Industrial Pollution

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 11 February 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:47, 11 February 2020

I thank David Rees for those questions and recognise the extent to which he always speaks up, here on the floor of the Assembly, for the importance of the steel industry in his own constituency. But as he says, for that industry to be a good neighbour to those who live alongside it.

Of course, the environment legislation that we will bring forward will be an opportunity to look at the standards we have in place and the enforcement powers we have in place. In the immediate future, we are putting significant pressure on the UK Government to make sure that, for the industrial emissions directive, which currently governs emissions and industrial pollution, they commit to that continuing beyond the EU exit transition period.

And while that is going on, there are two other developments this year that I know will be of direct interest for David Rees's constituents: there's the draft clean air plan consultation going on until 10 March, where the Minister has already said she will look to see if regulators need further powers; and specifically in the Port Talbot context, Llywydd, there's an ongoing review of the short-term action plan, independently advised by the University of the West of England, carried out in consultation with Tata, NRW and Neath Port Talbot Council. Again, I know that the Minister has very specifically committed that nuisance dust, which as David Rees says causes distress to people who live in that locality, will be encompassed in that review.