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Air quality is monitored in Galway City at the following Air Monitoring Stations:
Rahoon Road
Eyre Square
BriarhillMore information on these stations and the records of air quality measured at these stations is available at http://www.epa.ie/air/quality/data/rr/.
Galway City Council has a role in enforcement and licencing of the emission of air pollutants through the Air Pollution Act 1987.
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Air Pollution and Climate Change
Many of the air pollutants listed in the Air Pollution Act 1987 are also greenhouse gases and their emission contribute to increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause global warming and climate change as well as affecting health and wellbeing. More information on Ireland’s greenhouse gas emission can be found on the EPA website at https://www.epa.ie/ghg/.
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Air Pollution Licensing
Galway City Council Environment Section is the statutory licensing authority under the Air Pollution Act, 1987, (Licensing of Industrial Plant) Regulations, 1988 - 2001 for the administrative area of Galway City Council. The first schedule of these regulations sets out the class of industrial plant which is subject to an Air Pollution Licence. The regulations generally set out the procedures in relation to licensing, appeals, reviews, etc. Galway City Council Environment Section is responsible for the assessment of applications and the enforcement of conditions which may be attached to any licences granted.
Relevant Legislation:
- Air Pollution Act, 1987
- Air Pollution Act, 1987, (Licensing of Industrial Plant) Regulations, 1988
- Air Pollution Act, 1987, (Licensing of Industrial Plant)(Fees Amendment) Regulations, 2001
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Solid Fuel Regulations Enforcement
Local authorities regulate the storage, distribution, sale and supply of low smoke coal and regulate the use of smoky coal and may designate areas as low smoke zones.
Solid Fuel Regulations Enforcement
Galway City Council is the enforcement agency for breaches of the Air Pollution Act 1987 (Solid Fuel) Regulations 2022.
Solid Fuel Regulations
The current Solid Fuels Regulations took effect from 31 October 2022, and apply equally across the State.
The primary focus of these regulations is on improving air quality and improving people’s health outcomes, by restricting the retail, online and commercial sale of smoky fuels, including smoky coal, turf, and wet wood. These fuels are proven to be a major contributor to air pollution in Ireland.
The thresholds which now apply are:
- Coal products and manufactured solid fuels must have a smoke emission rate of less than 10 grams per hour. This is the same as was previously in force in Low Smoke Zones.
- Manufactured part biomass products must have a smoke emission rate of less than 5 grams per hour.
- Coal products and manufactured solid fuels, including manufactured part biomass products, must have a sulphur content of less than 2% by weight on a dry ash-free basis, and subject to a market assessment, from 1 September 2025 this will be reduced to 1%.
- Fuel products which are 100% biomass products (including wood products and wood logs), supplied in units of two cubic metres or less, must have a moisture content of less than 25% (from 1 September 2025, this will be reduced to less than 20%).
- Wood logs supplied in units of two cubic metres or more must now be accompanied by a notice outlining the need to store and season wet wood until it is sufficiently dried.
- It is now not possible to sell turf via retail, online or other media, in public houses or other public places.
The Regulations also place certain obligations on producers, importers, and retailers of solid fuels.
Solid Fuel Producer Registration
A solid fuel producer is a person who for the purposes of combustion or heating, produces, treats, or imports solid fuel for retail or distribution in the State. The Regulations require that producers of solid fuels must register with the EPA to be placed on a Fuels Register. Information on the registration process can be found on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website.
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has produced and regularly updates dedicated FAQs for the following sectors:
- Householders
- Producers and importers of firewood
- Producers and importers of other solid fuels
- Retailers
- Couriers & haulage companies
- Media companies
These may be found at www.gov.ie/cleanair
The videos below help to raise awareness of the solid fuel regulations, and ask people to think twice before lighting a fire if they also have other forms of heat available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHHuUpXOpVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgH_rkH8YtI
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Solvents
Please see the expanded Solvents section of this website.
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Petrol Vapour Recovery Requirements
If you are a Petrol Station owner/operator you are obliged to ensure that your facility is so designed and operated in accordance with the Third Schedule of Air Pollution Act 1987 - Petroleum Vapour Emissions Regulations and the European Union (Stage II Petrol Vapour Recovery during Refuelling of Motor Vehicles at Service Stations) Regulations 2011.
The objective of these regulations is to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) into the atmosphere from vehicle re-fuelling activities at service stations, in order to reduce the adverse impact of VOC on human health and the environment.
Petrol contains VOC, carbon-based chemicals that evaporate readily into the atmosphere. Once emitted to air, VOC are associated with several health and environmental problems
- Formation of ground-level ozone and photochemical smog
- Poor local air quality (benzene in air)
- Atmospheric warming and climate change.
Under these regulations all petrol service stations must have installed a Stage 1 Petrol Vapour Recovery system in place.
The Regulations also provide that new service stations which meet either of the following two criteria will be required to be equipped with Stage II Petrol Vapour Recovery (PVRII) systems to recover Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) during refuelling of vehicles:
- throughput >500m3 (or 500,000 litres)
The Regulations also provide that existing service stations are required to install PVRII systems when undergoing their next major refurbishment after 1 January, 2012 if they meet either of the following two criteria:
- throughput >100m3 (or 100,000 litres) and situated under living or working quarters
- throughput >500m3 (or 500,000 litres)
In addition, the Directive requires that service stations with a throughput >3,000m3 (or 3,000,000 litres) will be required to install PVRII technology by 31 December, 2018 at the latest (or sooner if undergoing a major refurbishment before that date).
To meet the requirements of the regulations a Service Station owner/operator is obliged to appoint an approved assessor who will carry out tests on their petrol station and submit a report and fee to Galway City Council. If the Council is satisfied with the report it will issue a certificate of compliance with the above act. Certificates of compliance last a maximum of three years, and need renewal on expiry. A copy certificates of compliance must be kept available for inspection at the relevant service station.