Norway’s Environment Agency published on 28 February a recommendation to tighten the country’s limits on particulate matter (PM) concentrations in the air. Norway’s existing air quality standards are similar to the EU’s, but the European Commission decided in its Clean Air package of December 2013 not to update the limits set in the EU Air Quality Directive from 2008.
Proposed new limits for PM10 are an annual mean of 25 μg/m3 in 2015 and 22 μg/m3 in 2020. The number of maximum allowed exceedances of the daily PM10 limit (of 50 μg/m3) is proposed to come down to 30 in 2015 and to 15 in 2020. Proposed new limits for PM2.5 are an annual mean of 15 μg/m3 in 2015 and 12 μg/m3 in 2010.
Source: Norwegian Environment Agency press release 28 February 2014.
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