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Welcome to the LAQM Support Website
The Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) Support Website is provided by Defra and the Devolved Administrations. It contains a variety of support functions for local authorities and practitioners of LAQM.
Specifically, it is designed to support local authorities in carrying out their duties under the Environment Act 1995, the Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, and subsequent regulations.
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England (exc. London) AQAP Report Templates
In order to assist local authorities in undertaking their Air Quality Action Plan duties, a generic Report Template is available, which should be used when submitting AQAPs
Supplementary Guidance: Determining the impact of air quality improvement measures
Overview This supplementary guidance for England (excl. London) aims to assist local authorities in fulfilling the strengthened requirements for Air Quality Action Plans (AQAPs) or
Diffusion Tube Data Processing Tool
This diffusion tube data processing tool has been developed to assist local authorities in processing their NO2 diffusion tube monitoring data. It allows annual mean NO2 concentration results to be calculated from NO2 diffusion tube raw monthly data including bias factor adjustment, annualisation and distance correction calculations.
England (exc. London) Annual Status Report Templates
In order to assist local authorities in undertaking their Review and Assessment duties, a generic report template is available, which should be used when submitting LAQM Reports.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland AQAP Report Templates
In order to assist local authorities in undertaking their Air Quality Action Plan duties, a generic Report Template is available, which should be used when submitting AQAPs
UK Regions (exc. London) Technical Guidance
The technical guidance is designed to support local authorities in carrying out their duties under the Environment Act 1995 as amended by the Environment Act 2021, the Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, and subsequent regulations.
England (exc. London) Policy Guidance
This guidance relates to local authorities in England only, excluding those in London who are provided guidance separately by the Mayor of London. This guidance is statutory and all relevant Local Authorities (both district and county level), the Environment Agency and all designated Relevant Public Authorities must have regard to it.
Good Practice Examples: AQAPs
Examples of adopted Air Quality Action Plans which show a range of approaches taken by local authorities in the development of Action Plans. These examples of Best Practice are made on the basis of the overall approach taken by the authority, or the endorsement of specific elements of the Plan, which may prove useful to other authorities embarking on the AQAP process.
Emissions Factors Toolkit
Overview The Emissions Factors Toolkit (EFT) is published by Defra and the Devolved Administrations to assist local authorities in carrying out Review and Assessment of
The LAQM Process
The LAQM process places an obligation on all local authorities to regularly review and assess air quality in their areas, and to determine whether or not the air quality objectives are likely to be achieved.
Local authorities and LAQM practitioners can use this site to:
- Access templates, good practice and technical/policy guidance for LAQM reporting.
- View and download tools to assist with the assessment of air quality.
- View information related to Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA).
- Access the LAQM Portal.
The Devolved Administrations and Greater London Authority also host supplementary air quality information on separate pages:
- The Scottish Government.
- Llywodraeth Cymru Welsh Government.
- Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
- Greater London Authority.
Further air quality information can also be found on the UK-AIR website. In addition, the Air Quality Hub is a free, online knowledge sharing resource for those working in the field of local air quality management.
For help or problems with these pages please contact the LAQM Helpdesk.
The LAQM Support Website is produced by Bureau Veritas UK in partnership with ExtraDigital.
