asked the Minister for the Environment if he has satisfied himself that the present level of monitoring and controlling atmospheric pollution in Cork city is consistent with modern EC standards.
Written Answers. - Cork City Atmospheric Pollution.
35.
The Air Pollution Act, 1987, provides a comprehensive modern statutory framework for the control by local authorities of atmospheric pollution. Regulations made under the Act in 1987 prescribe air quality standards for the most widespread air pollutants, i.e. sulphur dioxide and suspended particulates, including smoke, lead and nitrogen dioxide. The regulations also provide for monitoring of these pollutants in accordance with requirements laid down in the relevant EC directives. Methods of sampling, measuring and analysis were prescribed in a directive which I gave on 29 October 1987 to local authorities, including Cork Corporation, under section 54 of the Air Pollution Act, and the directive also specified the locations in which certain pollutants were to be monitored. General advice in regard to monitoring arrangements has also been given to local authorities.