Munich – Munich’s air is not clean enough everywhere. Now another verdict is imminent. The judges had many questions for the state capital – and did not find all the answers satisfactory.
The Bavarian Administrative Court postponed a ruling on tightening the diesel driving ban in Munich for a week on Thursday – although the Senate was already ready to make a decision after many critical questions to the state capital. However, he still wanted to take into account the final version of a new draft resolution for the Munich city council in order to be able to give it the most concrete “guardrails” possible. The city council wants to deal again with the environmental zone and the measures against air pollution on April 24th.
Since February 2023, diesel vehicles with the Euro 4 standard and worse are no longer allowed to drive on and within the Middle Ring of the state capital Munich
Foto: SvenSimon
Because the air wasn’t clean enough everywhere in Munich last year either. Nevertheless, the municipality is not implementing a gradual tightening of the agreed driving ban for diesel vehicles. The German Environmental Aid (DUH) and the German Transport Club (VCD) had now filed a lawsuit against this.
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Background: Since February 2023, diesel vehicles with the Euro 4 standard and worse are no longer allowed to drive on and within the middle ring of the state capital, with a few exceptions, for example for residents and delivery traffic. Actually, the diesel driving ban should have been extended to diesel vehicles that meet the Euro 5 emissions standard from October. As a final step, from April 2024, the general exceptions should also be eliminated.
But in September, the city council suspended level 2 until May and lifted level 3 entirely. The reason given at the time was that, according to the forecast, the first stage of the ban would be sufficient to comply with the annual average limit for the toxic exhaust gas nitrogen dioxide (NO2) of 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
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After discussing formal legal aspects of what the Senate described as an “unusual” type of lawsuit and its potential consequences, the court raised many critical questions about the calculation basis for this report. “This forecast doesn’t work at all,” concluded one of the judges, after the city representatives’ explanations about the forecast traffic figures, the assumed composition of the traffic fleet or the effects of a bus lane were obviously not convincing.
The measuring point on Landshuter Allee on the Mittlerer Ring is particularly in focus in the debate. In 2023, the limit value that has existed since 2010 was broken again with 47 micrograms of NO2. Nitrogen dioxide is a precursor substance for the formation of fine dust and ground-level ozone and can lead to irritation of mucous membranes, inflammation and diseases of the respiratory tract and a reduction in lung function. It enters the air mainly through vehicle traffic as well as industry, commercial establishments and agriculture and can also affect the cardiovascular system or worsen existing diseases.
2024-03-15 08:52:02
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