The plans or programmes developed by the competent authorities of the German states are available to the public and relevant organisations (for example environmental protection organisations, consumer associations, groups representating the interests of vulnerable persons, and other organisations concerned with health protection).
In addition to general information on the exceedance area the clean air plan must contain information on the nature, origin and assessment of the pollution as well as on measures taken to comply with the limit values.
The Member States are responsible for the implementation of specific measures designed to achieve the agreed limit values in due time under the local circumstances. The European Commission must be informed about the plans or programmes and reviews their implementation at regular intervals.
Measures to maintain and improve ambient air quality
For each area where air quality does not meet the common European criteria, the competent authority of the relevant German State draws up a plan or a programme. In such plans appropriate measures for future compliance with the limit values in the affected municipality or area are identified.
UBALLL: national list of all plans or programmes and action plans available on the Internet (in German)
Options for local actions are determined by geographical circumstances, the emission structure and the extent of the registered exceedances in the individual zones. Since a substantial part of the pollution with particulate matter originates from sources outside of the affected zones, additional measures at both the national and the EU level are necessary.
National measures
The German Federal Government is making numerous efforts to permanently reduce pollution by nitrogen dioxide and the high background concentrations of particulate matter caused by long-range transport.
This includes:
Initiatives of the Federal Government to tighten EU exhaust-gas limits for passenger cars and heavy goods vehicles, to equip new and retrofit old passenger cars with diesel particulate filters and to introduce tax relief for such cars
Tax incentives for sulphur-free fuels in Germany since 1 January 2003
Projects to support the use of environmentally friendly engines and vehicles and ambitious environmental standards in local public transport
Revision of the Ordinance on Large Combustion Installations which inter alia aims to reduce emissions of dust, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and heavy metals from combustion plants and requires the operators of power plants to use filter systems reflecting the best available techniques
On 1 October 2002 the new Technical Instructions on Air Quality (TA Luft 2002) entered into force. The Technical Instructions establish maximum concentrations for dust which also have to be observed in the licensing of installations
Initiative of the Federal Government to develop a political strategy for the reduction of particulate matter within the ECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe), supported by the European Commission
Measures in the agriculture sector. These aim to further reduce precursor substances (nitrogen oxides, ammonia etc.) for secondary particle formation under the common agricultural policy, and include:
Measures to reduce the stocking density
Increased promotion of grassland
Promotion of organic farming with application of solid manure
Promotion of direct injection techniques for fertilisation
Recommendations for good agricultural practice and development of best available techniques for small farms
Europe-wide measures
Tightening of European emission standards for vehicles including heavy goods vehicles
Europe-wide adaptation of emission standards of large emission sources (power plants, industrial furnaces) to technical progress
Emission reduction for stationary sources in eastern european countries