Environmental Standards

Ambient Air Quality

KSA

Presidency of Meteorology and Environment

PME Reference

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia National Environmental Standard

Ambient Air Quality

Article I Preliminary

1)

pollutant' shall mean any substance introduced

directly or indirectly by man into the ambient air and
likely to have harmful effects on human health and/or
the environment as a whole;

Definitions
airsheds shall refer to a geographic area that, due
to topography, meteorology, and climate, shares the
same air;

urban shall refer to towns and other designated

census area that have a population greater than
2500;

ambient air' shall mean that portion of the

atmosphere, external to buildings, to which the
general public has access.;

rural shall refer to all areas outside the boundaries

of urban areas;

Competent Agency Refers to the Presidency of

Meteorology and Environment or officially designated
authority.
GER Refers
regulation;

to

the

General

2)

a) This document may be cited as the Ambient Air

Quality Standard. These standards amend the
current General Environmental Regulation (GER)
Standards for the Environment through document
number 1409-01 which appends the GER and is
issued and enforced by the Presidency of
Meteorology and Environment (PME).

Environmental

KSA Refers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;

level' shall mean the concentration of a pollutant in
ambient air or the deposition thereof on surfaces in a
given time;
limit value' shall mean a level fixed on the basis of
scientific knowledge, with the aim of avoiding,
preventing or reducing harmful effects on human
health and/or the environment as a whole, to be
attained within a given period and not to be
exceeded once attained;
natural events' shall mean volcanic eruptions,
seismic activities, geothermal activities, wild-land
fires, high-wind events or the atmospheric resuspension or transport of natural particles from dry
regions;
3

normal cubic metre (Nm ) means that volume of

dry gas which occupies a cubic metre at a
temperature of zero degrees Celsius and at an
absolute pressure equivalent to one atmosphere;
PM2.5' is particulate matter with an aerodynamic
diameter of up to 2.5 m, referred to as the fine
particle fraction;
PM10' is particulate matter with an aerodynamic
diameter of up to 10 m, the fine and coarse particle
fractions combined;
PME Refers to the Presidency of Meteorology and
Environment who are designated as the responsible
authority for the protection of the environment and
the development of environmental protection
standards in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;

Citation

3)
.

Timescales for implementation

a) The effective date of this standard is 01/05/1433H
corresponds to 24/03/2012G.

4)

Purpose
a) The objective of this standard is to set out the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Air Quality Standards for
sustainable management of ambient air quality within
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
b) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Air Quality
Standards introduce a baseline standard for air
quality which aims to protect the Kingdoms public
health and natural ecosystem including cropland,
forest, desert and wetlands whilst allowing economic
and social development.
c) The Competent Agency is concerned with the
health, aesthetic, physical and chemical qualities of
ambient air both for humans and for the environment.
d) These standards shall provide a basis for the
maintenance and/or restoration of ambient air quality
and attempt to prevent or reduce harmful effects on
human health and the environment as a whole.

e) These standards also provide a means of

ensuring the effectiveness of the KSAs
Point and Mobile source Emission
Standards 5)
Scope

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Presidency of Meteorology and Environment

a) This standard relates specifically to the ambient

air quality.

powers and duties conferred on him (them) by this

standard and/or subsequent amendment.

b) This standard prescribes limit values for ambient

air quality parameters.

c) A person or organisation appointed by PME shall

carry out such investigations that may be required for
him to carry out for the purpose of ascertaining
whether any duty or other requirement imposed on
that party by this Standard is being, has been or is
likely to be contravened.

c) This standard establishes the responsibilities of the

Competent Agency with regards to managing ambient
air quality in the Kingdom.

6)

d) In addition to the powers conferred by other

sections contained within these standards, it shall be
the duty of a relevant party;

Exemptions
a) Exemptions may be applied where factors exist
which make the enforcement of this standard
impracticable or inappropriate.
b) Exemption may be made for the activities specified
in, but not restricted to, table 1. The Competent
Agency will determine where these exemptions apply
and which, if any, activities beyond this list are
included.

Activity

Exemption applies

Dispersion zones
Indoor air

When authorised by
PME
At all times

Natural events

Where relevant

i)

to give the competent authority all such

assistance; and

ii)

to provide the competent authority with all

such information, as may reasonably be
required for the purpose of carrying out an
investigation.

e) Any competent authority for the purpose of

ambient air quality regulation may;

.
Table 1 Exempt activities

7)

PME Reference

i)

enter any premises for the purpose of

carrying out any such investigation
detailed in Article I (7c) above;

ii)

carry out such inspections, measurements

and tests on premises entered, articles or
records found on any such premises, and
take away information for the purpose of
enabling such investigation; or

iii)

at any time require any relevant party to

supply them with copies of, or of extracts
from, any records kept at the facility.

