The state of the European Union – Ukraine Association Agreement implementation on the air quality

The comparative analysis of laws and regulations on air quality, air protection, and its monitoring in the EU and Ukraine has been carried out to analyse the state of the European Union – Ukraine Association Agreement. The main features of the strategic documents “Europe 2020” and “Ukraine 2020” air pollution control are discussed. The analysis of air quality monitoring regulations, air quality control methods, and peculiarities of citizens’ alerts in the EU and Ukrainian legislation is provided. It is proven that the methods approach to limiting pollutant values differs in Ukraine and the EU. EU uses limit value’, ‘target value’, alert threshold’, ‘information threshold’ and ‘critical level’ and Ukraine uses limiting values. The limit values/permissible concentrations of carbon dioxide, sulfur (IV) oxide (average daily value), and lead are stricter in Ukraine. However, the permissible concentrations of PM10, sulfur (IV) oxide (short-term value), Arsenic, Cadmium, and Nickel are much lighter in Ukraine than in the EU. The dioxin content in ambient air is not regulated in Ukrainian legislation. Also, citizens’ monitoring systems and data provision differ and should be harmonised for the EU’s standards. The current state of roadmap implementation is firstly presented. It is demonstrated the necessity to harmonise the Ukrainian law and regulations on air quality control and air protection with the EU law.


Introduction
Implementing science-based environmental approaches and standards in legislation and everyday practice is an significant part of sustainable development. European Union standards are one of the most progressive in the field. They are usually preventive, consider global consequences, meet the requirements of sustainable development and are science-based. Implementation of the European Union laws and regulations into Ukrainian environmental laws is an part of the effective integration of Ukraine into the European community according to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement [1,2]. Therefore, it is valuable to provide a comparative analysis of the Ukrainian legislation to correspond to European laws and regulations. One of the parts of the EU's environmental policy is ambient air quality control and air protection. P The main environmental policy goals are determined by strategic documents for the EU and Ukraine. Also, strategic documents are an essential part of the sustainable development of IOP Publishing doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/1049/1/012044 2 society. Moreover, other legislative acts aim to implement strategic documents' goals. So, this paper analysing strategy and EU's environment documents and their implementation state in Ukrainian legislation.

Literature review
A commitments of Ukraine in the field Environment (including air quality) is declared in Annex XXX of the Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States and Ukraine incorporating Chapter 6: Environment [1,2]. Furthermore, the general state of the fulfilment of the commitment is described annually in Reports prepared by the European Commission [3], the Ukrainian government [4] and by the Ukrainian Center of European policy [5]. However, it does not provide a detailed analysis of the scientific aspect of European integration in specialized fields, inducing practical aspects and compressing analyzing the existing state of the standards and those declared in European Law.
The science-sound analysis is provided in very few papers. Dmitrieva et al. provided an analysis of the implementation of the monitoring quality in Ukraine and the state of its corresponding to the requirements declared in Directive 2008/50/EC [6]. It was proven that in Ukraine, no standards declare the amount and location of the monitoring posts. In addition, the list of the action that needs to be done to harmonize the current state of the air quality monitoring system to European standards is described. Bashtanik et al. has declared the necessity of the Directive 2008/50/EC implementation in Ukrainian Law [7,8]. In addition, Directive 2008/50/EC has been used to evaluate the dust air-pollution dynamics in certain Ukrainian cities [9].
Despite that, scientists in countries with high rates of European integration, such as [10,11], Serbia [12,13] and Moldova [14,15] and inside of the EU [16,17] provide scientific analysis of both, state of implementation (harmonization) and detailed analysis of legislation on air quality. However, there is no science-sound analysis of the state of implementation and analyzing the current state of legislation in Ukraine and the state of harmonization to the EU standards. Also, it seems relevant to analyze limiting valises in the EU and Ukraine, which will be helpful for further researchers to evaluate measured data on air quality using both, actual Ukrainian standards and European ones. Plans related to the improvement of the air quality is declared in both, Europe 2020 and Ukraine 2020, but there is no analysis of them related to air quality. Therefore, this research aims to analyse EU's legislation and the current state of its implementation in Ukrainian legislation according to Association Agreement, including, state of air quality monitoring system, types of limiting values, comparing of limiting values of pollutants, alerting system and publicity access to the data.

