Regulations relating to pollution control (Pollution Regulations). This is an unofficial translation of the Norwegian regulation.

Laid down pursuant to sections 5, 9, 39, 49, 51 and 81 of Act no. 6 of 13 March 1981 concerning protection against pollution and concerning waste (the Pollution Control Act). Cf. EEA agreement appendix XX nos. 13d (Directive 2000/69/EC), 13e (Directive 1999/30/EC), 14a (Directive 96/62/EC) and 21ag (Directive 2002/3/EC).

7-1. Purpose
The purpose of the provisions in this chapter is to promote the health and well-being of people, and to protect vegetation and ecosystems by setting minimum requirements for air quality and ensuring that they are complied with, and by setting requirements for the monitoring of and information on the concentration of tropospheric ozone.

I. Local air quality

7-2. Scope

Subchapter I, Local air quality, covers the following substances:
- particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10),
- oxides of nitrogen and nitrogen dioxide,
- sulphur dioxide,
- lead,
- benzene,
- carbon monoxide

7-3. The responsibilities of plant owners
The owner of a plant that contributes substantially to the risk of exceeding the limit values listed in section 7-6 shall ensure that necessary measures are taken to ensure that the limit values and requirements pursuant to these provisions are complied with, and shall cover the costs associated with this action. The owner of a plant that contributes substantially to exceeding the alert thresholds listed in section 7-9 may be ordered to notify the public, and to cover associated costs. The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority may issue an order for several plant owners to collaborate on carrying out the measures.

The owner of a plant that contributes to concentrations as described in sections 7-7 and 7-8 shall help perform measurements, calculations and assessments of possible measures as described in sections 7-7 and 7-8, cf. section 7-4. However, the owners of small heating plants that are covered by section 7-8, paragraph 1, point 2, of the Pollution Control Act shall only be responsible for the obligations imposed by the municipality, pursuant to sections 7-4 and 7-5.

Only locally-created contributions shall be taken into account when determining whether a source contributes substantially to exceeding individual limit values. Emissions from road traffic shall be seen as a whole, regardless of who owns the roads. The same applies to emissions from contiguous port areas with different owners. Emissions from small heating plants that are covered by section 7-8, paragraph 1, point 2, of the Pollution Control Act must also be seen as a whole.

Permits pursuant to section 11 of the Pollution Control Act do not exempt the owner from obligations pursuant to subchapter I Local air quality.

7-4. The municipality’s responsibilities and authority
The municipality shall ensure that measuring stations are established and that measurements and/or calculations are made pursuant to section 7-7, after a statement has been made by the other parties responsible, pursuant to section 7-3. The municipality shall also ensure that the necessary assessments of possible measures are drawn up, pursuant to section 7-8, in consultation with the parties responsible, pursuant to section 7-3. 

The municipality can issue the necessary orders to ensure that the requirements in this chapter are met, including giving orders for action to be taken to guarantee compliance with the requirements in section 7-6, and issuing orders regarding duty of disclosure and investigation, pursuant to sections 49 and 51 of the Pollution Control Act. The municipality can also order the parties responsible, pursuant to section 7-3, to perform duties, pursuant to sections 7-7, 7-8, 7-9 and 7-10.

Orders to businesses that have received permits, pursuant to section 11 of the Pollution Control Act, to take action to guarantee compliance with the requirements in section 7-6, shall be given by the competent authority that has issued the permit.

The municipality shall make sure that the owners of smaller heating plants, as mentioned in section 7-3, as a group complete their share of the obligations pursuant to section 7-6. Through regulations to section 9 of the Pollution Control Act or individual decisions pursuant to section 7, paragraph 4 of the Act, the municipal council can regulate emissions from such heating plants. However, such regulations or administrative decisions cannot contain restrictions that lead to the overloading of the capacity of the local or national power grid.

In individual cases, the municipality can decide that the responsibilities of the owner of a plant, pursuant to this chapter, will instead be passed onto another party who runs an operation that causes pollution. In special cases, the municipality can order the parties responsible for a plant to comply with requirements pursuant to this chapter, even though the plant does not contribute significantly to the concentration of each substance.

7-5. Coverage of costs
The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority can order coverage and distribution of the costs of plant owners, when measures are taken to comply with the requirements in section 7-6.

The municipality can order the parties responsible, pursuant to section 7-3, to cover the costs related to complying with the obligations pursuant to sections 7-7, 7-8, 7-9 and 7-10. The costs shall be divided according to each party’s contribution to the pollution concentration.

