Austria plans tighter air pollution limits from 2030

Austria plans to tighten its limits on air pollutants from 2030 under a draft law now open for review, ORF reports. The proposed revision would align the country’s rules with a new EU air quality directive and could be passed by the National Council in December.

In Tyrol, where traffic along the Brenner transit route is a key source of concern, the planned limits could mean expanding existing measures such as the night driving ban and sectoral driving bans, said transport councillor René Zumtobel of the Social Democratic Party. He said the changes would help support the region’s anti-transit measures.

The revised rules would set a nitrogen dioxide limit of 20 micrograms, half the current level. Zumtobel said Tyrol’s network of 19 air quality monitoring stations, the densest in Austria, would help assess whether measures are working. Current measures meet today’s limits, but would not meet the future limits at every monitoring station, according to the report.

Italy’s legal challenge to Austria’s driving bans along the Brenner transit corridor is still pending. Zumtobel said the tighter air quality limits would make further action necessary. He added that traffic, particularly transit traffic, was a key factor, but that industry and domestic heating also needed to contribute. Pollutants can remain in the Wipptal and Inntal valleys at night and in low temperatures, he said.

The Ministry of Climate Protection has sent the draft law out for a two-week review.