Powers of Authority
a) Within the scope of these standards PME may;
i)

ii)
iii)

Prescribe specific requirements as to the

air contaminants and concentrations of
ambient air contaminants that are to be
present in or absent from air within the
Kingdom;

8)

a) Failure to comply with the requirements of these

standards may lead to prosecution by the Competent
Agency and those convicted of such failure may be
subject to fines or periods of imprisonment as laid out
in the General Environmental Regulations.

Prescribe specific requirements as to

other characteristics of ambient air.
Authorise such relaxations of and
departures from the ambient air quality
standards,
to
make
any
such
authorisation subject to the prescribed
conditions, and to modify or revoke any
such authorisation or condition; and

b) It is anticipated that the requirements of this

standard will be enforced nationally with inspections
taking place to verify their implementation at a
regional and local level.

9)

iv) Authorise a locally Concerned Agency to

exercise any power conferred by
regulations made by virtue of paragraphs
(i)-(iii) above.
b) PME may for the purposes of this Standard
appoint (a) person(s) to act on their behalf as
technical assessors and monitors in relation to the

Enforcement procedures

Penalty fines
a) Maximum fines that may be imposed for exceeding
the applicable standard, breach of permit are set out
in the General Environmental Regulations.

10)

Appeals

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PME Reference

c) Air quality management zones allow for the

coordinated control of air quality in geographical
areas that have defined boundaries.

a) A right of appeal exists for any organisation or

individual who is required to take action as a
consequence of the implementation of this revised
standard.

Article III Ambient air controls

b) The right of appeal against conviction or sentence
is available through the appropriate judicial system as
set out in the General Environmental Regulations.

1)

c) All appeals should be fully supported with a

documented case containing as a minimum, the
information required under the appeals process of
the General Environmental Regulations.

11)

Permitted ambient air pollutant limits

a) Threshold concentrations for ambient air pollutants
are set out within Appendix A.
b) These standards are defined through a
concentration and a specified averaging time and in
some cases a number of allowable exceedances.

Periodic review
c) The Competent Agency shall liaise with relevant
bodies responsible for the protection of nationally
and internationally designated sites and species to
ensure that ambient air quality standards objectives
are appropriate to maintain and improve air quality.

a) There may be some requirement at a future date to

adjust the standards included to recognise specific
local conditions and or improved understanding of the
effects of mobile source air emissions.
b) As a minimum, the Competent Agency shall
undertake a periodic review of this standard every 5
years.

d) Where additional protection is required for a

receptor identified in (c), the Competent Agency
may, on a case by case basis, agree to revise one or
more of the parameters / or provisions of this
standard.

c) Where new information suggests that adjustments

are required to this standard, all changes will be
subject to the appropriate consultation and will be
notified to facilities by the Competent Agency.
Appropriate implementation time will be allowed.

e) Sampling and analytical methods should be

carried out in accordance with the most recent
edition of the USEPA1 methodologies for the
sampling and analysis of point source and fugitive air
emissions.

Article II General provisions

2)
1)

Dispersion zones
a) The Competent Agency may, on a case by case
basis, allow air quality to exceed the standards set
out in Appendix A. These areas are referred to as a
Dispersion Zones.

Units of measurement
a) Where numerical values are stated in relation to
ambient air quality standards the units are also
present, these will vary according to the parameter
referenced.

b) A dispersion zone must not impinge upon a

sensitive receptor. Sensitive receptor, in this case,
refers to:

b) Micrograms per normal metre cubed (g/Nm3)

shall be used to indicate the concentration of
gaseous, particulate and toxic pollutants.
c) For prohibition for an individual substance the
concentration limit may be specified as undetectable
or 0 and for no provision for any standard of a
particular parameter specification may be presented
as N/A.

