These Regulations consolidate and updates and revokes six sets of regulations associated with the Clean Air Act 1993 into one set of regulations. The Regulations revoked are:
The consolidation forms part of the Government’s Better Regulation Agenda and review of the Clean Air Act and will improve the accessibility and clarity of these Regulations. The regulations supplement provisions in the Clean Air Act 1993 on dark smoke from vessels, arrestment plant, chimney height approval and local authority powers to carry out research and publicity into air pollution.
The purpose of the Clean Air Act 1993 is to abate air pollution. The first Clean Air Act was introduced in response to the smogs of the 1950s which were caused by the widespread burning of coal for domestic heating and by industry and which were blamed for the premature deaths of thousands of people. The provisions in the Act and the regulations covering dark smoke from vessels, the fitting of arrestment plant, the approval of chimney heights and local authority powers to carry out research and publicity concerning air pollution are intended to help abate air pollution by controlling the emission of pollutants such as smoke, grit and dust.
