10 Control of emissions from heavy-duty
diesel and gas engines
| (24963)
13664/03
COM(03) 522
| Draft Directive on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from compression-ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of gaseous pollutants from positive-ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles.
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| Legal base | Article 95 EC; co-decision; QMV
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| Document originated | 5 September 2003
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| Deposited in Parliament | 22 October 2003
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| Department | Transport |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 3 November 2003 and SEM of 5 December 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | Shortly
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
10.1 Directive 1999/96/EC[19]
introduced three new stages of successively tighter limits for
emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen
and particulates from heavy duty diesel and gas engines. These
take effect from 2000, 2005 and 2008 as regards approval for new
engine types, and from 2001, 2006 and 2009 for all new heavy-duty
vehicles entering service. In this document, the Commission has
— as
foreseen in Directive 1999/96 — put
forward the further measures needed in order to apply in 2005
and 2006 the second stage envisaged in that Directive.
The current proposal
10.2 The proposals cover three main areas, as follows:
DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS
- The emission standards in Directive
1999/96/EC are likely to require for the first time the use of
exhaust after-treatment technology on heavy vehicles, and the
Commission says that, as is already the case with light-duty vehicles,
it is appropriate to introduce measures to establish that the
equipment is designed and constructed so as to be able to maintain
the control of emissions for a reasonable period. More specifically,
it is proposed to introduce distance-time requirements relevant
to the useful life of the vehicle, namely 100,000 kilometres or
five years for category N1 goods vehicles (up to 3.5
tonnes); 200,000 kilometres or 6 years for category N2
goods vehicles (up to 12 tonnes) and M2 passenger vehicles
(up to 5 tonnes and with more than 9 seats); and 500,000 kilometres
or 7 years for N3 goods vehicles (over 12 tonnes) and
M3 passenger vehicles (over 5 tonnes and with more
than 9 seats).
IN-SERVICE CONFORMITY REQUIREMENTS
- Although procedures were introduced
in 2001 for checking that light-duty vehicles continue to deliver
good emission performance "in-service", similar requirements
have not so far been developed for heavy-duty engines or vehicles.
However, the Commission now intends to develop such requirements,
under which manufacturers of heavy duty vehicles would compile
data concerning the emission behaviour of their products in-use,
which would then be audited by the authority responsible for type-approval.
The actual distance-time requirements for in-service compliance
would be the same as the durability requirements set out above.
ON-BOARD DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS
- The proposal would require
heavy vehicles to incorporate a system of on-board diagnostics,
similar to those introduced in 2000 for light vehicles, to monitor
degradation or failure of the emissions control equipment, and
provide an early warning to the driver of any fault (thus permitting
the earliest repair and return to effective emission control).
This requirement would be backed up by fault codes which identify
the principal failure, and by unrestricted access to those codes
so as to aid effective repair. However, because the technology
used in heavy vehicles is in an early state of development, the
Commission has proposed a two-stage approach. Thus, as from 2005,
the on-board diagnostic system would be required to monitor the
functioning of the engine against fixed threshold limits, and
any downstream after-treatment system emissions of the engine,
whilst, as from 2008, it is anticipated that technical development
will permit wider monitoring of the engine performance and associated
after-treatment systems, as well as the effect of other vehicle
systems which may influence the emission control system. However,
this second stage will be subject to a review of technical developments.
10.3 The proposal would consolidate the technical
annexes to the existing Directives dealing with emissions from
heavy-duty vehicles, and repeal those measures.[20]
It would also recast and update a number of the detailed provisions
in those Directives, and it would for the first time adopt a "split-level
approach" to vehicle type-approval, whereby the more detailed
technical measures laying down procedures for compliance with
the requirements on durability, in-service performance and on-board
diagnostic systems would be adopted, not by the Council, but by
the Commission.
The Government's view
10.4 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 3 November
2003, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department
of Transport (Mr David Jamieson) said that, although the detailed
implications of the proposal would be assessed fully by the Government
in a subsequent Regulatory Impact Assessment, much of its substance
had already been anticipated by the industry. In the meantime,
he drew attention to the Commission's own Impact Assessment, which
(though only provisional, pending the adoption of supplementary
regulations) suggested that:
- Since manufacturers already
need to ensure that their engines meet similar durability requirements
in the United States, there are unlikely to be any additional
developmental costs associated with the proposal. To the extent
that there would be additional costs of compliance testing necessary
for type-approval, these would be about €10,500
for an engine family,[21]
which the Commission describes as "negligible" on a
per engine basis.
- Since an in-service conformity audit should be
normal practice, this aspect of the proposal should not give rise
to additional costs, but there could be small costs (again put
at around €10,000 per vehicle family) arising from any follow-up
testing required by the type-approval authority.
- The cost of adapting existing manufacturer-specific
systems for the first stage of the provisions for on-board diagnostic
systems is not expected to be "extensive" on a per vehicle
basis, and those costs associated with development and testing,
though difficult to estimate, would probably be around €10
per vehicle. The Commission adds that the costs for the second
phase are more difficult to assess at this stage, but, on the
basis of implementing on-board diagnostics for light vehicles,
they are likely to be of the order of €6,500 per engine family.
Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum of 5 December
2003
10.5 The Minister has now provided the promised Regulatory
Impact Assessment under cover of his supplementary Explanatory
Memorandum of 5 December 2003. This points out that the proposals
form a further element in the reduction of air pollution from
transport, given that heavy-duty vehicles account for nearly half
of the particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions from UK road transport
(which have adverse effects on the respiratory and cardiovascular
systems). It adds that they will in addition provide a platform
for the development of more sophisticated on-board diagnostic
systems, which could in turn provide significant air quality benefits
in the future, and that they will also help to maintain the single
Community-wide market in heavy vehicles.
10.6 The Assessment points out that any additional
costs arising from the proposal would be borne directly by engine
manufacturers, as well as by manufacturers and suppliers of after-treatment
devices and systems and vehicle electronic systems, and that manufacturers
and owners of heavy duty vehicles would also be indirectly affected.
It says that more information is being sought from the UK industry
on the Commission's estimates of the implications of the provisions
on durability requirements, but that, on the basis of experience
in the United States, the developmental cost to individual manufacturers
of developing on-board diagnostic systems to a common Community
standard might be about £1.3 million, amortised over three
years, for each engine type, with the unit costs per engine perhaps
varying between £94 and £422, depending on the size
of engine and production volume. In addition, there would be
the cost of providing the hardware and software needed by each
unit.
Conclusion
10.7 Any assessment of the implications of this
proposal for a draft Directive is complicated by the fact that
the costs could be affected by the detailed legislative measures
which the Commission itself will need to adopt under its own powers
(but which we understand it has yet to put forward). However,
it would appear that any such measures are unlikely to alter materially
the relatively modest figures outlined in paragraphs 10.4 and
10.6 above, and that the UK industry has to a large degree already
anticipated these. We are therefore clearing the proposal.
19 OJ No. L.44, 16.2.00, p.1. Back
20
Council Directives 88/77/EEC, 91/542/EEC, 96/1/EC, 1999/96/EC
and Commission Directive 2001/27/EC. Back
21
A group of engines with a similar technical specification and
size. Back
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