Department of the Environment and Heritage Annual Report 2003-04

Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004
ISSN 1441 9335

Review of performance: Outcome 1 - Environment (continued)

Protecting the atmosphere

Air Quality
Ozone protection
Report on performance information

The Department contributes to improving and protecting the air quality in Australia's cities and towns, and contributes to the international effort to restore the earth's protective ozone layer.

In 2003-04, the Department worked to protect the atmosphere by implementing a range of activities related to:

improving air quality;
improving fuel quality; and
ozone protection.

Detailed reports on the operation of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 and the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000 are included in this annual report under 'Other reports'.

The Policy Coordination and Environment Protection Division contributed to this output.

Objective

To improve air quality in order to protect human health and the environment.

Activities

Air quality standards

Uniform national standards are set by the Australian Government, and state and territory governments. National standards set levels for certain air pollutants to protect human health.

Australia's first air quality standards were set in 1998 under the Ambient Air Quality National Environment Protection Measure. This measure sets national standards for six key pollutants - carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, particles and lead.

In April 2004 the Minister released the State of the Air: National Ambient Air Quality Status and Trends Report, 1991-2001. This was the first national report on trends from 1991 to 2001 in the average concentrations in urban air of the six key air pollutants. The report provides a benchmark for future assessments of air quality in Australia, and is available at www.deh.gov.au/atmosphere/airquality/status.

In 2003-04, the Department focused on air toxics, which are pollutants at low concentrations that cause a range of health problems, including respiratory illnesses and cancer. In April, the Air Toxics National Environment Protection Measure was approved by the National Environment Protection Council. This measure establishes national consistency in the monitoring and reporting on five air toxics - benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, formaldehyde, toluene and xylenes.

Fuel quality standards

Motor vehicles are the single largest contributor to urban air pollution, and have a major influence on the incidence of smog and haze.

The Australian Government has introduced national fuel quality standards. These standards make a major contribution to improved environment and health outcomes. The standards also pave the way for new and cleaner vehicle technologies which will bring fuel consumption benefits.

The fuel quality standards are made under the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000, which is designed to improve the quality of petrol, diesel and other transport fuels sold in Australia. In 2003-04, the Department:

developed standards which will significantly reduce the sulphur levels for petrol and diesel beyond 2006;
developed new standards for biodiesel and liquefied petroleum gas; and
managed a monitoring and compliance programme including appointing inspectors, sampling fuel, and testing the samples at accredited laboratories.

Reducing diesel vehicle emissions

The goal of the Diesel Vehicle Emissions National Environment Protection Measure is to reduce exhaust emissions from diesel vehicles. It aims to do this by facilitating compliance with in-service emissions standards for diesel vehicles. To implement the measure in 2003-04, the Department:

administered separate funding agreements with the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales, the Brisbane City Council and the South Australian Department of Transport and Urban Planning to test and repair highly polluting vehicles; and
completed a project with the National Transport Commission to develop training that equips diesel mechanics to tune vehicles for environmental results.

The Department participated in the Prime Minister's Energy Task Force, which developed the Australian Government's Energy White Paper, Securing Australia's Energy Future. The White Paper announced measures targeting high polluting diesel vehicles, which will serve to strengthen the application of the Diesel Vehicle Emissions National Environment Protection Measure. From 1 July 2006, certain users of heavy-duty diesel vehicles will need to meet emissions performance criteria to qualify for fuel excise credits.

CycleConnect

In February 2004, the Australian Government launched the CycleConnect Programme to reduce car use through alternative transport options.

CycleConnect provides $2.4 million over two years to develop facilities that will encourage people to use public transport and bicycles instead of private motor vehicles. As a component of the Urban Environment Initiative, the Department will administer CycleConnect grants for installing over 3000 secure bicycle lockers at railway and bus stations.

Reducing woodheater pollution

Woodsmoke from woodheaters is a major source of urban air pollution during winter. The Australian Government targeted woodsmoke through the Natural Heritage Trust-funded Woodheater Replacement Programme in Launceston. Launceston has the worst woodsmoke problem of any city in Australia. The $2.05 million programme was completed in June 2004.

Over the life of the programme $1.246 million in grants was allocated to replace 2244 woodheaters with cleaner forms of heating. The grants were complemented by public education, research and monitoring. Together with other initiatives and milder than expected weather conditions, reducing woodheater emissions led to only 18 days in 2003 when the national air quality standard for particulates was exceeded in Launceston - a 36 per cent improvement from 2001.

At the national level, an action plan was negotiated with industry to respond to findings that a majority of new woodheaters failed to comply with Australian Standard 4013. A key element in the action plan is a follow-up audit starting in September 2004 to test all woodheater models over the next two years.

Research

The Department undertook three research projects in 2003-04 to improve our understanding of air pollutants, their health impacts and to inform the development of effective management strategies.

During the 2003 winter, the Department managed a study on Unflued Gas Appliances and Air Quality in Australian Homes funded by the Natural Heritage Trust.

The study found concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in most of the 116 homes tested in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne to be of a level likely to affect the health of asthmatics and other people sensitive to air pollutants. The Minister referred the report to state and territory health ministers and the Department will continue to work closely with health agencies to develop effective responses to this issue.

In the summer and winter months of 2003, the Department managed a study in Launceston to determine the influence of woodsmoke on exposure to selected air toxins.

The study found that personal exposure to benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylene was significantly higher during winter when woodheaters were used, including in houses that did not have woodheaters. This confirms the significance of woodsmoke as an outdoor pollutant that affects the entire community, rather than an indoor pollutant with localised effects.

A study was commissioned to compare airborne particles in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, in both city and suburban environments. The results of the study are expected to provide valuable information about the origins of particles in urban environments and how particle composition may affect health.

Result

The State of the Air Report showed that levels of four key pollutants - lead, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide - have been reduced to well below the national standards in major urban centres, including the capital cities. However, the report showed no similar reduction is evident in the levels of two other pollutants - ozone and particle levels. The Department is working with state and territory agencies to address these priority pollutants.

Work continued on fuel quality standards, which, together with complementary vehicle emission standards, are predicted to cut vehicle emissions of some pollutants by up to 60 per cent in the period from 2000 to 2020. Since the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000 came into force, fuel sulphur levels have reduced significantly (see Figure 3). In 1999, diesel sulphur content was around 1300 parts per million on average. Under the Act this sulphur content was reduced to 500 parts per million in December 2002, and will further reduce to 50 parts per million from 1 January 2006, and to 10 parts per million from 1 January 2009. Sulphur levels in premium unleaded petrol will reduce from the current level of 150 parts per million to 50 parts per million from 1 January 2008.

Figure 3: Sulphur levels in petrol and diesel (2000-2010) - premium unleaded petrol

Figure 3: Sulphur levels in petrol and diesel (2000-2010)