Legislation & Governance
Legislation, policies and stakeholder engagement helps to ensure the development and implementation of LEZs in Scotland is evidence based, robust and that they deliver air quality improvements and wider community benefits.
The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides the legal basis to enable the creation and civil enforcement of LEZs. In addition, the following regulations outlined detail related to emission standards, exemptions, enforcement, and procedural requirements related to the introduction, amendment or revocation of a LEZ.
- Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (legislation.gov.uk)
- The Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (legislation.gov.uk)
- The Low Emission Zones (Scotland) Regulations 2021
Low Emission Zones Leadership Group
Convened to support the delivery of LEZs, this group is co-chaired by Fiona Hyslop MSP, Minister for Transport, and Mairi McAllan MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Transport Net Zero and Just Transition. Meetings are held every six months.
Minutes can be made available on request by contacting lowemissionzonesenquiries@gov.scot
Low Emission Zone Consistency Group
These groups support the development of a nationally consistent approach to the implementation of LEZs in Scotland. They bring together officials from local authorities and key public bodies, as well as technical experts to collectively consider issues relating to their design and delivery.
Low Emission Zone Delivery Groups
A low emission delivery group has been set up for each city, made up of those who have a role in delivery of Low Emission Zones at individual city level. This includes transport planning, traffic engineering, air quality, planning and legal and finance specialists, Transport Scotland, SEPA and other relevant local organisations.
The delivery groups were involved in the design, development and implementation of the LEZs and will continue to be as implementation is underway.
Consultation
There has been extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation undertaken at a national level which has informed the policy and legislation which underpins Scottish LEZs.
For some further information on consultation and engagement, please see below.
2017 - Building Scotland’s Low Emission Zones consultation
2019 - Low Emission Zones in Scotland Regulations and Guidance Workshops
2019/20 - Scotland’s Low Emission Zones: Consultation on Regulations and Guidance