Thank you, Llywydd. I hope that I will be more successful than Angela Burns. I’m not sure that I will be. But certainly, to date, the discussion on this Bill has seen greater discussion between the two main opposition parties on improving the Bill in a collaborative manner. I’m pleased that we are dealing with this second stab at the Bill in a more inclusive manner than we did the first time.

Amendment 44 and the rest of the amendments in the group set out a framework for ensuring that we use this Bill as an opportunity to safeguard the public from the detrimental impacts of air pollution. In doing so, I want to say at the outset, and emphasise at the outset, that there is no safe level—in health terms, there is no safe level of air pollution, be that nitrogen oxides or other PMs, which are the very minute particles in the air. Now, of course there are legal levels, there are statutory levels, and there are directives and legislation around those. But, in health terms, there is no safe level. Therefore, it is important, I think, that we do look at this Bill as an opportunity to improve the situation in that context. I noted that Stage 1 discussions had seen a number of stakeholders raising air pollution as an issue that needs to be tackled, with evidence from the heart foundation and the lung foundation both saying that there should be at least a reference to the general principle of reducing air pollution. Now, Plaid Cymru is of the view that we should go a little further than that, because we do agree with the EFRA committee in Westminster that stated that the current air pollution levels were a public health crisis in the UK. Therefore, we want to see this Bill and the Government taking this opportunity to take action on that health crisis.

In the Welsh context, air pollution is second only to smoking—which is very prominent in this Bill—as a cause of early deaths in Wales, causing 2,400 early deaths annually. That’s 6 per cent of the total early deaths in Wales. The case is split in two: the PM2.5s—the very small particles that I mentioned—produce some 1,300 early deaths, and nitrogen oxides lead to 1,100 premature deaths. Those are Public Health Wales figures presented to the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee back in January of this year.

Of course, air pollution isn’t restricted to one nation or to one community—it crosses borders and boundaries. It is covered by European legislation, for the UK Government, and the Government here in Wales has relied upon a national framework in the UK context in terms of dealing with this. Now, I understand why the Government has chosen to address this in that way, because it’s more convenient, and it reduces the burden, but I certainly can’t place my trust in the current Government, which is currently being re-elected—perhaps we’ll have to wait and see—in terms of tackling air pollution. Andrea Leadsom, of course, didn’t want to publish the strategy on tackling air pollution at all before the election, using purdah as an excuse for saying nothing at all on the issue. Environmental lawyers from ClientEarth had to take this to court to ensure that the strategy was published by the Government in Westminster, and it was published at the end of last week, after these amendments were tabled, so there is something in these amendments that perhaps would be altered by that strategy. What’s important in my view, and in Plaid Cymru’s view, is that we shouldn’t rely on the Westminster Government to produce a strategy, but that the Welsh Government should also provide, prepare and publish an air pollution strategy that sets out how air pollution can be reduced.

There is a broader context to all of this, of course. We are to leave the European Union, and will therefore lose—unless we transfer them to national legislation—some of the directives already in place relating to air pollution. One clear case of that is one that came to a decision on the Aberthaw power station recently in Wales. Therefore, if the Government’s argument is that there is reference to air pollution in other legislation, that is a case that could be made, but there are two reasons for including it in this Bill. One: that any other reference is in the environmental context, but we’re talking about the health context here. Secondly: as we are to leave the European Union, it is more important than ever that we should be very clear in the legislation that we pass here that we want to maintain the standards, if not improve those standards, if truth be told.

Therefore, that is the context in which I seek to move amendment 44 and the other amendments. Now, amendment 44 recognises that the UK Government does lead in this area and states that we need to publish a national Welsh strategy no later than six months after the publication of the UK Government’s air quality programme. I think, in seeing the report published at the end of last week, the Government has already committed to some response within 12 months. So, it’s six months in the amendment and I think the Government has said that it would respond within a year.

I do think it’s important that we have a Welsh strategy so that we can respond to any policies that don’t work, or to any changes in the science that underpins policy. The most prominent example of this, of course, is that we have moved, over the past 15 years, away from petrol engines for most transport in Wales and in the UK and moved towards diesel engines. Now, this was done for very a good reason at the time, with the increase in the number of diesel cars from 10 per cent of vehicles sold at the beginning of this century to over 50 per cent, which is an increase of 3.2 million to 8.2 million by 2010. I don’t blame Gordon Brown or the Labour Party here, if truth be told, because they were responding to the situation as they saw it then, but the problem was that the car manufacturers had conned us. They’d misled us. They’d fixed the test to demonstrate that these diesel engines weren’t emitting PMs in laboratory conditions, but once you put them on the roads in a day-to-day scenario, then the emissions were extremely damaging from these diesel engines. And I admit that I was one of those people who did switch to diesel for those reasons. I now find myself in a situation where I am polluting the air every time I use my car.