Methods of analysis
Both, Ukrainian laws and regulatory documents were analysed. As the main document, EU-Ukraine Association Agreement was used to analyse. Deduction, induction, and synthesis were used to analyze the documents. Reports of both the EU and Ukraine on the Agreement implementation were considered.
4. Results and discussion 4.1. Comparison of the strategic documents Europe 2020 and Ukraine 2020 strategies on the air quality goals The EU's member states were guided by the Sustainable Development Strategy Europe 2020, adopted in 2010 [18], based on the principles pledged in the previous strategy, "A Secure Europe In a Better World" [19]. Among others, it proclaims the 20/20/20 climate/energy target. According to this target, greenhouse gas emissions in the EU should be reduced by at least 20% compared to the 1990 level, or even by 30% if it is possible; the renewable sources should cover at By 20 % till 2020 least 20% of energy consumption; and energy efficiency should be increased by 20% compared to 2010. The strategy envisages a reduction of dependence of economic growth on resource supply (resource efficiency), proclaims a low-carbon economy approach, including increasing the use of renewables, transport sector modernization, and energy efficiency steady improvement [18].
The strategy Europe 2020 in the field of ambient focuses to affect [18]: (i) Particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone effects on public health and the environment; (ii) Acidification (control of emissions of sulphur (IV) and ammonium oxide, nitrogen) and eutrophication (nitrogen precipitated above critical loads); (iii) Impact of ozone on vegetation; The strategy involves the implementation of: (i) Euro-5 standards for cars and vans; (ii) Euro-6 standards for heavy vehicles; (iii) Revision of national emission limits;; (iv) Regulation of low-power combustion plants; (v) Reduction of ammonia emissions in agriculture; (vi) Review of legal acts in the field of air quality [18].
In Ukraine, the strategy of sustainable development in Ukraine 2020 was adopted in 2015 [20]. The document partially describes the strategic aspects of ambient air regulation, particularly greenhouse gas emissions. Comparisons of the Ukraine 2020 and Europe 2020 for climate/energy targets are presented in table 1.
As shown in table 1, the Europe 2020 strategy provides more clear climate/energy strategic goals and clearly defines quantitative indicators to evaluate the progress in the strategy implementation for greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy supply. Instead, Ukraine 2020 strategy only identifies energy efficiency improvements, while other aspects of the strategy do not have clear criteria for progress assessment. But as for the goals of Ukraine, they would not be enough to solve the problem taking into account that the Ukrainian mean energy intensity of GDP is higher than the world's mean by 2.6 times [18][19][20].
According to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, Ukraine has a strategic plan for EU law implementation. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the integration state, and the article aims it.

