LAUNCESTON did not exceed the national guidelines for air quality during winter but the battle would continue to improve the situation further, Environment Minister Michelle O'Byrne said today.

``This was the first winter in more than a decade since monitoring began that Launceston has not recorded a winter time PM10 exceedence,'' Ms O'Byrne said.

``Further analysis by the Environment Department found that winter was not unusually warm, and therefore the reduction in exceedences was not the result of an abnormal number of warmer days.''

Ms O'Byrne said Launceston was also on track to better the national goal of only five exceedences a year for the first time, having recorded just one exceedence up until mid-September.

``This is a massive improvement in the city's air quality from 1997, when there were 50 exceedences, and Launceston had arguably the worst winter air quality in the entire country,'' Ms O'Byrne said.

``I congratulate the Launceston City Council, industries in the region, and the community for working together to improve air quality.

However, Ms O'Byrne said a continued effort was still needed to maintain air quality improvements.

The State's new Environment Protection Authority had been given $2.5 million this financial year for air monitoring, with the State required to measure for smaller PM 2.5 particulates next year.