 17-18 November 2011.  Attended by DEA officials from Priority Areas, AQMP and Implementation sub-directorates, Stephen gave a number of presentations on international best practice, drawing heavily on the UK experiences to date.

Air Quality Consultants and Aether have won a Defra contract to review the effectiveness of local authority Air Quality Action Plans and future policy options for Local Air Quality Management.  The team, which is being headed by Stephen Moorcroft (AQC) and Chris Dore (Aether), is expected to report its findings in April next year. 

The project will review the outcomes of the action planning process to date and try to identify the extent to which the implemented measures have been successful in reducing emissions/concentrations, and to what extent the process has been hampered by issues beyond the authority’s control.  A main component of the project will be to advise Defra on alternative approaches that could be used to improve the implementation and effectiveness of action plans.  The project will also review the existing Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) reporting cycle and identify whether the reporting  burden could be reduced, whilst retaining the valuable contribution to LAQM that the process currently delivers.

Results of Recent Client Survey

The key finding from the recent client survey by Air Quality Consultants is that everyone rated the ‘overall service’ they received as either good or excellent, with the vast majority of these (72%) rating the service as excellent. The key to this success is shown to be the ‘knowledge and expertise’ of the Company and the ‘quality of the work’, both of which were rated by 81% of respondents as excellent. 

The survey, which was carried out online, covered all clients who have received air quality reports from Air Quality Consultants in the last year.  A total of 72 clients completed the survey,15%being local authorities and 85% private sector, the latter included planning consultants, developers and consulting engineers.  Air Quality Consultants pledged to donate £5 to the British Heart Foundation for each completed questionnaire, and a donation of £360 has now been made.

The results of the survey are summarised in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary of results (percentages).  The question was: “Please rate Air Quality Consultants for the following”

Question	Excellent and Good	Average	Poor and Very Poor
Knowledge and expertise	100	-	-
Clarity of information	96	4	-
Timely response to queries	97	3	-
Credibility in the Industry	99	1	-
Quality of the work	100	-	-
Value for money	92	8	-
Meeting deadlines	97	3	-
Easy to work with	99	1	-
Overall rating of service	100	-	-

The answers to all questions were overwhelmingly ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, with excellent being the predominant response, as illustrated in (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Results for questions on ‘knowledge and expertise’ and ‘overall service’

Twenty four of the respondents provided further comments, a number of which are reproduced in Table 2.

Table 2: Detailed comments provided by respondents

Type of respondent	Comment
Developer	I have to say I found the whole experience very positive and proactive. A breath of fresh air actually!!!
Planning Consultancy	Very swift at dealing with enquiries and putting forward solutions to problems.
Local Authority	Very good quality and efficient service. Worked to deadline and produced clear and concise report
Consulting Engineers	We have been exceptionally happy with the service received and will continue to use AQC.
Local Authority	I'm very happy with service that you provide. The team is very knowledgeable, friendly, easy approachable and always very helpful.
Developer	Very satisfied with the quality and timeliness of the advice provided and would appoint AQC again.
Consulting Engineers	Responded very quickly and effectively to a short-notice package of work and provided detailed, comprehensive report addressing issue raised, with clear conclusions.
Planning Consultancy	Always find those I work with very helpful and in particular make great effort to meet timescales, which are often very short.
Consulting Engineers	Many thanks for your efforts. I honestly cannot fault the quality, efficiency or the support that you have provided.
Planning Consultancy	AQC have always provided a very good service for our clients.
Developer	I was introduced to AQC by ECUS and have been impressed with the work and service received.

 

Air Quality Consultants is planning to build on these results by routinely inviting all recipients of Air Quality reports to complete a simple on-line questionnaire. This will form as part of the Company’s QA/QC programme, which is certified to ISO 9001 (2008). The feedback from the questionnaire will be used to ensure that the quality of the Company’s work is maintained at it’s current high level.

Expert advice provided on air quality at Heathrow Airport

Prof. Duncan Laxen was invited to attend the Environment Committee meeting of the London Assembly as an air quality expert, when the Committee held a hearing on Heathrow Airport on 20 October.  This drew on the experience Prof. Laxen has  accumulated over the last two decades in addressing air quality at Heathrow, including his presentation of evidence at the Terminal 5 public inquiry, and his chairing of a DfT panel addressing the best way to use monitoring data to model air quality at Heathrow. 

