site.btaEnvironment Ministry Blames Socio-Economic Problems, Peculiar Climate and Geography for Poor Air Quality

Environment Ministry Blames Socio-Economic Problems, Peculiar Climate and Geography for Poor Air Quality

Sofia, April 6 (BTA) - Approached by BTA about the persistently high levels of airborne dust particles in Bulgaria which pose a major risk to public health, the Ministry of Environment and Water said it cannot possibly comment on the relevant EU Court judgment rendered on Wednesday and can only comply with it.

The European Court of Justice found that Bulgaria failed, generally and persistently, to fulfil its obligations under the Ambient Air Quality Directorate 2008/50/EC in respect of both the annual and daily limit values for PM10 (particulate matter of a diameter of less than 10 microns) in the agglomerations of Sofia and Plovdiv and in the North, Southwest and Southeast zones from 2007 to 2014 and in the agglomeration of Varna in 2007, 2008 and from 2010 to 2014.

The exceedance of the limit values for PM10 in ambient air is due to the country's socio-economic development and to certain climatic and geographic peculiarities. Municipal air quality programmes identify household heating and road transport as the principal sources of air pollution, the Ministry said.

Household heating contributes heavily to the problem as some 57 per cent of the population use solid fuels (2011). Another reason is the use of old and ineffective combustion plants. The contribution of road transport is decisive only in the largest cities as a result of the obsolete car fleet, according to the Ministry.

Asked what Bulgaria should do to avoid incurring a fine, which is the next step, the Ministry said they expect the European Commission to launch a procedure enabling the country to respond to the infringement allegations.

In recent years the Environment and Water Ministry has taken steps to develop and apply measures at the national level, such as amendments to the Clean Ambient Air Act, which make it possible for municipalities to take additional measures for the improvement of air quality: setting up zones for low harmful emissions, restricting the use of certain fuels, and limiting vehicular traffic.

Besides this, 115 million leva have been allocated under Operational Programme Environment 2014-2020 to municipalities with deteriorated air quality.

A National Programme for Ambient Air Quality and a National Programme for Reduction of Certain Pollutant Emissions into Ambient Air are being developed.

The National Programme for Ambient Air Quality is to focus on measures that municipal authorities are not in a position to plan and implement on their own.