The municipality can order the owners of small heating plants to cover the costs associated with the small heating plants’ share of the obligations in section 7-3, cf. sections 7-6, 7-7, 7-8 and 7-10. The municipal council can draw up regulations regarding fees for case processing and monitoring of the requirements listed in this chapter. The fees can be claimed from the parties responsible, pursuant to section 7-3, as well as from the owners of smaller heating plants, and shall be set so that the total does not exceed the municipality’s costs associated with case processing or the compliance monitoring scheme, cf. section 52a of the Pollution Control Act. The mandatory nature of the fees means that they may be collected through enforcement measures. 

7-6. Action limit values
Starting on the set deadlines, the concentration of pollution in outdoor air shall not exceed the following limit values by more than the permitted number of times:

Measures (implemented) in one area shall not lead to the limit values being exceeded in other areas. The measures shall ensure that the limit values will be complied with for at least 3 years after the measures have been implemented.

Until the dates for compliance with the limit values in these regulations, the minimum requirements in EU directives nos. 80/779/EEC and 85/203/EEC shall apply.

7-7. Requirements governing the measurement and calculation of air quality
The air quality shall be measured and/or calculated according to health-based and vegetation-based evaluation thresholds:

Assessment threshold for health protection

Assessment threshold for the protection of vegetation

 Measurements must be taken in agglomerations and other zones where the lower evaluation threshold has been exceeded. In agglomerations and zones where the concentrations during a representative period lie between the upper and lower evaluation thresholds, the number of measuring stations can be reduced if a combination of measurements and model calculations is used. In agglomerations and zones where the concentrations are under the lower evaluation threshold, using model calculations or techniques for objective estimates will be sufficient to assess the air quality. SO2 and NO2 measurements will still need to be taken in agglomerations.

In order to evaluate the air quality related to the health-based limit values in section 7-6, the minimum number of permanent measuring stations for each substance shall be:

At least one city background station and one traffic-oriented station must be included when the upper evaluation threshold for nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter is exceeded. The same applies to exceedances of the upper evaluation threshold for benzene and carbon monoxide, as long as this does not result in an increase in the number of stations.

In agglomerations, measuring stations shall be established to provide representative data on the concentration of PM2.5.

In order to assess pollution in areas around larger point sources, the number of measuring stations will be assessed according to the emission quantity, probable pollution dispersion patterns and potential exposure risks for the population.

In order to assess the air quality in relation to the vegetation-based limit values in section 7-6, the minimum number of measuring stations for each substance shall be:

The measuring stations that will be used to assess compliance with the limit values in terms of protecting health shall be placed in locations where they yield data on the areas in a zone or an agglomeration that have the highest concentrations that the population must expected to be exposed to, directly or indirectly. Such measurements shall be carried out during a period that is relevant to the limit value’s averaging period. The measuring stations shall be placed so that they also reflect concentration levels in other areas within a zone or an agglomeration that is representative of the exposure the population is subjected to.

Measuring stations with fixed measurements that shall be used to assess compliance with the limit values for ecosystems and vegetation shall be placed at a considerable distance from agglomerations, other built-up areas, industrial plants and motorways.

The reference methods for measurements given in the applicable EU directives shall be used when such exist. Other methods can only be used if sufficient correspondence with the reference methods for each component can be documented.

7-8. Action assessments
If the measurements taken pursuant to section 7-7 in a zone or an agglomeration show a risk of exceeding one or more of the limit values specified in section 7-6 by more than the number of times permitted, an assessment of possible measures shall be conducted to account for the necessary steps to be taken to satisfy the requirements in this chapter. There is a risk of exceedance when the tolerance margin for the year in question in the table below is exceeded. 

Once the time for limit value compliance enters into force, there will be a risk of exceedance when the upper assessment threshold in section 7-7 is exceeded. This does not apply to PM10, where there is a risk of exceedance when the daily mean value in section 7-7 is exceeded more than 35 times or the annual mean value exceeds 28 µg/m3.

7-9. Alert thresholds
If the concentration of sulphur dioxide exceeds 500 µg/m3 or the concentration of nitrogen dioxide exceeds 400 µg/m3 over three consecutive hours at locations representative of air quality over at least 100 km2 or an entire zone or agglomeration, the municipality or the entity appointed to do so by the municipality shall notify the public of:

1. the date, hour and place, as well as the reasons for the exceedance, if it is known,       
2. forecasts of
   - changes in concentrations (improvement, stabilization or deterioration ), together with the reasons for those changes,
   - the geographical area affected,
   - the duration,       
3. the type of population groups potentially sensitive to the exceedance,       
4. the precautions to be taken by the sensitive population.