The committee heard from BAA, the airport operators, and from the London Borough of Hounslow.  Prof. Laxen emphasised that the mitigation measures set out in the BAA presentation were all along the right lines, but the issue was the timely delivery of these measures.  He also noted that road traffic in the area was a significant cause of the high concentrations, and said that BAA should look to incentivise the use of low emission vehicles by people coming to the airport.  The whole meeting was webcast and can be accessed at: Press releases London Assembly

Assessment of Road Traffic Impacts to Change

Air Quality Consultants is responding to the recent Appeal Decision that ruled against the proposed expansion of a Sainsbury’s store in Sheffield on the grounds of air quality, by adding a sensitivity test to all its new reports that deal with road traffic impacts.  This will strengthen its’ reports and ensure that they are not open to challenge by local authorities.

The Sheffield appeal decision (for more details see previous news item –click here) highlighted what has been known for some time, namely that emissions of nitrogen oxides from motor vehicles have not been reducing as expected.  Air Quality Consultants was involved in drafting guidance to local authorities on behalf of Defra and the devolved administrations on how to respond to the new evidence.  This was issued at the end of 2010, but only went as far as saying that local authorities should take into account the evidence that concentrations were not declining as expected, without saying how.  Air Quality Consultants responded at the time by adding a section on uncertainty to its reports.. 

The Inspector, in his report on the Sainsbury’s appeal, criticised the air quality assessment prepared for the development for not including a sensitivity test to show the effects of concentrations not declining as ‘officially’ expected.  The ‘official’ expectation is available as a set of emission factors for motor vehicles that provides the basis for modelling air quality impacts of road traffic. 

Air Quality Consultants will now be including a sensitivity test in all reports that involve the modelling of future traffic impacts.  Reports will now include two sets of findings: 1) future concentrations assuming the ‘official’ reductions in emissions and 2) future concentrations with no reductions in motor vehicle emissions.  Both sets of results will be taken into account in determining the overall air quality impact of the scheme.

Air Quality Consultants is increasingly being asked to assess odours. In recent years this has included odours from sewage treatment plant, farmyard cattle slurry and fast-food establishments, as well as hydrogen sulphide odours affecting an office environment. The latest guidance from the Environment Agency, in its H4 document, places increasing emphasis on using sniff tests to assess existing odour sources. One approach involves walking towards a source from a downwind direction and stopping every 10-20 m to sniff the air to detect and describe any odours. Individuals, however, have different sensitivities to odour. The guidance is based around the experience of a ‘typical’ individual.

In order to establish the sensitivity of its consultants, Air Quality Consultants sent six members of staff to have their odour acuity tested. The tests were carried out at the laboratory of OdourNet, where the individuals were asked to sniff the air coming from two ports on the bench in front of them and decide which one had a detectable odour (assessment of olfactory acuity in accordance with BSEN 13725). The concentration of the odour was steadily increased until it could be clearly detected by all six individuals. Four of the six individuals passed this test, and this will be taken into account when staff are assigned to jobs that involve odour assessment. This will help ensure the robustness of the odour assessment reports prepared by Air Quality Consultants.

Inspector’s Ruling Against Sainsbury’s Store Extension has Implications for Air Quality Assessments

A recent appeal decision against the refusal of planning permission to extend an existing supermarket in Sheffield has important implications for the way in which air quality assessments should be conducted. The Inspector concluded that “the potential harm….. identified with regard to the effect of the proposal on local air quality, and consequently human health, is not outweighed by other considerations” and “it would not be possible …to make the proposal acceptable in planning terms through the imposition of reasonable conditions”.

The decision taken by the Inspector was based largely on the view that the findings of the air quality assessment prepared for the appeal could not be relied upon, and a number of matters were highlighted.

