§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiatives have been taken by his Department to try to secure an improvement in the acid rain problem facing Wales.
§ Mr. GristThe Department has initiated a programme of research which has been designed to assess the impact of acid rain on Wales and seek practical steps to reduce its impact.
In addition, the Welsh Office has supported the Department of the Environment in funding a major research project in the Llyn Brianne area to assess the relative contribution which air pollution, afforestation, land type and land use and practice make to the acidification of Welsh water.
Limitation of the effects of acid rain on Wales is dependent, of course, upon a reduction of emissions throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. Using 1980 as a base line, the United Kingdom is committed to reducing emissions of sulphur dioxide by 20 per cent. and oxides of nitrogen by 15 per cent. from existing large combustion plants by 1993 as the first stage of directive 88/609/EEC, "The Limitation of Emissions of Certain Pollutants Into the Air From Large Combustion Plants".