Diolch, Llywydd. I'm very pleased to make this statement in relation to the Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill, which was laid before the Senedd yesterday. The air we breathe, and the sounds carried on it, affect our health and well-being every minute of every day, even when we are asleep. The World Health Organization has described air pollution as the world’s largest single environmental health risk, and noise pollution as the second in western Europe. Our programme for government recognises the high importance of improving the air environment through the commitment given to bring forward this Bill, previously known as the clean air Bill.

The aim of the Bill is to bring forward measures that will contribute to improvements in air and soundscape quality in Wales, reducing public health impacts associated with a poor air environment. I know this is an aim you all support, following useful discussions with the cross-party group in November, and through commitments for a clean air Act in many of your recent manifestos. In developing the Bill, we built on proposals consulted on through the clean air plan and White Paper on a clean air Bill. We've also included proposals related to noise and soundscapes, becoming the first part of the UK to bring forward such legislation.

The Bill needs to be seen in a broad context, not in isolation. It is one part of cross-sector action under way to tackle air and noise pollution. It builds on existing legislation and the suite of actions to reduce air and noise pollution contained in our clean air plan for Wales and noise and soundscape plan. The proposals in the Bill aim to help improve the quality of our air environment at a Wales-wide level, at a local and regional level, and throughout society. The Bill also recognises the importance of considering airborne noise as a type of airborne pollution, and sound more generally as a key attribute of the air environment.

At a Wales-wide level, we are creating a framework to set national targets for air quality. This provides a strong mechanism to deliver the Welsh Government’s long-term ambitions for clean air and associated public health and environmental outcomes, alongside supporting action to tackle the climate and nature emergency. The framework complements existing legislative air quality standards. Regulation-making powers in the Bill allow Ministers to set Wales-specific, evidence-based targets in relation to air pollutants. Through the framework, we can tighten targets on air pollutants and introduce targets for newly identified pollutant risks, based on evidence as it emerges, including World Health Organization air quality guidelines. Having targets set in regulations, rather than in primary legislation, means they are easier to update and are responsive to changing evidence.

Our independent clean air advisory panel has determined the strongest body of evidence connecting an air pollutant with human health effects involves particulate matter 2.5, commonly referred to as PM2.5. Consequently, the Bill includes a duty on Welsh Ministers to make regulations to set a target for PM2.5 within 36 months of Royal Assent. At a Wales-wide level, we must ensure that sustained action is taken to improve our air environment; therefore, the Bill amends the Environment Act 1995, which contains the current provisions relating to the national air quality strategy. This ensures Welsh Ministers are under a duty to consult on a review or modification of the strategy every five years.

As mentioned, Wales is the first part of the UK to include soundscapes in legislation. The Bill places a duty on Welsh Ministers to publish a national strategy for soundscapes every five years. The requirements and timeline of both of these strategic documents are aligned, to allow us to publish them separately or collectively, where beneficial. The new proposals for these strategic documents also ensure the public, stakeholders and delivery partners are engaged in future action to improve our air quality and soundscapes. At a local and regional level, we will ensure the local air quality management regime operates proactively, preventatively, and with a greater public health focus.

The Bill introduces a clearer requirement on local authorities to undertake an annual review of air quality and an obligation for an air quality action plan, to contain a projected compliance date, which must be agreed with Welsh Ministers. The Bill will also amend the Clean Air Act 1993 to enable local authorities to better manage and enforce emissions of smoke in smoke-control areas. Smoke control covers the control of pollution from solid fuel burning from chimneys in homes and businesses within smoke-control areas. Currently, criminal offences are hard to administer and rarely result in prosecution. The Bill introduces civil monetary penalties to replace current criminal sanctions, which can be instigated by local authorities where smoke is emitted from a chimney within a smoke-control area.

The Bill removes statutory defences to help enforcement of the new civil sanctions regime. If a consumer uses an approved appliance with authorised fuel, there should be no emissions of visible smoke. By making it easier for local authorities to enforce smoke-control areas, we anticipate breaches becoming rarer, with officers encouraging behaviour change, and, if appropriate, issuing monetary penalties. We will issue statutory guidance to support the implementation. Amendments to the smoke-control regime contribute to our broader policy to reduce emissions from domestic burning, which is being dealt with outside this Bill process, using existing levers.