Basic legislation of the EU and Ukraine on air quality
The EU regulatory framework for air quality monitoring includes the following regulatory documents: (i) Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe [21]; (ii) Directive 2004/107/EC relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air [22]; (iii) Council Directive 87/217/EEC on the prevention and reduction of environmental pollution by asbestos [23]; (iv) Directive 2001/81/EC on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants [24].
The legislation of Ukraine on ambient air includes the following documents: The framework air quality law of the EU is Directive 2008/50/EC [21], which regulates the main principles of air protection and control of air quality in the member states. Also, there are EU directives that regulate specific indicators, such as Directive 2004/107/EC on the regulation of concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air [22], Directive 87/217/EEC on reducing exposure to asbestos into the atmosphere [23] and Directive 2001/81/EC on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants [24].
Directive 2004/107/EC [22] establishes the targets value for arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air, as well as upper and lower assessment thresholds, location criteria, the minimum number of sampling points for measuring atmospheric pollutant concentrations and sampling methods. Furthermore, the Directive obliged the EU's member states to undertake all necessary measures to ensure that from December 31, 2012 concentrations of Arsenic, Cadmium, Nickel and benzene(a)pyrene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons should be used as an indicator for the carcinogenic risk in the ambient air, according to the assessment and their values should not exceed the limits set by the Directive [22].
Nowadays, limit values for pollutants in the atmosphere in Ukraine are regulated by a document approved by the chief physician of Ukraine, "Maximum permissible concentrations of chemical and biological substances in ambient air of populated areas" [28]. Also, it should be noted that severe standards for air quality may be established for resorts, recreational, and some other special areas (Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine on the "Air Protection" Ukrainian Law on Air protection).
It should be underlined that the approaches to air pollutants' control are different in Ukraine and the EU. European legislation provides such indexes as "limit value", "target value", "alert value", "information value", and "critical level for vegetation and ecosystems" (critical level) [21]. Alert value and information value are intended to inform the population about potentially risky pollutants concentrations. In cases where it is impossible to implement a scientifically substantiated value of the content of pollutants in the air, "mean value" is used. According to Directive 2008/50/EC, target value means the level established to avoid, prevent or reduce IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1049/1/012044 5 harmful effects on human health and/or the environment as a whole, which should be achieved whenever possible within the set period. Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe also defines types of limitation levels of pollutants in the air as follows [21]: • '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; • 'target value' shall mean a level fixed with the aim of avoiding, preventing or reducing harmful effects on human health and/or the environment as a whole, to be attained where possible over a given period; • 'alert threshold' shall mean a level beyond which there is a risk to human health from brief exposure for the population as a whole and at which immediate steps are to be taken by the Member States; • 'information threshold' shall mean a level beyond which there is a risk to human health from brief exposure for particularly sensitive sections of the population and for which immediate and appropriate information is necessary • 'critical level' shall mean a level fixed on the basis of scientific knowledge, above which direct adverse effects may occur on some receptors, such as trees, other plants or natural ecosystems but not on humans.
Thus, the European Union legislation provides control over ambient air, considering both public health and the state of ecosystems, as well as informing the population. The Ukrainian regulatory framework foresees the use of maximum permissible concentrations that considers only human health, not the environment and it does not imply informing the population.
According to the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, "On approval of the list of the most common and dangerous pollutants whose emissions into the air are subject to regulation" In general, the approaches to control the level of air pollutants in Ukraine and the EU are significantly different and need to be harmonized. The limit values/permissible concentrations of carbon dioxide, sulfur (IV) oxide (average daily value) and lead are stricter in Ukraine. However, the permissible concentrations of PM10, sulfur (IV) oxide (short-term value), Arsenic, Cadmium, and Nickel are much lighter in Ukraine than in the EU. In addition, the dioxin content of ambient air is not regulated in Ukrainian legislation. Also, in Ukraine, the content of particulate matter (PM2.5) in the atmosphere is still insufficiently regulated, and there is no regulation of all types of particulate matter as defined by Directive 2008/50/EC. Therefore, it's necessary to align these indicators for Ukraine with European Union legislation. Benzopyrene and nitrogen (IV) oxide limit values are identical in Ukraine and the EU (table 2) [21].
Directive 2008/50/EC regulates the requirements for the placement of sampling points in the EU and by the RD 02.04.186-89 "Guidelines for the control of atmospheric pollution" in Ukraine. However, the legislation of Ukraine does not have requirements regarding the number of sampling points. Also, in Ukraine, several industrial zones may do not have the required quantity of sampling points compared to European legistlation or may do not have them at all [6,21,30]. On the other hand, Directive 2008/50/EC regulates detailed rules regarding the location of the sampling point [21].

Transport's emmisions and air quality legislation
According to the Agreement on Association, Ukraine committed to implementing transport EU's legislations. It includes Directive 2016/802 relating to a reduction in the sulfur content of

