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9 June 2011
Last updated at 12:06 ET
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News
The UK is set to miss EU targets on air quality, government documents say - which may mean a legal row just before the London Olympic Games.
The targets should be met by 2015.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has admitted many cities will not meet them before 2020, while meeting London's targets could be as late as 2025.
If the European Commission is not satisfied by these plans, it could launch infringement action next year.
The government must submit its proposals in September, and the commission then has nine months to evaluate them.
If it decides to take action against the UK, that could begin next June - a month before the Olympics open.
"The 2025 date [for London] was a bit of a surprise," said Alan Andrews, an air pollution specialist with the environmental law organisation ClientEarth.
"We knew meeting the 2015 target was going to be difficult, but I thought they'd give it a go - but they seem to have thrown their hands up and said 'it's too difficult'."
Pollution was one of the issues that brought criticism - largely from the West - of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when transport and industry had to be restricted in order to bring pollutants down to acceptable levels.
Reducing traffic The EU restricts emissions of nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants because of their health impacts.
Existing levels are thought to cause about 3,000 people to die prematurely each year.
The targets, on nitrogen dioxide emissions, were originally due to be met in 2010.
But many EU countries, including the UK, had problems meeting the target and were granted extensions until 2015.
The Defra documents point out that for most of the country, levels are within the EU limits.
Mayor Boris Johnson scrapped part of London's congestion charge zone earlier this year, which has resulted in a higher number of cars travelling at lower speeds than previously - although Transport for London has said there has been little impact on air quality.
EU rules aimed at lowering vehicle emissions through technical changes have not brought the anticipated reductions, and critics say the current and previous governments have failed to do anything else to bring levels down.
"We need a nationwide framework for low emission zones, and we need to push ahead with alternative fuels - such as electric vehicles, hydrogen and natural gas," said Mr Andrews.
"But we can't only look at technical fixes - we need to be reducing traffic volumes."
Defra lists a number of initiatives aimed at curbing emissions, such as financial incentives for switching haulage from road to rail, research on how retailers could deliver goods outside peak times, and differential pricing for vehicles emitting lower levels of pollutants.
And although it has yet to respond to requests for clarification on this issue, its documents say it does intend to meet EU restrictions as soon as possible.
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By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News
The UK is set to miss EU targets on air quality, government documents say - which may mean a legal row just before the London Olympic Games.The targets should be met by 2015.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has admitted many cities will not meet them before 2020, while meeting London's targets could be as late as 2025.
If the European Commission is not satisfied by these plans, it could launch infringement action next year.
The government must submit its proposals in September, and the commission then has nine months to evaluate them.
If it decides to take action against the UK, that could begin next June - a month before the Olympics open.
"The 2025 date [for London] was a bit of a surprise," said Alan Andrews, an air pollution specialist with the environmental law organisation ClientEarth.
"We knew meeting the 2015 target was going to be difficult, but I thought they'd give it a go - but they seem to have thrown their hands up and said 'it's too difficult'."
Pollution was one of the issues that brought criticism - largely from the West - of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when transport and industry had to be restricted in order to bring pollutants down to acceptable levels.
Reducing traffic The EU restricts emissions of nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants because of their health impacts.
Existing levels are thought to cause about 3,000 people to die prematurely each year.
The targets, on nitrogen dioxide emissions, were originally due to be met in 2010.
But many EU countries, including the UK, had problems meeting the target and were granted extensions until 2015.
The Defra documents point out that for most of the country, levels are within the EU limits.
Mayor Boris Johnson scrapped part of London's congestion charge zone earlier this year, which has resulted in a higher number of cars travelling at lower speeds than previously - although Transport for London has said there has been little impact on air quality.
EU rules aimed at lowering vehicle emissions through technical changes have not brought the anticipated reductions, and critics say the current and previous governments have failed to do anything else to bring levels down.
"We need a nationwide framework for low emission zones, and we need to push ahead with alternative fuels - such as electric vehicles, hydrogen and natural gas," said Mr Andrews.
"But we can't only look at technical fixes - we need to be reducing traffic volumes."
Defra lists a number of initiatives aimed at curbing emissions, such as financial incentives for switching haulage from road to rail, research on how retailers could deliver goods outside peak times, and differential pricing for vehicles emitting lower levels of pollutants.
And although it has yet to respond to requests for clarification on this issue, its documents say it does intend to meet EU restrictions as soon as possible.
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