Branch reports

Please see below for an update on Branch activities for the past quarter. Branches are always looking for input and participation by members, so please contact your local Branch President or Committee members to provide input and assistance. Most importantly, please support your local Branch by attending events and networking with fellow members.

NEW SOUTH WALES/AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY BRANCH

The NSW branch held a technical meeting on 11 May 2023, featuring presentations from the Department of Planning and Environment Atmospheric Research group. We also invited our 2022 student award winner back to present on her research.

Many thanks to our speakers Khalia Monk (DPE), Lisa Chang (DPE), Hiep Duc (DPE) and Lisha Lui (UNSW). We are currently planning our next technical meetings, including a decarbonisation event in September 2023 and a site visit to the DPE Air Quality Monitoring supersite in July. Notifications for both events will be circulated to members.

Ronan Kellaghan, Branch President ronan.kellaghan@bigpond.com https://www.casanz.org.au/index.cfm//about/branches/nswact/

New Zealand Branch

Air And Emissions In The News

Euro 6/VI Consultation

Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport has released a consultation on proposals that will require new and used vehicles imported into Aotearoa New Zealand to meet stronger exhaust emissions standards. The proposals are for New Zealand to adopt the European standard 6/VI for light and heavy vehicles imported into the country. This would require vehicles to emit much lower amounts of nitrogen oxides, particulates and other pollutants that are harmful to health. The consultation closes on 22 June 2023.

Rightcar update

Waka Kotahi the NZ Transport Agency has updated the Air Pollution Star Ratings on the Rightcar website. The Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand (HAPINZ 3.0) study enabled a refinement of the methodology used to develop the ratings. The method now takes the emission standard of the vehicle when it was manufactured and matches it with available real-world test results for each vehicle type, while also considering the significant health impacts of nitrogen dioxide in vehicle exhaust (identified in HAPINZ 3.0). The ratings run from 1 star to 6 stars and a higher rating indicates less air pollution (e.g., electric vehicles with no exhaust emissions score 6 stars).

NZ Steel Decarbonisation

NZ’s Government is partnering with NZ Steel to deliver Aotearoa’s largest emissions reduction project to date. An electric arc furnace will replace the existing steelmaking furnace and 2 of the 4 coalfuelled kilns. This means that NZ Steel will cut its emissions by more than 45% and will produce a lower carbon steel.

Up to $140 million will come from a government investment fund that enables partnerships with industry to reduce their emissions. The deal will eliminate 1% of the country’s total annual emissions reducing by 800,000 tonnes of carbon per year, which equivalent to taking approximately 300,000 cars off the road.

Social Events

Our Branch Hubs are enjoying social outings with EAQP golfing and drinks events recently in Auckland and Christchurch. A photo of the Christchurch CASANZ social event organized by Katherine Gray is provided in this article.

In Wellington, a core group of our finest air quality professionals chatted about topics such as preferred optical PM measurement equipment, EVs, Ministry for the Environment’s progress on standards review, and air quality monitoring in buses. Always good times when air quality people get together.

Christchurch CASANZ social event held on 31st May 2023

Branch Technical meetings

In the March Branch Technical meeting, we heard from Gerda Kuschel about the updated HAPINZ 3.0 report, which now includes nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in addition to particulate matter. It turns out that the social costs of NO2 are significant and increasing, while PM has decreased. Lou Wickham presented the implications for Aotearoa New Zealand on the WHO 2021 Global Air Quality Guidelines. There was a great turn out, fantastic engagement, and positive feedback highlighting a very successful branch event and signalling the importance of our air quality professionals keeping up to date on the developments and literature on air pollution and its effects on our health.

Our upcoming technical meeting is on Past and Current Use of Prognostic Meteorological Models in New Zealand and Australia, and is being held on Thursday 22 June, 2023 @ 3.00pm NZST | 1.00pm AEST in conjunction with ModSig. This event also promises to have wide interest and application with registrations from far and wide.

Deborah Ryan, NZ Branch Secretary & Owen West, NZ Branch Committee

Rob Van de Munckhof, Branch President RVandeMunckhof@tonkintaylor.co.nz https://www.casanz.org.au/about/branches/nz/

Queensland Branch

As winter descends upon us, the Queensland CASANZ members are enjoying our ‘cooler’ weather that remains beautiful one day and perfect the next. We recommend that members from the more latitudinally challenged CASANZ branches visit Queensland. The Queensland branch committee is organising a series of technical events in the second half of the year and encourages members to reach out with any event ideas they would like to see CASANZ hold. The next planned event is in-person in the DES offices at 400 George St, where DES’s Air Quality team members will discuss recent updates to the Queensland air monitoring network.

QLD Legislation updates:

• An Independent review of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) has recently been completed, and a Queensland Government response has subsequently been released. Of particular interest to Air Quality professionals are recommendations considering the concepts of human health, wellbeing and safety, along