Chelmsford Borough Council has a duty to determine the air quality in the borough as a part of the UK Governments strategic policy on air quality as set out in the 1995 Environment Act. Air pollution is a broad term applied to all chemical and biological agents that modify the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. The sources of air pollution can be divided in two groups that of anthropogenic (generated by human activity) and natural. Natural sources include, dust, volcanoes, gases and smoke. Anthropogenic sources are mostly related to the burning of fuel, these mainly include industrial sources and vehicle emissions. In Chelmsford road transport accounts for the majority of air pollution especially in times of peak travel. The new UK Air Quality Strategy released in July 2007 commits Local Authorities to achieve air quality objectives for seven pollutants. The Environment Act 1995 requires all Local Authorities to review and assess whether the Air Quality standards and objectives as specified in the Air Quality Strategy will be met.
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