2)

Definition of air quality management zones

3)

i)

any area where there is a permanent

human presence;

ii)

areas used for

production; and

iii)

areas that are protected for conservation,

ecological status or amenity value.

livestock

or

crop

Degraded airsheds
a) Degraded airshed exist when thresholds in
Appendix A are compromised. Under these
conditions the competent agency shall undertake a
forensic investigation to determine the source of air
pollution.

a) Air Quality Zones will correspond directly with

current municipality boundaries.
b) Where agreed with the Competent Agency, the
municipality may agree division of its air Quality Zone
to reflect the disparity between urban and rural
areas.
1

As promulgated in the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

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Presidency of Meteorology and Environment

iv) plans for mitigating air quality issues

within depleted airsheds.

b) Where the forensic investigation reveals the noncompliance to be caused by single or multiple
pollution sources failing to operate within the
requirements of this standard, these facilities will be
subject to controls as set out in the Stationary
Source Air Quality Standards.

c) The municipality shall provide to the Competent

Agency an annual report on the performance of their
ambient air quality management plan. This should be
provided for the whole calendar year by the end of
the first quarter each year.

c) Where the forensic investigation reveals the noncompliance to be caused by the co-location of
multiple pollution sources, and those sources are
operating within their permit requirements, the
Competent Agency will undertake the following
actions:
i)

ii)

undertake a focussed programme of

monitoring to determine all contributing
sources; and
where the breach is deemed persistent
and severe enough to warrant mitigating
action, the Competent Agency has
authority to issue pollution abatement
notices to any or all facilities identified in
(i).

d) The Competent Agency shall produce a report at 5

yearly intervals detailing the performance of national
ambient air quality strategy and this report shall be
available to the public.
2)

Ambient air monitoring and analysis network

a) The monitoring programme for ambient air
standards will be carried out by the Competent
Agency and will contain as a minimum:

d) Where the investigation reveals the noncompliance to be caused by mobile sources, the
Competent Agency will liaise with the municipality to
devise a mitigation strategy.

i)

parameters to be monitored;

ii)

sampling locations and frequency;

iii)

sampling methods and equipment;

iv) schedules for sampling;

v)

4)

PME Reference

Emissions from natural sources

methods for quality assurance and

validation of sampling results;

vi) requirements for

interpreting results;

a) The Competent Agency may designate air quality

zones, agglomerations or specific locations where an
exceedance of ambient threshold values for a given
pollutant is attributable to natural causes.

checking

vii) responsibilities
and
qualifications of staff;

b) Where natural causes are considered attributable

for a violation, the Competent Agency is not required
to take any further action.

and

necessary

viii) requirements for documentation and

management of records;

Article IV Air quality planning and monitoring

ix) data to be recorded and sorted; and

1)

x)

Ambient air quality management planning

a) The Competent Agency will control the national
ambient air quality strategy.
b) It shall be the responsibility of each municipality to
develop an ambient air quality management plan for
the maintenance and / or improvement of ambient air
quality within the relevant air quality zone. The
management plan must be authorised by the
Competent Agency and shall include, as a minimum:
i)

air quality objectives and targets;

ii)

identification of areas of depleted air

quality, including urban and industrial
airsheds;

iii)

preventative strategies for the control of

air pollution; and

requirements for reporting

communicating results.

and

b) Any breach of the prescribed concentrations and

values in Appendix A, or significant changes in
ambient air characteristics causing public complaint,
will result in full investigation by the competent
authority.
c) Samples collected should be representative of the
quality of air in the vicinity.
d) Sample site selection shall consider the
characteristics of pollutant sources, source
distribution and prevailing wind characteristics.
e) The location and number of measurement positions
will depend on the required spatial resolution for the
environment under consideration.
f) The measurement positions shall be recorded on a
map.

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Presidency of Meteorology and Environment

PME Reference

Appendix A Prescribed concentrations and values

TABLE 1 AMBIENT AIR QUALITY LIMITS
Parameter

Time-weighted average
3
g/Nm (ppm)

Averaging time

Number of allowable
2
exceedances

Carbon Monoxide

10,000 (8.1)

8 hours

None

40,000 (32)

1 Hour

Lead

0.5 (0.00005)

Annual

N/A

Nitrogen Dioxide

660 (0.35)

1 hour

2 times per 30 days

100 (0.05)

Annual

N/A

730 (0.28)

1 hour

2 times per annum

365 (0.14)

24 hour

1 time per annum

80 (0.03)

Annual

N/A

Benzene

5 (0.0015)

Annual

N/A

Particulate Matter (PM10)

340 (variable)

24 hour

24 times per annum3

80 (variable)

Annual

N/A

35

24 hour

24 times per annum

15

Annual

N/A

Ozone

235 (0.12)

1 hour

2 times per 30 days

Ozone

157 (0.08)

8 hour

2 times per 7 days

Hydrogen Sulphide

150 (0.1)

24 hour

10 times per annum

40 (0.03)

Annual

N/A

Sulphur Dioxide

Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

Violations will only be reportable where validated data is available for 98% of measurements
th
3
The average 90 Percentile 24 hour concentration must not exceed 340g/Nm
4
th
3
The average 90 Percentile 24 hour concentration must not exceed 35g/Nm
3

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