DOT plots Euro-2 opt out
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by Nicky Clarke • Manufacturers will be consulted over the next few weeks on a derogation for the Euro-2 noise and emissions' legislation due for implementation October 1 this year.
The Department of Transport confirms it is proposing a derogation, or treatment of end of series vehicles, for new noise levels set out in Directive 92/97/EEC which applies to all classes of vehicles and new emissions levels set out in Directive 91/542/EEC which applies to vehicles over 3.5t.
The DOT is working on a "once and for all provision ... that will apply to all future mandatory noise and emission legislation", says a DOT official.
However, the new derogation for Euro-2 will mean that 10% of a manufactur er's previous year's registrations do not have to comply with the noise and emissions' legislation providing the vehicles were manufactured in the two years prior to the 1 October deadline.
Manufacturers and other interested parties will be given 3-6 weeks to comment on the proposal. The DOT will then lay a Statutory Instrument in Parliament in time for the October deadline which will amend existing Construction & Use and Type Approval regulations.
MAN marketing and sales operations manager, John Baker, says the legislation could be simpler. "It would be easier to control and manage if the DOT went for a cutoff date on production and did away with the reference to registration," he says.
Scania director of sales and marketing, Charles Rabbidge, thinks the derogation unfair: "We've been given sufficient warning. If manufacturers can't get their acts together, they've got to pay the price. The whole point of European law is to create a level playing field — and this is tilting the field," he says.