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DEFRA and DfT have published the 2017 UK Air Quality Plan for tackling nitrogen dioxide

The final UK Air Quality Plan for tackling nitrogen dioxide has been published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Department for Transport (DfT) and the devolved administrations.

The plan sets out how the UK will be reducing roadside nitrogen dioxide concentration and details how the government plans to meet their legal requirements set out in the Air Quality Standard Regulations 2010 (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland & Scotland).

The government plans to help local authorities reduce nitrogen dioxide pollution by:

  • Setting up a £255m implementation fund;
  • Establishing a Clean Air Fund, which will allow local authorities to bid for additional money to support the implementation of measure to improve air quality; and
  • Assigning £100 million for retrofitting and new low emission buses.

The government also plans to end the sale of all new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040.

Following the publication of the plan the Low Carbon Vehicles Partnership (LowCVP) and the Energy Saving Trust (EST) have launched the clean vehicle retrofit accreditation scheme (CVRAS). This government-backed scheme aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of air pollution abatement technologies retrofitted to older vehicles.

The primary function of the CVRAS is to allow owners of older vehicles to avoid paying to enter clean air zones (CAZ) and in turn cutting economic costs of CAZs, as retrofitting is generally far less expensive than buying an entirely new vehicle.

Link to Air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in UK (2017).

Link to the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme.

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