Darren Johnson has written to the EU Environment Commissioner asking him to reject the British Government’s attempt to gain an extension on the time it has to comply with air quality limit values on three grounds:
1) The EU had previously set a deadline of 31st October 2008 for any application for an extension and has already written to the British Government preparing legal action.
2) The baseline assumptions contained in the consultation document from the Department for Food, Regions and the Environment (DEFRA) include measures put in place by the previous administration which are being watered down by the current London mayor.
3) an extension can only be obtained if the particulates level is not more than 20 percent above the EU limit. Sites in four London boroughs have exceeded this limit by over 20 percent.
Darren Johnson said:
"The Government is all delay and no action. The UK Government failed to apply for an extension ahead of the EU deadline and it has now failed to propose any new solutions to the problem. The Government’s lax attitude to the health of Londoners borders on the criminal.
"Substandard air quality in the capital already results in around 1000 premature deaths per year and yet far too little is being done about it. For the past ten years the Government has failed to take significant action, resulting in Britain’s air quality sinking to unacceptable and illegal levels."
"The London Mayor should be defending the health of Londoners by joining with me in rejecting this cynical attempt by the Government to kick the issue of air quality into the long grass."
Notes to Editors
1. To gain a time extension under EU law no site must exceed the annual allowance for PM10s (40*g/m3) by more than 20 percent (48*g/m3).
2. Sites in Bexley, Brent, Ealing and Lambeth exceeded the EU’s limit plus the 20 percent allowance by 8.5%, 4%, 10.5% and 39.5 respectively.
3. 12 EU countries did apply for an extension ahead of thedeadline.
4. The London mayor has made several changes to policy which are likely to increase PM10 emissions in London. He has dropped the six monthly inspections for black cabs and is replacing bendy buses with conventional buses (raising PM10 emissions by a third on route 38). He aims to abolish the western extension of the congestion charge and is considering plans to water down the roll out of the Low Emission Zone to light good vehicles in 2010.