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1. A Health-Centred Framework for Establishing Ambient Air Quality Standards

Author:
Bhargav Krishna and Abinaya Sekar
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Air quality standards are primarily health-based standards that define the ambient concentration of air pollution to which the public can be exposed without suffering harm to their health. In India, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is tasked with setting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981. The NAAQS were first established in 1982 for four pollutants (suspended particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide) and subsequently revised in 1994 and 1998 to include several more. The current iteration of the NAAQS were notified in 2009 and were aligned with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) interim air quality guidelines. The most recent revision of the WHO guidelines for ambient air quality in September 2021 rendered the NAAQS as substantially weaker in comparison. The alignment of the NAAQS with these global guidelines will require integration of the wealth of new health data generated since 2009 on the deleterious effects of air pollution on health both locally and globally. The 2009 NAAQS revisions were notified through the Gazette of India with no contextual information provided on the composition of the committee tasked with the revisions, or on the kind of data or information used by the committee to draw its conclusions on the acceptable levels of exposure to various pollutants. In August 2021, the CPCB convened a committee to review and update the NAAQS. The committee’s wide-ranging remit includes an assessment of the health risks of air pollution, establishing guidelines for monitoring, identifying non-attainment areas, and revising the Air Quality Index (AQI) through which health risks are communicated to the public.
Topic:
Regulation, Public Health, and Air Pollution
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

2. Strengthening India’s Ambient Air Quality Standard-Setting Process

Author:
Bhargav Krishna
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) provide the basis for assessing air quality nationally, determining pollution control priorities, and defining what we consider to be acceptable air quality to protect public health. They are framed and issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under the Air Act (1981). In August 2021, the CPCB announced that a revision of the NAAQS would be undertaken over the next year under the leadership of faculty from IIT Kanpur, with representatives from other institutions. The wide-ranging remit for this committee includes revisiting the existing standards for criteria pollutants, potentially expanding the base of pollutants being measured, determining the effects of air pollution on human health and vegetation, designing, and setting up of monitoring networks, and reviewing the air quality index. These revisions to the NAAQS will serve to define the discussion around air pollution for the next decade in India. Making the standards more ambitious will be based on our understanding of risk associated with exposure and how that has evolved over time. It will have implications for how that risk is communicated by the government to citizens through the Air Quality Index (AQI) and will provide a basis for regulating certain point sources. More ambitious standards can also provide a useful benchmark against which to measure the progress of our initiatives to improve air quality. Given the import of these standards as a means of protecting public health, engaging in risk communication, and tracking progress against our air quality goals, it is essential that the process followed by the NAAQS revision committee is clearly laid out and guided by a series of fundamental principles. These include ensuring their relevance by committing to predefined periodic reviews, basing policy decisions on a solid foundation of science by engaging a broad range of experts, centering health in air quality policy making, and building trust with civil society and other stakeholders. Reinforcing institutional processes are a long-term challenge, and we recognize that significantly altering the parameters of work of a committee whose work is already underway may not be possible. The principles and actions laid out in this framing note can form the basis for future work in this area by the CPCB. In our recommendations, we also outline several immediate actions that can be taken by the CPCB and the NAAQS committee as they proceed with the revision of the NAAQS.
Topic:
Regulation, Public Health, and Air Pollution
Political Geography:
South Asia and India