Paul Bennett explores whether low emission zones are the answer to meeting EU air quality standards.
The UK government is aiming to achieve ambitious emissions reductions by 2015. Targets for reducing nitrogen dioxide are to be extended after many urban areas of the country failed to pass the applicable EU standards in 2010.
Emissions control is within the direct control of local authorities, and Low Emissions Zones (LEZs) are one tool available to local authorities for reducing emissions from vehicles. The main legal options for implementing a LEZ are traffic regulation orders, road user charging orders, traffic regulation conditions and agreements with significantly polluting road users. There is no national framework to encourage the use of LEZs, although this could change if the 2015 targets look as if they will not be met. So what progress has been made so far with LEZs in the UK?
In February 2008 a LEZ was introduced for Greater London by way of a road user charging order. The London LEZ enforces a zone around the capital within which haulage vehicles, buses and some heavier non-commercial vehicles must pay a charge unless they comply with increasingly restrictive emissions standards. This is enforced by a network of cameras and number plate recognition software to identify vehicles.
Oxford has a LEZ in force, which currently takes the form of a series of voluntary agreements with bus companies (known as a 'bus quality agreement'). The City Council states that the LEZ will become formally enforced through the Traffic Commissioner if the voluntary agreement is perceived not to be working.
Norwich is another city that operates a bus-only LEZ. Bus companies have been required to implement emissions standards across an increasing percentage of their fleet: for example, by April 2010 all operators based within the LEZ and 50% of operators based outside the LEZ were required to meet minimum NO2 standards. Unlike Oxford's voluntary approach this LEZ is implemented by traffic regulation conditions applied to operator licences, and is combined with separate, 'softer' measures within the overall LEZ, such as mandatory engine switch-off.
Leeds City Council has applied for DEFRA funding to commission a feasibility study for a LEZ. Leeds has a number of Air Quality Management Areas where emissions are regarded as problematically high, but there is scepticism in the Council with respect to ultimate effectiveness of a LEZ.
Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool City Councils are either at the pre-feasibility stage, or have discounted the idea of a LEZ completely. Liverpool carried out a feasibility study of a LEZ in 2006 but initial projections found the cost to be 'too excessive'. Glasgow consulted on the introduction of a full LEZ in 2010 but no news is available yet as to a decision. According to its current 'Big City Plan', Birmingham City Council is still only at the consultation stage with respect to any kind of emissions control.
The introduction of LEZs outside London has been slow and sporadic, and this is perhaps due to the likely cost of such schemes. TfL has stated that London's LEZ is a net cost to the authority, and it regards the LEZ as a pollution control measure and not a revenue-raiser. As well as the direct costs of the scheme there is an additional cost to the local economy. Other city authorities, lacking the resources available to TfL, will understandably continue to treat full LEZs with circumspection where there are other options available. We should perhaps not expect local or urban authorities to be flocking to establish LEZs. For the moment the low-cost, voluntary solution practised in Oxford looks to be the most attractive route to implementation, backed up with the threat of mandatory enforcement if emissions targets are not achieved. With strains on council budgets likely to continue for the foreseeable future it seems unlikely that many more LEZs will be introduced unless a way can be found to make them revenue-positive.
Nevertheless to meet the 2015 targets, the UK government may need to consider introducing a national framework for low emission zones, including fining local authorities for breaches of standards. If the Government makes a further push for low emission zones, local authorities, hauliers and bus operators will need to factor this into their plans.
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