Environmental monitoring program area: Air
Within the national air monitoring program, pollutants in air and precipitation are monitored, mainly on a regional background level. The program monitors substances that are regulated in law or in international conventions, and the data contribute to the discovery of new environmental disturbances.
The national air monitoring program monitors substances in the air according to a number of laws and conventions, and the monitoring also contributes to discovering new disturbances in the environment.
The program has many target groups and is steered by several sets of actors and regulations. These include the Environmental Code, EU directives, the Swedish environmental quality standards and objectives and the needs of international organizations and international conventions. Swedish legislation and EU-directives are given the highest priority in the monitoring regime. The Convention for Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) and the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) are also given high priority.
Other important international conventions and agencies are The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) the OSPAR commission, the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
In many cases, Swedish legislation, environmental goals and objectives, and international conventions align.
The Swedish EPA’s responsibility
The national monitoring program is one part of air monitoring in Sweden. Other actors that collect key air monitoring data include local municipalities (for urban areas) and County Administrative Boards. The SEPA is responsible for producing an assessment of the air quality nationally as well as reporting all monitoring data.
Reference group
Reference groups are used to cooperate and exchange information with other stakeholders in the monitoring area, often relevant governmental agencies, municipalities and County Administrative Boards.
Currently the program does not have an active reference group, but relevant stakeholders have been consulted during revision periods.
Revisions
The program was revised during 2015-2016 and a sub-revision covering the sub-programs Substances causing acidification and eutrophication in air and precipitation, The Swedish Throughfall Monitoring Network and MATCH was conducted in 2018-2021.
Evaluation of the Swedish national air monitoring programme "Programområde Luft" (pdf)
Revision on Air Monitoring Program 2015-2016 (pdf) (in Swedish)
Evaluation of three sub-programmes in the Swedish National Air Monitoring Programme (pdf)