We need to tackle this issue and, unfortunately, the Government’s strategy makes no mention of any diesel scrappage scheme or introducing electric vehicles, but rather pushes responsibility down to local authorities. Well, if that is the case, then it’s even more important that we in Wales respond with a national scheme.

I do think that we do have other legislation in Wales—the environment Act and also the well-being of future generations Act—but there is nothing on the face of this Bill that mentions reducing air pollution and this is our opportunity to put that on the face of the Bill passed by the Assembly today.

Er mwyn bod yn glir am welliannau 45 a 46, sy'n ymwneud â gwelliant 44 a’r hyn y maen nhw’n ceisio ei wneud—i fod yn glir bod gwelliant 45 yn ceisio gosod cyfrifoldeb ar Lywodraeth Cymru, nid yn unig i gynhyrchu strategaeth, fel yr wyf newydd sôn amdano, ond hefyd i gyhoeddi canllawiau i fyrddau iechyd lleol ynghylch sut y dylai byrddau rybuddio trigolion am lefelau uchel o lygredd aer a ragwelir ar gyfer eu hardaloedd. Mae yna wefan y gallwch edrych arni; caiff ei rheoli gan fforwm ansawdd aer Cymru. Gallwch edrych arni a gweld beth yw ansawdd yr aer yn eich ardal chi, ond mae'n gyffredinol iawn. Nid oeddwn yn gallu cael gwybod beth oedd y lefel ar y stryd lle’r wyf i'n byw, er fy mod yn byw yn llythrennol rhwng ysgol a ffordd fawr. Byddwn wedi meddwl bod honno’n ardal ddelfrydol i wybod beth yw ansawdd yr aer, ond ni allwn ddod o hyd i hynny o’r wybodaeth sydd ar gael yn gyhoeddus ar hyn o bryd. Rwy’n meddwl felly y byddai gwelliant 45 yn gosod y cyfrifoldeb hwn. Mae'n rhywbeth y mae Sadiq Khan, y maer Llafur yn Llundain, yn ceisio ei wneud ar hyn o bryd, fel bod pobl yn deall beth yw ansawdd yr aer yn eu hamgylchedd lleol a’u bod yn gallu cymryd camau i’w wella os gallant, ond, yn bwysig, cymryd camau o ran iechyd y cyhoedd i ddiogelu eu hiechyd eu hunain, ac mae hynny'n arbennig o wir am bobl ifanc a phlant ag asthma sy'n byw mewn ardaloedd o'r fath.

Byddai gwelliant 46 yn gosod cyfrifoldeb ar Lywodraeth Cymru i gyhoeddi canllawiau i awdurdodau lleol ar sut y dylai awdurdodau lleol fonitro ansawdd yr aer o dan Reoliadau Safonau Ansawdd Aer (Cymru) 2010 y tu allan i ysgolion ac ar lwybrau teithio llesol. Mae hyn yn mynd i'r afael yn benodol â hynny. Mae Sefydliad Prydeinig yr Ysgyfaint, er enghraifft, wedi canfod nad oedd llawer o gynghorwyr lleol—tua 20 y cant a ymatebodd i gais rhyddid gwybodaeth—yn ystyried ysgolion yn flaenoriaeth ar gyfer monitro ansawdd yr aer, a chyfeiriodd 53 y cant arall at ganllawiau cyfredol DEFRA, yr ydym yn dibynnu arnynt yng Nghymru—am ryw reswm rydym yn barod i ddibynnu ar ganllawiau DEFRA —nad ydynt ychwaith yn blaenoriaethu ysgolion. Mae'n bwysig, rwy’n credu, bod lefelau llygredd aer ar lwybrau i ysgolion yn cael eu monitro, fel bod pobl yn deall effaith y cyfan, trafnidiaeth o wahanol fathau, ond hefyd yr effaith wrth i blant gerdded a seiclo i ysgolion.

Mae gwelliannau 47, 43 a 42 yn welliannau canlyniadol a fyddai'n galluogi’r newidiadau pwysig hyn yn y Bil hwn i gael eu deddfu. Diolch yn fawr.