Australian Design Rules for the Control of Vehicle Emissions

Regulation Impact Statement

The Prime Minister announced details of amendments to "A New Tax System" on 28 May 1999, including a range of environmental proposals under the heading 'Measures for a Better Environment'. There are three main elements of this Package which deal with new vehicle standards and transport fuel quality, viz:

• Staged introduction of Euro 2 and Euro 3 standards for petrol vehicles;
• Staged introduction of Euro 2, Euro 3 and Euro 4 standards for diesel vehicles; and
• The introduction of a clean diesel policy which will provide a mix of incentives and legislation to ensure that ultra low sulfur diesel is available within the timeframe for the proposed new vehicle standards.

The objective of this vehicle standards package, and its diesel fuel elements, is to reduce the adverse effects of motor vehicle emissions on urban air quality and human health. The Commonwealth Government also has an objective, outlined in the Prime Minister's Statement, Safeguarding the Future (Prime Minister, 1997), to harmonise Australia's vehicle emission standards with international standards by 2006. By 2006, Australian new diesel vehicle emission standards will be harmonised with the Euro 4 standard and new petrol vehicles will be harmonised with the Euro 3 standard. As the Euro 4 standard will apply in Europe for all vehicles in 2005, Australia will be fully aligned with the diesel standards and be one step behind with petrol standards.

The Package of new standards involves the adoption of:

Diesel Vehicles

• Euro 2 in 2002/03 for all new diesel vehicles;
• Euro 3 in 2002/03 for all new medium and heavy duty diesel vehicles; and
• Euro 4 in 2006/07 for all new diesel vehicles;

Petrol Vehicles

• Euro 2 in 2003/04 for all new petrol vehicles; and
• Euro 3 in 2005/06 for all new petrol vehicles.

The following documents, draft and/or otherwise, formed part of the Regulation Impact Statement

Regulation Impact Statement Main Report [PDF: 345 KB]

Attachment A, B & E [PDF: 74 KB] - Comparison of UN ECE Standards with Current ADRs; Description of New Standards Options; and Summary of Public Comment

Attachment C [PDF: 76 KB] - Draft Final Report - Emissions and Cost Effectiveness of the Adoption of Euro 3 Emission Standards

Attachment D [PDF: 123 KB] - Preliminary Economic Analysis of Adopting New Vehicle Emission Standards

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