7-10. Reporting, documentation and control
The municipality shall ensure that methods, procedures and data are reported, pursuant to provisions set by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority can also make further demands on the number and location of measuring stations, procedures, methods and documentation to ensure that the data is of satisfactory quality and can be compared, and make additional demands regarding assessments of possible measures and making data available to the public.

The municipality shall ensure compliance with the provisions in this chapter.

7-11. Appeals
Municipal decisions or decisions made by the County Governor pursuant to section 7-4 regarding performance of measures to ensure compliance with the limit values in section 7-6 can be appealed to the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority.

Decisions made by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority pursuant to section 7-3, subsection 1 ordering cooperation can be appealed to the Ministry of the Environment. Decisions made by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority pursuant to sections 7-4 and 7-5 regarding measures to ensure compliance with the limit values in section 7-6, and coverage of costs, can be appealed to the Ministry of the Environment. In major cases of principle and of a political nature, the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority shall in consultation with the Ministry of the Environment determine whether the appeal shall be reviewed by the Ministry. Other decisions made by the municipality can be appealed to the municipal council or special appeals board appointed by the municipal council.

II. Monitoring the concentration of tropospheric ozone

7-12. Monitoring and information about the concentration of tropospheric ozone in agglomerations and built-up areas

Two measuring stations shall be established to monitor the concentration of tropospheric ozone in zone 1, listed in appendix 1 to this chapter. One of the measuring stations shall be located in central Oslo. One measuring station shall be located at a suitable site near the city. An NO2 meter must also be set up, as well as a meter for monitoring VOC. These meters shall be located in central Oslo.

A measuring station shall be established in zone 2, the municipality of Bergen, close to the city, to monitor the concentration of tropospheric ozone.

One measuring station shall be established in the municipality of Skien to monitor the concentration of tropospheric ozone in zone 4, listed in appendix 1 to this chapter. An NO2 meter shall also be set up at this measuring station.

Whoever is responsible for a substantial part of the local contribution to the formation of tropospheric ozone in the zone or area to be measured will be responsible for setting up and operating the measuring stations, pursuant to this paragraph. In the event of disputes or lack of agreement, the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority will determine who is considered responsible, according to this section.

Whoever is responsible for setting up and operating the measuring stations according to this section shall make sure that information about the concentration of tropospheric ozone is made available to the public. This information must be updated at least once a day. At the very least, information shall be given about all exceedances of the long-term objective for tropospheric ozone listed in Appendix 2 to this chapter, and the effect of these exceedances.

When the information and alert thresholds listed in appendix 2 to this chapter are exceeded, those responsible shall notify the public. The public shall also be informed within a reasonable period of time about any expected exceedances of the alert threshold. The notification shall contain information as specified in Appendix 2.

Those responsible for setting up and operating the measuring stations shall report all exceedances of date-specific goals, long-term objectives and the information and alert thresholds for tropospheric ozone listed in Appendix 2 to this chapter to the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority can provide further guidelines for the reporting.

In each case, the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority can set further requirements on the number and location of measuring stations, procedures, methods and documentation to ensure that the data is of satisfactory quality.

7-13. Monitoring and information about the concentration of tropospheric ozone in sparsely-populated areas
The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority shall ensure that measuring stations are set up to monitor tropospheric ozone outside built-up areas in zones 4 to 7, listed in appendix 1 to this chapter.

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority shall ensure that information about the concentration of tropospheric ozone is made available to the public. This information shall be updated at least once a day. At the very least, information shall be given about all exceedances of the long-term objective for tropospheric ozone listed in appendix 2 to this chapter, and the effect of these exceedances.

The public shall be informed in reasonable time of actual or expected exceedances of the alert threshold listed in appendix 2 to this chapter. The notification shall contain information as indicated in appendix 2 to this chapter.

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority shall also ensure that annual reports about the concentration of tropospheric ozone are made available to the public. The annual reports shall at the very least contain information about all exceedances of date-specific goals, long-term objectives and the information and alert thresholds listed in appendix 2 to this chapter, and an assessment of the effects of these.

III. Concluding provisions

7-14. Penalties
To ensure that the provisions in subchapter I on Local air quality, or decisions pursuant to provisions pursuant to subchapter I, are complied with, the municipality may impose a fine payable to the state, cf. section 73 of the Pollution Control Act. The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority can likewise impose a penalty linked to decisions pursuant to section 7-10, paragraph 1, point 2, and subchapter II on Monitoring the concentration of tropospheric ozone.