Regional Action Plan for Air Protection – KAPOOO

• About the Project
• Project Team
• Project Partners
• Contacts
• Project Results

About the Project

The aim of the project is to propose the most effective measures possible for reducing emissions in the Moravian‑Silesian Region. The effectiveness of the measures will be determined as the emissions reduction per crown expended. A list of measures will be derived from detailed monitoring of the sources of pollution, and it will be integrated in the new Action Plan of the Moravian‑Silesian Region.

In order to achieve the project objectives, an analysis of historical series of air quality measurements in the Region will be made, complemented with detailed targeted monitoring (referential as well as sensory measurements). The measurements will enable the identification in greater detail of individual sources and distinguish the most problematic among them. Also, the measures taken or proposed for emissions reduction will be subject to analysis.

The Moravian‑Silesian Region will use the Action Plan for subsequent air quality management, e.g., through specific subsidies. Residents of the region should feel the impact of the Action Plan in the form of stabilised or improved air quality. The elaboration of the Action Plan will entail a transfer of expertise by the project partners, which will themselves find their deepened cooperation with the Region to be enriching.

Project Team

Specialised expert, research, and methodology workplaces will cooperate on the project solution. These are key specialised institutions engaged in long-term methodological development at a national level, and in air quality monitoring and research. Also, the cities of Ostrava, Opava, and Kopřivnice have expressed support for the project. Five partners are involved in the project.

Project Partners

With this project, the Moravian‑Silesian Region responds to the need to address the issue of air pollution and its management in connection with development and other activities in the Region. In terms of the Region’s internal structures, the issue of air quality is the responsibility of the Department of the Environment and its separate Section for Air Protection and Integrated Prevention, which initiated the project. In this sphere, the Region has had long-term cooperation with leading institutions and private companies, in monitoring, evaluation, and management of air quality. That is why a logical partnership was formed with institutions and departments with national and regional scope in the project preparation phases.

The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute is the central state institute for the fields of air purity, hydrology, water quality, climatology, and meteorology, providing objective expert services primarily for state administration. The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute has been designated by the Ministry of the Environment as the National Reference Laboratory of the Czech Republic for ambient air quality, in support of the European air quality directives.

The National Institute of Public Health is an organisation subsidised by the Ministry of Health. Its tasks include drafting national health policy documents and documents for health protection and promotion; provision of methodological and reference activities in the field of public health protection; monitoring and research into the relationship between living conditions and health, etc. This activity in the field of air is carried out by the National Reference Centre for Ambient and Indoor Air.

The Transport Research Centre is the only research organisation under the remit of the Ministry of Transport. The institution works mainly in the field of road safety, technology of construction, maintenance, repair, and renovation of transport infrastructure, including geotechnical aspects and diagnostics of transport structures. An integral part of this involves addressing the environmental and economic impacts of transport and its infrastructure or finding smart mobility solutions and supporting the introduction of new technologies.

Ekotoxa is a research, analysis, and design company for the environment, agriculture, forestry, and land development. It is one of the national centres in the field of air protection that has been conducting applied research in air protection, impacts on environmental components, air quality monitoring, and providing methodological support to the Ministry of the Environment on a long-term basis. It provides expert support to public administration and state institutions in the implementation of development plans and environmental measures, including SEA assessments. Ekotoxa was directly involved in the preparation of the Medium-term Air Protection Strategy of the Czech Republic (2015), with major involvement in proposing measures in the air quality improvement plan. In the Moravian‑Silesian Region, Ekotoxa has long been providing its professional services in the field of environment.

Project Results

Under the leadership of the Moravian-Silesian Region, a consortium of researchers (CHMI, SHI, TRC and Ekotoxa) has been working on a project supported by the "Environment, Ecosystems and Climate Change" programme funded by the Norway Grants 2014–2021 (Call 2A "TROMSO").

The project was implemented within the terms of individual activities and its innovative contribution was the development and application of integrated approaches in relation to the implementation of emission reduction measures in pilot areas and impacts on action plans, including links to other existing tools for development and management of the region and cities in the catchment area.

In order to meet objectives, quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed on historical series of air quality measurements in the territory of the region, supplemented by targeted and more detailed monitoring (reference and sensory measurements).

Analytical processing of historical measured data

In the first step of research, the available data from the measurements was analysed for selected locations of point sources of pollution, including additional information on the adoption and implementation of measures in all areas (industry, small municipalities, transport). The results of the "Quantification of air pollution and the resulting health risks in small settlements in the Czech Republic and the system of solutions" project were used among others.

Targeted monitoring of specific areas/sources of air pollution (sensor and accredited measurements) in relation to identified problem sources and locations

Based on the executed analysis and communication with the region and partner cities (Ostrava, Opava, Kopřivnice), targeted monitoring was designed and implemented to provide additional data. A combination of certified methods and sensor measurements was used to take measurements.

In addition to air monitoring, dry deposition on road surfaces and mixed samples of the surface layer of agricultural soils were sampled and evaluated at 6 selected sites within the assessment area to evaluate the immission contribution of benzo[a]pyrene due to particulate resuspension from the earth’ s surface.

Identification and prioritisation of air pollution sources – detailed identification of the main groups of sources that contribute most to pollution, based on monitoring and health risk assessment

The results of the first two activities were used as the main basis for preparation of follow-up measures, including assessment of their expected impacts, which included a health risk assessment. The aim of the activity was a detailed description of the main groups of pollution sources for subsequent determination of measures within the Action Plan.

Analysis of previously implemented measures and evaluation of their effectiveness (in terms of emission reduction, economic efficiency)

The activity included a detailed analysis of previously implemented measures, including examples of solutions or problems with implementation. The output of the activity was determination of the cost-effectiveness of various measures, with recommendations for subsequent application in the Action Plan.

Action Plan

The main output of the project is an Action Plan responding to the existing and expected changes in air quality in the Moravian-Silesian Region and addressing this issue (including proposal and evaluation of specific measures and their implementation) in order to ensure the sustainable operation and development of cities and the entire region and to improve (or at least maintain) the quality of life of its inhabitants. The key criteria for execution were the amount of reduced emissions and economic efficiency, i.e. the Action Plan proposed the most effective measures to reduce air pollution in the area.

The project target group is primarily the project submitter, the Moravian-Silesian Region, which can use the Action Plan as a tool for subsequent air quality management, e.g. by setting up specific subsidies. Another target group is the inhabitants of the region, who should feel the impact of the Action Plan in stabilisation or improvement of air quality. Last but not least, the users of the outputs are the project partners themselves, who used their expertise for preparation of the Action Plan and simultaneously established partnerships between themselves and the public administration, which will undoubtedly be beneficial in the future.

Contacts

• Regional Authority of the Moravian‑Silesian Region: Michal Kuchár, e‑mail: michal.kuchar@msk.cz, tel. + 420 595 622 946
• Ekotoxa: Žaneta Žůrková, e‑mail zaneta.zurkova@ekotoxa.cz, tel. + 420 602 626655
• Czech Hydrometeorological Institute: Vladimíra Volná, e‑mail vladimira.volna@chmi.cz, tel. + 420 596 900 241
• National Institute of Public Health: Helena Kazmarová, e‑mail helena.kazmarova@szu.cz, tel. + 420 267 082 555
• Transport Research Centre: Radka Haitmarová, e‑mail radka.haitmarova@cdv.cz, tel. + 420 770 114 745
• State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic
• The EEA and Norway Grants on the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic website
• EEA and Norway Grants

This project was supported with a grant from Norway Grants. Project number: 3202100003

Tato stránka je k dispozici také v češtině / This page is also available in Czech