Renewal of the GIS LCSQA agreement for 2022-2032

Based on their complementarity, IMT Nord-Europe, INERIS and LNE have signed a new 10-year new agreement for the LCSQA Scientific Interest Group (Central Laboratory for Air Quality Monitoring). This will allow them to continue their collaboration on the technical coordination of the national air quality monitoring system in support of the French Ministry of the Environment.

LCSQA, appointed by the French Ministry of the Environment, is the reference organisation in charge of the technical coordination for France’s air quality monitoring system.

The signing of this agreement comes during a revision period for the European directive on air quality monitoring. In its proposal, the European Commission recommends lowering regulatory thresholds, introducing the monitoring of new pollutants and strengthening the use of modelling to characterise concentrations levels in the air. This agreement will therefore enable LCSQA teams to support these developments on a technical level for the deployment of a reliable, reactive monitoring system capable of meeting the requirements of the future.

Since 1991, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Mines-Télécom Nord Europe (IMT Nord Europe), Institut National de l’Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS) and Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d’Essais (LNE) have worked together to lead the technical coordination of the air quality monitoring system in France. LCSQA, the Scientific Interest Group (GIS) created in 2005, is the national reference body required by European directives.* Its tasks are defined by the decree of 16 April 2021 relating to the national ambient air quality monitoring system.