The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2007

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend Schedule 2 to the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 (“the principal Regulations”) which contains provisions regarding reduced pollution certificates and the reduced pollution requirements.

Regulation 5 of the principal Regulations provides that the Secretary of State may require a reduced pollution certificate to be furnished before determining the rate of vehicle excise duty payable by an eligible vehicle. Eligible vehicles are those vehicles referred to in section 61B of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 and include buses, goods vehicles and haulage vehicles and Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations provides for the issue of reduced pollution certificates to eligible vehicles which satisfy the reduced pollution requirements. If an eligible vehicle satisfies the reduced pollution requirements the rate of duty is lower than that for an eligible vehicle which does not satisfy those requirements.

The Regulations amend the principal Regulations so as to—

(a) prescribe the requirements relating to a vehicle’s emissions which are to be satisfied by an eligible vehicle registered before 1st October 2009, in order for that vehicle to satisfy the reduced pollution requirements (regulations 5 and 7);

(b) provide that an authorised examiner may refuse to carry out a reduced pollution examination if a reduced pollution certificate has previously been issued in respect of the vehicle and the last certificate issued is not surrendered (regulation 4(a)); and

(c) provide for consequential amendments, including those to definitions (regulations 3,4(b), 6 and 8).

A full impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Department for Transport, Cleaner Fuels and Vehicles Division, Great Minster House, London SW1P 4DR (Telephone number 0207 9442509). The assessment may also be accessed by visiting the Department’s website (www.dft.gov.uk) or that of the Office of Public Sector Information (www.opsi.gov.uk).

Copies of the Directives referred to in the Regulations may be obtained from the Stationery Office (Telephone number 0870 6005522; website www.tso.co.uk/bookshop).