New law to prevent and reduce air pollution in Spain

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law sets the basis for preventing, monitoring and reducing air pollution, to avoid or reduce harm to people, the environment and other assets. It applies to all sources of the pollutants listed in Annex I, except noise, vibrations, radiation and biological pollutants, which have their own rules.
2. The Government, with the participation of the autonomous communities, sets air quality objectives and emission limit values. The autonomous communities assess air quality in their territory, may set stricter limits, and divide their territory into zones according to pollution levels.
3. Potentially air-polluting activities are listed in a catalog (Annex IV). Those in groups A and B need administrative authorization from the autonomous community, which cannot exceed eight years; those in group C only need to be notified. Installations will not be authorized if they would push air quality beyond the objectives.
4. Operators of polluting installations must respect emission limits, immediately report any threat of damage, carry out emission checks, and provide information and access to inspections by public authorities.
5. Plans to improve air quality must be drawn up with public participation. The autonomous communities must have short-term action plans when there is a risk of exceeding the objectives, and municipalities with more than 100,000 residents must adopt their own plans and may restrict traffic by the most polluting vehicles.
6. Public authorities must inform the public about air quality, clearly and through easily accessible means, including the Internet. The autonomous communities will alert the population when the information and alert thresholds are exceeded.
7. Offenses are classified as very serious, serious and minor. Fines range from up to €20,000 for minor offenses to €2,000,000 for very serious ones, which can also lead to closure of the activity. Enforcement powers belong to the autonomous communities and, where applicable, to local entities.
8. The law repeals the 1972 Atmospheric Protection Act and the 1961 regulation on nuisance, unhealthy, harmful and dangerous activities. It also addresses light pollution and sustainable mobility, and changes the vehicle registration tax to take CO2 emissions into account.

Who it affects

• Operators of installations with potentially polluting activities: They must obtain authorization or notify their activity, respect emission limits, monitor their emissions, and face penalties if they fail to comply.
• Autonomous communities and municipalities: They must assess air quality, zone their territory, draw up plans, and inspect and penalize violations.
• Municipalities with more than 100,000 residents and agglomerations: They must inform the population about air quality and adopt plans and programs, and may restrict the most polluting traffic.
• The general public: People have the right to receive information about air quality and must help avoid and reduce pollution.

Words worth knowing

Valor límite de emisión (emission limit value)

The maximum amount of a pollutant that may be released into the air in a given period; it cannot be exceeded.

Actividades potencialmente contaminadoras de la atmósfera (potentially air-polluting activities)

Activities that, because of their nature, location or technology, may pollute the air and therefore require stricter control.

Aglomeración (agglomeration)

A conurbation of more than 250,000 people, or fewer if the autonomous community so determines based on population density.

Umbral de alerta (alert threshold)

A pollution level at which short-term exposure poses a risk to the whole population and requires immediate action.

Mejores técnicas disponibles (best available techniques)

The most effective and advanced techniques for reducing emissions, provided they are economically and technically viable and accessible to the operator.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries