At its meeting on 15 December 2015, the National Environment Protection Council (NEPC) agreed to vary the AAQ NEPM by approving an amending instrument to the AAQ NEPM. The amending instrument took effect on 4 February 2016, the day after it was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI). In approving the amendments, the NEPC took into account the Impact Statement and information received during public consultation on this proposed variation. NEPC’s responses to the feedback received are available in the Summary of Submissions document.

• Public consultation on proposed variation - summary of submissions

The amendment, taking into account the latest scientific evidence about the health impacts of particles, includes:

• Amending the status of the annual average and 24-hour average PM_2.5 ‘advisory reporting standards’ to ‘standards’
• Including an annual average PM₁₀ standard of 25 μg/m³
• Including an aim to move to annual average and 24-hour PM_2.5 standards of 7 μg/m³and 20 μg/m³ by 2025
• Initiating a nationally consistent approach to reporting population exposure to PM_2.5
• Replacing the five-day exceedance form of the 24-hour PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ standards with an exceptional event rule.

Ambient Air Quality NEPM – FRLI

For further information regarding the amending instrument, including explanatory statement, visit

• Variation to the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure 2015

Further information

• Proposed variation to the Ambient Air Quality NEPM