Colin Gillespie, SEPA

1. Cleaner Air for Scotland
Scotland’s first air quality strategy
Dr Colin Gillespie
Scottish Environment Protection Agency

2. Cleaner Air for Scotland
• Strategy Development
• National Modelling Framework
• Aberdeen Project
• Scottish Air Quality Dataset
Project

3. Air quality hits the news…

4. • More local authorities declaring AQMAs
• Many local authorities have long established
action plans with a wide range of measures, but
progress in improving air quality is slow
• Measures with the biggest potential impacts
tend to be expensive and/or presentationally
difficult – Low Emission Zones, congestion
charging, large scale modal shift from private
vehicles to public transport or active transport
• Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow have all
completed/are undertaken LEZ feasibility studies
– but no LEZ yet in Scotland despite widespread
adoption in Europe
Background

5. Cleaner Air For Scotland
Launched at the
Annual STEP Conference
4th November, 2015

6. 3 main components to the strategy…
Main components to the draft strategy
Policy alignment
Assessment process
Working framework

7. CAFS – Modelling & Monitoring Working Group
The Working Group was intended to:
• Provide comment on the Strategy and guidance on how to
progress the Strategy further towards publication
• Help drive delivery of the Strategy actions beyond publication
Scope of the group – Covering the development of the National
Modelling Framework, including the regional assessment process
and the Modelling approach, whilst considering the wider
monitoring requirements to support the Strategy. Develop the
national Modelling Guidance, including the identification of data
requirements for undertaking the modelling framework.

8. National Modelling Framework
Regional NMF
 Identify cross-regional issues – based on land use focusing on
Strategic Planning Areas
Local NMF
 Identify potential problem areas, causes and potential solutions

9. Regional NMF model
Looked at other approaches…
• Based on the Netherlands approach
• Regional model to assess contributions from
planned development (size dependent)
• Model updated on a regular basis
• LAs provide planning information
• LAs and TS provide traffic data

10. Learning from National Flood Risk Assessment
approach…
• Engagement – success is dependent on partners working together
• Sound Science – standard approach to gathering data, detailed
modelling to support development of actions
• Prioritisation – developing a joint decision making process between
responsible bodies that prioritises actions for maximum benefits
• Support – Scottish Government support for the proposed process
(CAFS)

11. Local NMF Model
Using Aberdeen as our pilot study
Translate
Data
Information Evidence
Decision
process
The main focus is on data and not the AQ
model…

12. Data, data and more data – gathering the
appropriate data
Data gathering
• National traffic data collection project - two-tiered
approach to collecting traffic data
• Identify existing and gathering additional traffic
data
Collecting different forms of traffic data will help to build
the right picture, improving street-based emissions and
traffic composition

13. Developing the national approach
Analyses and Visualise
• Developed live and interactive visualisation tools
through Spotfire
• Initial data can be visualised – build on-line traffic
profiles identifying busy roads and junctions in
relation to traffic groups
• Air model outputs can be scrutinised
• Pull together a range of databases

14. Developing the national approach
Addressing uncertainties
• Analysis tools are used to identify uncertainties
• CFD models used to identify unique air flow
issues
• Additional data requirements feed in to the
information loop

15. Beyond a paper report
Transform data/information into evidence
• Provide interactive tools rather than paper-based
reports
• Develop scenario testing tools for developing actions
• Promotes collaborative approach to problem solving
• Promotes ownership of the actions developed

16. NMF will support the NLEF – working as a
feedback loop
Ensuring the NLEF assessment has a robust evidence base to be
used in the appraisal of access controls, such as;
– Low Emission Zones
– Clean Air Zones
– Additional actions

18. Public Air Quality Tools

20. Local Authority Reporting Tool

21. LA Reporting Tool

22. What’s required…
Ensuring a national approach is fully adopted…
– Close link between NLEF and the NMF
– Develop service that LA can easily utilise without
restrictions
– Provide a national service for LAs
– Link to existing legislation
– Provide access for both frameworks on existing web-based
tools
– Provide resource that can be utilised by all – promotes
partnership working

23. Thanks