Citizens' information on air quality state
Informing citizens in the EU member states is provided through the online GIS. Information about the state of the environment in real-time can be seen using sites WAQI (https://waqi.info/) or AQICN (http://aqicn.org) (figure 1). In the EU member states, the air quality index (AQI) is applied that is simple to understand and is calculated according to the formula: Where I -air quality index; C -the pollutant concentration; C low -the concentration breakpoint that is C; C high -the concentration breakpoint that is C; I low -the index breakpoint corresponding to C low ; I high -the index breakpoint corresponding to C high .
An example of information on the site http://aqicn.org is presented in figure 1. This indicator gives a relatively clear understanding of the dangers of air quality. The score varies from 0 to 500. Its lower values indicate high air quality, and higher ones are about the danger state of air quality.
Citizen alert in the EU member states occurs when the concentration of sulphur (IV) oxide is 0.5 mg/m 3 , nitrogen (IV) oxide -0.4 mg/m 3 and ozone -0.24 mg/m 3 ; and information threshold for ozone is 0.18 mg/m 3 . The critical level of sulfur (IV) oxide is 0.02 -mg/m 3 , and for nitrogen oxides -0.03 mg/m 3 [23].
In Ukraine, comparisons with the maximum permissible concentration are used to inform the population. GIS is not commonly used for informing citizens. The reports on air quality are prepared periodically by Hydrometeorological Centre of State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations of Cabinet of Ministers once in several months. Consequently, citizens receive air quality information with a delay of several months. An example of information delivery on the sites of the Hydrometeorological Centre is presented in figure 2 (http://gmc.uzhgorod.ua/ZA/092012.htm, Access data: 02.02.2019). The air monitoring system used in the EU is more visual and allows users to get real-time information, and provides a qualitative and straightforward notification of citizens about the potential dangers, ensuring the safety of citizens with specific health statuses. Therefore, it is advisable to modify the system of informing citizens in Ukraine to meet the features mentioned above of the EU system.
However, Ukraine provides NGOs control by using both online GIS and AQI. To provide this, measurers developed by Ecocity project nowadays are using. Those measures are located by the different organizations, including the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and NGO European Studies' Platform for Sustainable Development.

Discussion
Generally, the European integration state is presented in the reports prepared by the European Commission [3], the Ukrainian government  Therefore, in practice, directives on fuel quality are not implemented in Ukraine. According to Association Implementation Report on Ukraine. Work is ongoing to prepare legislation to establish an emissions Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification system. In September 2018, a Law drafts on Ozone Depleting Substances and Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases were registered in the Parliament, envisaging the gradual phasing out of these substances. According to the monitoring of the implementation EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, Directive №2004/107/EC, Directive 1999/32/EC, Directive 94/63/EC, Directive 98/70/EC (implementation deadlines from 2014 to 2017) and Directive 2008/50/EC (implementation deadline in 2018) was in work to implement. However, it does not mean that nothing was done about the integration of European legacy in the field of air quality; it means that these legacy acts were not implemented totally, but they were implemented just particularly.
However, those analyses are not representing all aspects of the euro integrational situation of Ukraine related to air quality. Therefore, we provide own analysis. The only aspect of setting up maximum VOC content limit values for paints is implemented in appropriate Ukrainian law [37]. Other points of the Association Agreement on air quality were not implemented in full scale. The general state of integration of the EU's law is presented in figure 3.
It worth note that state of air quality may be enhanced by using of green technologies, such as anaerbic treatment [38]. However, such technologies may be also unsustainable and cause negative effect on air quality. To ensure sustainability, it is relevant to use modern effective technologies that decrease amount of waste generated by anaerobic treatment such as in works [39] and [40] or modern providing effective technologies to purify both, natural and wastewater such as modern nanotechnologies approaches [41][42][43]. Also, its sustainability will depend on its optimisation and to define such optimal conditions, using modern informational tools is possible [44].

Conclusions
(i) The strategy Europe 2020 is more specific towards improving the environment and ambient air quality than the Strategy Ukraine 2020. Europe 2020 has more clear climate/energy targets and more clearly defined criteria for assessing the implementation of the strategy for emission control, energy efficiency, and renewable energy development. (ii) Ukraine's regulatory documents on ambient air protection are partly in line with the EU laws but require some harmonization. The most harmonized part of the regulatory framework for ambient air between Ukraine and the EU is the air quality control methods, and the least harmonized part is regulatory acts related to monitoring the state of the environment (placement of observation posts) and the approach to the air pollutants (maximum permissible concentrations). (iii) The EU and Ukraine have pretty different approaches to regulating the levels of pollutants in ambient air. Ukrainian legislation foresees the usage of maximum permissible concentrations based on the impact of pollutants on human health. At the same time, the EU legislation also considers the impact of pollutants on the environment. 'limit value', target value', 'Alert threshold', 'Information threshold' and 'Critical level' are used to provide it. (iv) Almost all regulated values differ between the EU's and Ukrainian standards. So, it is necessary to harmonize Ukrainian laws with EU legislation. An important uncoordinated indicator of the quality of ambient air in Ukraine is the levels of particulate matter (PM2.5).
Unlike the EU, in Ukraine, this index is not regulated at all. (v) It is advisable to improve the system of notifications of citizens about the air quality in Ukraine using the experience of the EU in this field.