One key assumption for the modelling that was questioned was that emissions from road traffic would reduce year-on-year. The emission factors used were those published by Defra. These emission factors are year-specific, and include projections of how newer vehicles will enter the fleet; newer vehicles are expected to emit less pollution as they conform to increasingly stringent Euro standards. Recently, however, a disparity between these official emission projections and measured concentrations of nitrogen oxides and nitrogen dioxide has been identified, and the reductions expected over the past 6 to 8 years have not been realised at many locations across the UK. There is therefore concern that nitrogen oxides and nitrogen dioxide concentrations may not decline as rapidly in the future as projected by these official emissions factors.

At this stage there are no other emissions factors that can be used. Defra have advised local authorities that where existing forecasting information is used, account should be taken of the performance of different vehicle types and of the Euro standards overall, but no prescriptive guidance is provided.

The air quality assessment carried out on behalf of Sainsbury’s predicted concentrations in the opening year of the scheme (2013) using assumptions on background concentrations and vehicle emissions for that year. The Inspector notes that “the modelled concentrations in 2013 are lower than would otherwise have been the case had 2010/11 emission rates been assumed to continue”. Taking into account the guidance issued by Defra, the Inspector further concluded that “under these circumstances it would be reasonable to expect sensitivity tests to be undertaken on the outcome of the modelling, based on the possibility that the emissions reductions suggested by [the official forecasts] would not be realised”.

It is important to note that this was not the only matter of concern identified by the Inspector. Other issues noted in the Appeal Decision are:

• The short-term (7 month) period of monitoring that was carried out to verify (calibrate) the model was shown to have “significantly overestimated the 12 month concentration”. This will have affected model performance and consequently overestimated concentrations in 2013.
• The approach taken to predict the increase in traffic associated with the proposed scheme was questioned given that the extension was primarily related to goods sales rather than food sales.  The Inspector concluded that this would indicate “an increase of traffic…..some 67% higher than was assumed in the modelling” would be a reasonable assumption.
• The assessment failed to take account of the potential cumulative impacts of other committed developments (although at no stage did the Council request that this be done).
• The mitigation measures proposed by the appellant (and suggested by the Council) “would be unlikely to adequately address the adverse effects of the proposal on local air quality”.

What Are The Implications for Air Quality Assessments?

• At this stage there are no other vehicle emissions factors that can be practicably used, other than those published by DfT. Given the considerable uncertainties in these emissions factors, at least until the next set of Euro standards is introduced in 2013/14 and these vehicles make up a significant proportion of the fleet, it is important that air quality assessments should adequately consider the consequences should the forecast emissions reductions over the short term not materialise. There are a number of ways that this can be done – one approach is to ensure that vehicle emissions factors are assumed to remain unchanged from the base (model verification) year, this applying equally to projections of background concentrations and to the scheme traffic. This will produce two sets of results (one based on the “official” forecasts, and the other assuming there is no improvement) – professional judgement will then need to be applied to the interpretation, taking into account other precautionary or worst-case assumptions that may have been included in the assessment.
• It is clear that considerable care needs to be taken with the model verification process, particularly where short-term monitoring data are used. Such approaches should be avoided wherever possible.
• It also needs to be recognised that agreement on issues with the local planning authority does not abrogate the developer from a duty to ensure that the air quality assessment is thorough and robust.In particular, careful consideration needs to be given to the inclusion of conservative assumptions regarding traffic data, while due account needs to be taken of cumulative effects and of the efficacy of mitigation measures.

Air Quality Consultants, in conjunction with the Air Quality Management Resource Centre at the University of the West of England, ran a successful morning workshop on Planning and Air Quality – appraising air quality assessments in line with the EPUK guidanceThe workshop, held on 13^th September 2011 in Bristol, was organised on behalf of the South-West Division of Environmental Protection UK (EPUK).  It provided guidance to local authority officers on how to assess, evaluate and make decisions based on air quality assessments submitted in support of planning applications.  Presentations covered planning policy, the 2010 update of the EPUK Planning and Air Quality Guidance, and issues relating to modelling and monitoring that are pertinent to air quality assessments. The event was attended by 20 delegates from across the south of England.

 

Any local authorities who are interested in attending a similar workshop should contact ClareBeattie@aqconsultants.co.uk

Suzanne Hodgson is joining as a Senior Consultant.   She previously worked at Peter Brett Associates and was involved in a wide range of development projects both in relation to air quality and odour assessments, as well as in Review and Assessment work and the setting up of monitoring campaigns. Flo Kirk-Lloyd is joining as an Assistant Consultant, following completion of an Environmental Science degree, for which she gained a first class honours.  She has over a year’s experience in the environmental industry.  They will both be building on their previous experience and taking on new challenges.

