17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 7
Good morning. You've made some coherent arguments about agricultural emissions being responsible for more than a quarter of particle pollution in cities, and that is not always appreciated. We heard cogent evidence from the environmental organisations earlier…
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Fine, thank you.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
I just wanted to pick up with NRW the point about not introducing penalty notices until improvements to public transport and active travel infrastructure are in place. However, in the case of vehicle idling, I just want to make sure you're not arguing that we…
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay, thank you. I think I'll hand back to the Chair.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay. So, NRW, obviously, you have a big role in all this. We're clearly not meeting the nitrogen oxide targets. How can we strengthen the monitoring in order to enable us to identify where we've got to put in more activity?
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Yes. Perhaps it's not so much your area of expertise, because you're presumably—. Your organisations are involved in gathering data, are they?
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay. I'll stick with you, Jenny. This is my last question to all of you, which is: how adequate are the current arrangements for monitoring and reporting air quality data? Because this is key to ensuring that we don't just have words on the page, we actually…
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Hello, Jenny Hawley.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay. So, at the moment, the Bill gives the powers to Welsh Ministers to revoke or lower targets, and whilst I wouldn't have concerns with the current leadership, Governments change, so surely this is a get-out clause.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
I'll speed up.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay. So, it makes good sense, I would argue, to set the targets in regulations, because then you can strengthen them when new information becomes available. But, at the moment, there's no requirement on Welsh Government to consult with stakeholders prior to…
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
No, it's all right.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
So, the Minister's arguing that we don't yet know whether it's possible to achieve the WHO guidelines everywhere across Wales, and by when this could be achievable. This seems a bit of a weak argument to me, and I wonder if that's something that you've had…
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Thank you. That's useful. Just to go back to Haf, you're calling for air quality targets to be consistent with WHO guidelines. Can you explain why you don't think the Bill already makes that commitment?
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Thank you.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Thank you. And in relation to ammonia as well, why is the Minister arguing that there is insufficient data to set a target?
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
So, why, then, is the Minister arguing that it wouldn't be possible in the short term, due to a lack of data?
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay. Thank you for that information. So, just moving on to—. I'll come back to you, but just moving on to Friends of the Earth's argument that we need to set a target for nitrogen dioxide, can you just expand on your paper, really, as to why we wouldn't be—?…
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Yes. Sorry—go on.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay. So, it's a work in progress. Okay. Can I just—?
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay. I just want to pursue this issue with NRW, because, obviously, you're both adviser and enforcer on behalf of the Welsh Government. We had some concessions from the Minister for rural affairs in the discussions about the Agriculture (Wales) Bill 2022…
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay. In the context of the biodiversity crisis, it seems reckless, does it not, to not tackle this?
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Okay, so just turning to your arguments for doing this, clearly, it's good news for brambles and nettles, but very bad news for lots of other species. But the main source of ammonia is presumably the poo from cows. Is that right?
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
You think it is possible to set metrics for these targets. Okay.
17 Mai 2023 , Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Bil yr Amgylchedd (Ansawdd Aer a Seinweddau) (Cymru) - sesiwn dystiolaeth 6
Thank you, and thank you for your written evidence. I just want to turn to what the Bill is doing and what the Bill is not doing. You make some coherent arguments in your papers that just limiting targets for PM2.5 is insufficient. Could I ask Jenny Hawley…
