CHAPTER V

INFORMATION AND REPORTING

Public information
Article 26
1
Member States shall ensure that the public as well as appropriate organisations such as environmental organisations, consumer organisations, organisations representing the interests of sensitive populations, other relevant health-care bodies and the relevant industrial federations are informed, adequately and in good time, of the following:
a
ambient air quality in accordance with Annex XVI;
b
any postponement decisions pursuant to Article 22(1);
c
any exemptions pursuant to Article 22(2);
d
air quality plans as provided for in Article 22(1) and Article 23 and programmes referred to in Article 17(2).
The information shall be made available free of charge by means of any easily accessible media including the Internet or any other appropriate means of telecommunication, and shall take into account the provisions laid down in Directive 2007/2/EC.
2
Member States shall make available to the public annual reports for all pollutants covered by this Directive.
Those reports shall summarise the levels exceeding limit values, target values, long-term objectives, information thresholds and alert thresholds, for the relevant averaging periods. That information shall be combined with a summary assessment of the effects of those exceedances. The reports may include, where appropriate, further information and assessments on forest protection as well as information on other pollutants for which monitoring provisions are specified in this Directive, such as, inter alia, selected non-regulated ozone precursor substances as listed in Section B of Annex X.
3
Member States shall inform the public of the competent authority or body designated in relation to the tasks referred to in Article 3.

Transmission of information and reporting
Article 27
1
Member States shall ensure that information on ambient air quality is made available to the Commission within the required timescale as determined by the implementing measures referred to in Article 28(2).
2
In any event, for the specific purpose of assessing compliance with the limit values and critical levels and the attainment of target values, such information shall be made available to the Commission no later than nine months after the end of each year and shall include:
a
the changes made in that year to the list and delimitation of zones and agglomerations established under Article 4;
b
the list of zones and agglomerations in which the levels of one or more pollutants are higher than the limit values plus the margin of tolerance where applicable or higher than target values or critical levels; and for these zones and agglomerations:
1. levels assessed and, if relevant, the dates and periods when such levels were observed;
2. if appropriate, an assessment on contributions from natural sources and from re-suspension of particulates following winter-sanding or -salting of roads to the levels assessed, as declared to the Commission under Articles 20 and 21.
3
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply to information collected as from the beginning of the second calendar year after the entry into force of the implementing measures referred to in Article 28(2).

Implementing measures
Article 28
1
Measures designed to amend the non-essential elements of this Directive, namely Annexes I to VI, Annexes VIII to X and Annex XV, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 29(3).
However, the amendments may not have the effect of directly or indirectly modifying either of the following:
1. the limit values, exposure reduction targets, critical levels, target values, information or alert thresholds or long-term objectives specified in Annex VII and Annexes XI to XIV;
2. the dates for compliance with any of the parameters referred to in point (a).
2
The Commission shall, in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 29(2), determine the additional information to be made available by Member States pursuant to Article 27 as well as the timescales in which such information is to be communicated.
The Commission shall also identify ways of streamlining the way data are reported and the reciprocal exchange of information and data from networks and individual stations measuring ambient air pollution within the Member States, in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 29(2).
3
The Commission shall draw up guidelines for the agreements on setting up common measuring stations as referred to in Article 6(5).
4
The Commission shall publish guidance on the demonstration of equivalence referred to in Section B of Annex VI.