25 October 2010
Zac Goldsmith (Conservative, Richmond Park): Asked the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to meet EU air quality targets at Heathrow and in the surrounding area.
Richard Benyon (Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) : EU air quality limits for all air pollutants except nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are met at Heathrow and the surrounding area. Road transport is a major source of this pollutant and meeting the EU limits for NO2 in the required timescales around the airport will be challenging, though concentrations of this pollutant are higher in Central London.
The Government are committed to working towards EU air quality limits and like most other member states plans to use the provisions in the Air Quality Directive, which permit until 2015 to meet the limits. DEFRA is working closely with the Department for Transport, the airport operator (BAA), the Mayor of London, and local authorities to develop and implement measures to help meet NO2 limits as soon as possible.
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