Kieran Laxen gave a presentation on the use of the openair software tools to analyse air quality monitoring data at the recent Environmental Protection UK National Student and Young Professionals Competition held at the University of the West of England, Bristol.  The competition is an annual event designed to give young professionals the opportunity to present on a topic within the Society’s remit, which includes air quality, noise and climate change.  Kieran has been using openair within Air Quality Consultants to analyse NOx, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 data across the UK.  He explained how to use openair, highlighting the power of the package to analyse data, but also emphasising the need for a good understanding of air quality monitoring when interpreting the outputs and of the programming language.  The presentation was well received and stimulated some interesting conversation during the lunch break.

Air Quality Consultants has successfully developed and implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS), which aims to minimise the company’s environmental impacts by setting out environmental objectives and the appropriate procedures to ensure that these objectives are met. The EMS has been certified as compliant with the ISO 14001:2004 standard.

Six employees of Air Quality Consultants ran the 10 km road race on 15 May 2011, which had over 11,000 runners compete. The team entered into the Clarke Willmott Business Challenge, with everyone completing the 10,000 meters. Spirits were high after the run in a collective time of 3hrs 53mins 45secs. The team hope to enter again next year to improve on their times.

  
From left to right: Duncan Laxen (01:07:40), Penny Wilson (01:09:17), Clare Beattie (00:59:00), Mella O’Driscoll (00:54:51), Kiri Brown (00:54:08 min), Kieran Laxen (00:48:56).

Clare Beattie, in conjunction with UWE, ran a successful workshop for the Welsh Assembly Government on 16^th May 2011 on Appraising Air Quality Assessments for Planning Applications.  Approximately 30 delegates from local authorities all over Wales, as well as officers from the Welsh Assembly Government, undertook training on the EPUK Guidance on Air Quality and Planning, including a workshop session appraising an example air quality assessment.  Positive feedback was received at the end of the day, and delegates earned Continuing Professional Development hours.  If any other local authority groups are interested in setting up training sessions on planning or any other air quality issues, don’t hesitate to contact Clare.

Air Quality Consultants has recently completed a review of the London automatic air quality monitoring network. It was prepared on behalf of the Greater London Authority and is a response to one of the Proposals in the Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy2010. This committed the Mayor to supporting the improvement of air quality monitoring across London, so as to provide accurate and up-to-date information about air quality trends and current conditions in London.

The review identifies the current and future roles of the network, as well as those sites which provide the most valuable data. It also identifies those parts of London where additional monitoring would be beneficial.

Simon Cousins, the GLA's Strategy Lead for Air Quality, said that "AQC produced the report on London's monitoring network on time, to budget and to a high standard. It will provide a useful tool in discussions with stakeholders on improving the capital's monitoring network as part of our work to drive down pollution”.

The full report is available for download from the GLA website here. 

Air Quality Consultants is looking for an ‘assistant consultant’ or ‘consultant’.  The position will be based in Bristol.  For more details visit our Join AQC page.

Prof. Duncan Laxen, Managing Director of Air Quality Consultants, gave a presentation on construction dust assessment at the Institute of Air Quality Management workshop held at BRE, Watford on 20^th January.He highlighted the inconsistency in the way construction impacts are assessed by different consultants, due to the lack of guidance. He will join a subgroup of the IAQM to help develop appropriate guidance, drawing on the considerable experience of Air Quality Consultants in carrying out such assessments.

Air Quality Consultants has recently managed the preparation of a detailed review of PM_2.5 in the UK.  The work has been carried out for the UK Environment Agencies under the auspices of SNIFFER.  The report was prepared in association with the consultancy, TRL, with input from Prof. Roy Harrison at Birmingham University and Dr Mat Heal at Edinburgh University.  It covers health effects, sources, speciation, pathways, monitoring, modelling and regulatory requirements, and is designed to advise those responsible for regulating exposure to PM_2.5.   The report and a short summary are available to download from the AQC Download page.

