Guidance for Local Authorities in England
The revocation of an AQMA should be considered following three consecutive years of compliance with the relevant objective as evidenced through monitoring. Where NO2 monitoring is completed using diffusion tubes, to account for the inherent uncertainty associated with the monitoring method, it is recommended that revocation of an AQMA should only be considered following three consecutive years of annual mean NO2 concentrations being lower than 36µg/m3 (i.e. not within 10% of the annual mean NO2 objective due to uncertainties and yearly variations). There should not be any declared AQMAs for which compliance with the relevant objective has been achieved for a consecutive five-year period.
Unless a likely exceedance has been identified in the area, Defra does not appraise AQAPs for AQMAs that have been in compliance for five years. Local Authorities are instead advised to revoke the AQMA and develop a local Air Quality Strategy.
To avoid cycling between declaring, revoking and declaring again, local authorities should be confident that the years counted towards full compliance are representative of typical conditions and therefore, are in a position to assure local communities that achievement with objectives will be maintained after revocation as required through Environment Act 1995, as amended by Environment Act 2021.
Just as in declaring an AQMA, local authorities will need to revoke their AQMAs officially by means of an AQMA Revocation Order which is submitted to the LAQM Portal. Defra or the relevant Devolved Administration should be informed once this has happened.
At the bottom of this page, there is an example of an AQMA Revocation Order.
Guidance for London Boroughs
The WHO Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) reflect the best available health evidence, and their recommendations continue to be recognised globally as the targets that should be met to protect public health.
The Mayor of London is committed to protecting the health of Londoners and has committed to meeting the fourth interim target of PM2.5 of 10ug/m3 by 2030 and the WHO 2021 Guidelines as soon as possible.
Section 3.06 and 3.07 of the LLAQM Policy guidance 2019 (LLAQM. PG(19)) sets out the procedure for Local authorities in London to revoke or revise an AQMA. This policy was written prior to publication of the updated WHO 2021 guidelines.
Following publication of the WHO 2021 guidelines, and the subsequent commitment for London to meet these guidelines as soon as possible, the GLA does not support revoking or revising AQMA until the WHO 2021 guidelines are met. This means, except in exceptional circumstances, revocation or amendment Orders submitted to the GLA will not be approved.
London Boroughs are encouraged to contact the GLA ahead of submitting a revocation or amendment order to discuss in more detail.
Guidance for Welsh Authorities
Revocation of an AQMA order should be considered where, as a result of a subsequent air quality review, it appears that the objectives of concern are being achieved for at least three consecutive years and where monitoring data demonstrates that further exceedances of the objectives are unlikely to occur. Monitoring data and information will be routinely collected through the review and assessment process and where required, additional monitoring and modelling studies. A detailed assessment for the AQMA is not specifically required to be conducted to proceed with AQMA order variation or revocation.
Where a Local Authority determines that, as a result of a subsequent air quality review, an AQMA order should be varied or revoked, the Welsh Government expects the Authority to notify members of the public, businesses and other interested parties in the vicinity of the AQMA. All available supporting information, including the response from communities and interested parties to justify the variation or revocation, should be provided to the Welsh Government outlining the compliance levels. A Local Authority may choose to share a proposal to vary or revoke an existing AQMA order with Welsh Government at any time.
Following a revocation, the Local Authority should put in place measures to ensure continuing compliance, for example a local or regional air quality strategy. Authorities should submit their revocation orders and associated information through the LAQM Portal to ensure the UK Air and Air Quality in Wales websites are updated accordingly. If required, contact the LAQM helpdesk for further advice on updating the database.
For information relating to the other regions, you should refer directly to the LAQM Technical Guidance and LAQM Policy Guidance for each Devolved Administration.
Documents
Central Bedfordshire Council – Stewartby Brickworks Revocation Order
Released: November 2009 (PDF, 500 KB, 2 pages)
