New Zealand's air quality still fails to meet standards, even after 5 year extension
New Zealand's National Environmental Standards for Air Quality were introduced in 2004. Regional Councils were given responsibility to make sure air met those standards by 2011. After some years it became clear that that target date was not going to be met. So the regulations were amended, and Councils were given until September 2016. So, as of last week at least 18 "airsheds" (i.e. towns or cities) were in breech of the standard for particulate matter (PM10), according to monitoring data collected by Councils and posted on the national environmental data website ( www.lawa.org.nz ), with 4 more at risk of breaching the standard before the winter is over. The standard is based on the daily average level of airborne particulates, PM10. A daily average above 50 micrograms per cubic metre is termed an 'exceedence'. Each town is permitted a single exceedence per year, mainly to allow for atypical events like Guy Fawkes night or freak meteorological events. After that ...