Prof. Duncan Laxen gave a presentation at the DMUG meeting in London on the 1^st Dec.  His presentation, ‘what advice for modelling future nitrogen dioxide?’ set out the current mismatch between official projections and the results of monitoring, especially at roadside locations.  He summarised the apparent reasons and described the approach that Air Quality Consultants is currently using to address this problem.  The presentation is available to download from the AQC Download page.

Air Quality Consultants has recently joined the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA).  Membership of the organisation will enable us to keep up to date with developments in this growing field and allow us to comment on emerging policy and guidance in this area.  We have recently carried out assessments of anaerobic digestion facilities and appraised planning applications for facilities on behalf of local authorities.  

The Scottish Government has given the go-ahead for the procurement process to start on the upgrade of the M8 between Baillieston and Newhouse.  Air Quality Consultants was involved in this project over a number of years.  This included preparation of the Air Quality Chapter of the Environmental Statement and Prof. Duncan Laxen appearing as an expert witness at the public inquiry.

Prof Duncan Laxen has been appointed to the Steering Group set up by Defra to oversee the Air Quality Modelling Review.  The group, headed by Prof. Martin Williams, will take account of ongoing model intercomparison studies to help advise Defra on appropriate models to support Defra's air quality policy work.

Penny Wilson, a Principal Consultant with Air Quality Consultants, chaired the afternoon session of the 12th annual conference of the Air Quality Management Resource Centre, at the University of the West of England and the SW Division of Environmental Protection UK, held in Bristol on the 12th October.  The conference was entitled ‘Healing the Rift: Health Effects of Air Quality and Noise’.  It heard from leading figures in the air quality field, including Prof. Bob Maynard of the Health Protection Agency.  Other staff from Air Quality Consultants attended as part of their continuing professional development programme with the company.

Air Quality Consultants’ revamped website has been ranked 13th (out of 60) in the non-local authority sector of air quality websites, in Air Quality Bulletins’ annual review of air quality websites.  It was the top consultancy website listed.  The Air Quality Bulletin described the new site as an ”Excellent revamp”.  The website scored full marks for its visual appeal, and four out of five for both its content and helpfulness.  The top website in this sector was that of Environmental Protection UK.

Air Quality Consultants (AQC), in association with TRL Ltd, has recently completed two reports on potential local measures for PM₁₀ and NO₂ hotspots in London; the studies were carried out on behalf of Transport for London.  The aim of the reports was to understand the potential of a range of possible local measures to address high levels of PM₁₀ and NO₂ at a range of locations across London.  These documents were produced to inform the development of the Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy (MAQS) and also future sub-regional work.  However, they do not take account of the final MAQS, due for publication later this year and nor do they take account of any revised modelling work or information that may supersede the studies cited in this report. 

The reports can be downloaded either via AQC Downloads or by clicking the links below:

PM10 report - Local Measures for PM10 Hotspots in London

NO2 report - Local Measures for NO2 Hotspots in London

Stephen Moorcroft, Director of Air Quality Consultants, gave a presentation to the recent Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM) meeting (1^st July) on the uncertainty associated with current projections of NOx and NO₂ concentrations in future years.  The implications of this for both local authorities undertaking their Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) duties, and for developers submitting planning applications for new developments in areas of existing poor air quality, were set out.  A potential way forward for the next four to five years was discussed.  This and other presentations from the IAQM meeting can be downloaded from http://www.iaqm.co.uk/resources.html

Air Quality Consultants has been involved in developing the Emission Eactor Toolkit (EFT).  This sets out emissions as a function of speed for different vehicles types, in each year between 2008 and 2020.  It is used for modelling air quality alongside roads.  A revised version has recently been published, and is available for download on Defra’s LAQM tools website http://laqm1.defra.gov.uk/review/tools/emissions.php.

Air Quality Consultants played a leading role in drafting the document Development Control: Planning for Air Quality (2010 Update), which was issued by Environmental Protection UK in April (obtain here).  The document aims to provide guidance to help manage air quality within the development control process.  Significant changes since the previous update (September 2006) include the approach and terminology used to define the magnitude of change and the impact on air quality, and to determine the overall significance of air quality impacts.  The document also collates examples of planning appeal decisions relating to air quality.