London Mayor launches Clean Air Action Plan

A £10 charge for the most polluting vehicles entering central London features in mayor Sadiq Khan’s proposals to improve air quality in the capital.

The mayor is seeking feedback on his Clean Air Action Plan, which was launched today at Great Ormond Street Hospital. The plan includes a proposal to extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and improved alerts for high-pollution episodes. The deadline for the first round of consultation is 29 July, with a more detailed consultation taking place later this year. Some measures could be implemented as early as 2017, said the mayor.

Key proposals include implementing a £10 Emissions Surcharge (known as the Toxicity Charge or T-charge) on the most polluting vehicles entering central London from 2017 and an extension of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone.

The charge would apply to all vehicles with pre-Euro 4 emission standards (largely those registered before 2005) and will cost an extra £10 per day on top of the existing Congestion Charge.

Khan wants to introduce the central London Ultra-Low Emission Zone one year ahead of schedule in 2019. He also aims to extend the ULEZ from 2020 as far as North and South Circular roads for motorcycles, cars and vans, and London-wide for lorries, buses and coaches.

Other proposals include developing a detailed proposal for a national diesel scrappage scheme for the government to implement.

The plan also calls for the requirement for all double–deck buses to be ULEZ-compliant in central London by 2019 instead of 2020. Other proposals include clean bus corridors to tackle the worst pollution hotspots by delivering cleaner buses on the dirtiest routes.

Cars and vans would have to be either Euro 6 emissions standard if diesel - no more than around five years old in 2020 - or Euro 4, if petrol. 
 
If they do not meet these standards, drivers would have to pay up to £12.50 extra per day, said the mayor. Meanwhile, the most polluting buses, coaches and trucks would have to meet the Euro 6 diesel standard London-wide by 2020 at the least, or pay a £100 charge every day they drive in the capital. 

Referring to the 60th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, Sadiq Khan urged the government to “pass new legislation fit for the 21st century”. He said: “This needs to provide new powers and legal protections to ensure that the existing legal limits for air pollutants are retained following Brexit.”

“Just as in the 1950s, air pollution in London today is literally killing Londoners. But unlike the smoky pollution of the past, today’s pollution is a hidden killer.

“The scale of the failure to tackle the problem is demonstrated by the failure of the government and the previous mayor to meet legal pollution limits. Urgent action is now needed to ensure Londoners no longer have to fear the very air we breathe.”

Speaking at Great Ormond Street today, Khan said that the UK leaving the EU “could weaken our ability to tackle air pollution”.  He warned that Brexit could “mean the public will end up with less legal protection over their right to breathe clean air”. 
 
For this reason, the mayor said he would insist that “London has a seat at the table when the government and Brussels start negotiating, and I will continue to work with my counterparts across Europe through organisations like EUROCITIES and C40 - the Cities Climate Leadership Group.” 

In many parts of London, Nitrogen Dioxide levels are now three times higher than the safe legal limit, said Khan. “The second type of dangerous pollutant is known as PM10 or PM2.5. These are carcinogenic particles, which also cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, that are breaching safe levels across London.”

Figures released by Transport for London show that around 9,500 die in the capital from long-term exposure to air pollution every year while 360 primary schools and 86 secondary schools are in areas of the capital where Nitrogen Dioxide concentrations exceed the legal limits.

Professor John Middleton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: “Although we no longer have the ‘pea soupers’ that killed 12,000 people in the 1950s, 40,000 deaths each year in the UK are attributable to exposure to outdoor air pollution. It is also evident that it is disproportionately the poorest of our communities, which are most exposed and vulnerable to air pollution.

“Everyone in public health, local authorities and across the health and social care sector needs to work together to reduce the health harms of driving. For the sake of our health now and generations to come, we need a change in culture so that walking or cycling becomes part of our daily routine, rather than spending hours sitting in cars.”
http://tinyurl.com/z9rwjjn