The Environment Act 1995 introduced a system of local air quality management.
Since then, all local authorities have had to periodically review and assess the current, and likely future, air quality in their areas against national air quality objectives for seven air pollutants..
Where any objective is unlikely to be met by the relevant deadline, local authorities must designate those areas as Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) and make Air Quality Action Plans(AQAP), liaising with the local transport authority, to work towards meeting the objectives.
The first reports in Oxford were produced in 1999, and began a process of highlighting the significance of the impact of traffic pollution on local air quality. The air quality objectives for nitrogen dioxide, both annual mean and hourly mean have been identified as being exceeded in areas dominated by traffic. This resulted in the declaration of a city-wide air quality management area (AQMA) in 2010.
