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Government to tighten vehicle emission standards
The Air Pollution Control (Vehicle Design Standards) (Emission)(Amendment) Regulations 1996 will come into effect on April 1 (Tuesday).
The amended Regulation will require all newly-registered diesel vehicles over four tonnes to comply with a set of new emission standards.
To tie in with the new standards, a cleaner auto diesel will, on the same day, be introduced under the Air Pollution Control (Motor Vehicle Fuel) (Amendment) Regulation 1996.
The sulphur content of the new auto diesel will be reduced from the current level of 0.2% further down to a very low level of 0.05%.
The Assistant Director of Environmental Protection, Mr Tse Chin-wan, said the amended regulations were part of the Government's effort to fight against air pollution from motor vehicles.
"Diesel vehicles complying with the new standards and using the new diesel fuel will emit 60 percent less particulate matters and 12 percent less nitrogen oxides than those complying with the current standards," he said.
Mr Tse pointed out that the Government's policy was to adopt the most stringent vehicle emission standards and auto fuel standards once they became practical.
"To be in line with the emission standards to be introduced in the European Union, the Government is now planning to tighten the emission standards for diesel vehicles weighing four tonnes and below in April 1998," he said.
"Besides, the Government is also exploring further measures to control the air pollution from diesel vehicles," Mr Tse added.
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