The Executive Environmental Agency (EEA) sent a letter to the Mayor of Sofia Municipality Vasil Terziev, requesting assistance in selecting sites for the relocation of two air quality measurement stations – those in Pavlovo and Mladost. The letter also states that the Sofia Municipality must propose at least 3 possible sites for each of the stations subject to relocation, and it is necessary to comply with the requirements of Appendix No. 6 to Regulation No. 12 of 15.07.2010 on standards for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, fine dust particles, lead, benzene, carbon monoxide, and ozone in ambient air. The measuring stations are part of the National Air Quality Monitoring System.

Currently, the station in Mladost is positioned in the courtyard of the National Institute of Meterology and Hydrology. The station meets the distance requirement from an intersection, but does not meet the distance requirement from a curb. The Pavlovo station is positioned in the yard of the EEA, meets the distance requirement from an intersection, but does not meet the distance requirement from a curb.

In 2022, a commission established the discrepancy in the location of the stations, but proposed that the stations maintain their location in view of the exceedances of PM10 standards registered in the last three years. According to the regulatory requirements, a monitoring station with an exceedance of the PM10 standards in the last three years is retained, unless it is necessary to move it due to special circumstances, in particular due to requirements related to the organization of the territory. Since no exceedances above the permissible ones have been registered in the specified automatic measuring stations in the last three years, the circumstances that do not allow the stations to move have ceased. The analysis of the data for the last three years (2021-2023), and the officially published data for 2024 from the measuring stations in Pavlovo and Mladost, show that in both locations PM10 standards have been maintained and a procedure for selecting new suitable sites can be launched.

The points should be located in areas within the relevant regions or agglomerations, where the highest levels of pollutants are possible. The sites should be consistent with the results of the pollution assessment, obtained on the basis of mathematical modeling in the "Program for Improving the Quality of Atmospheric Air on the Territory of Sofia Municipality for the Period 2021 - 2026". Pollutants should be located no less than 25m from major intersections and no more than 10m from the curb. Power supply and telephone communications are required, there must be visibility of the site relative to its surroundings. They should be located no less than 25m from major intersections and no more than 10m from the curb, etc.

The automatic measuring station monitors the following indicators: fine dust particles, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead, benzene, carbon monoxide, and ozone.