The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) and Motor Vehicles (Type Approval for Goods Vehicles) (Great Britain) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

These Regulations amend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (“the Construction and Use Regulations”) to incorporate the requirements of Directives 2005/55/EC5 and 2005/78/EC6, as amended by Directive 2006/51/EC7, on vehicle emissions into the domestic requirements concerning the design, construction, equipment and use of vehicles. They also amend the provisions relating to emissions requirements for end-of-series vehicles to ensure that European law is fully implemented. Finally, they align the calculation of the maximum number of vehicles that may enter into service under the emissions end-of-series provisions, both in the Construction and Use Regulations and under the Motor Vehicles (Type Approval for Goods Vehicles) (Great Britain) 1982 (“the Type Approval for Goods Vehicles Regulations”), with that used in European law, and, in particular, Directive 70/156/EEC8.

Regulation 4(5) replaces the reference to the Directives previously listed in item 2 in the Table in regulation 61A of the Construction and Use Regulations with a reference to Directives 2005/55/EC, 2005/78/EC and 2006/51, in order to implement these Directives. Regulations 6(10) and 6(13) make the same substitutions with respect to the definition of “vehicle” for the purposes of the meaning of “non-type approval end-of-series vehicles” (Part III of Schedule 7XA to the Construction and Use Regulations). Under regulation 1(2), these substitutions take place only from 9th November 2006, which is the date from which these Directives must be implemented by Member States, and from which the Directives previously specified in item 2 are repealed. The proviso at the end of regulation 4(3) reflects the fact that the Directives not only impose new requirements, but also consolidate others, and ensures that, when a requirement is re-enacted, the “date as is specified” in relation to that requirement remains unchanged.

Regulations 4 and 6 amend regulation 61A and Schedule 7XA, to take into account the fact that some Directives specify more than one stage of emission limit values (or other requirements). These amendments ensure that an end-of-series vehicle can be exempted from one stage only. When this happens, the vehicle will still need to comply with the requirements of the previous stage of the same directive, or, if it is exempted from the first stage of a directive, the requirements of the previous directive (if any). Finally, regulation6(4) ensures that end-of-series exemptions granted in other Member States and in Northern Ireland are recognised in Great Britain.

Regulations 3 and 6(3)(e) ensure that end-of-series vehicles under the Motor Vehicles (EC Type Approval) Regulations 1998 are covered by the exemptions in regulation 61A(7) of, and Schedule 7XA to, the Construction and Use Regulations.

For vehicles not subject to type approval, the maximum number of vehicles that could enter into service under the Construction and Use Regulations was either 10% of the vehicles registered by the manufacturer in the 12 months before the date when the new set of requirements came into effect, or 50, whichever was the greater. Regulation 6(8) increases the latter number to 100 and regulation 6(11) increases the percentage to 30%.

For vehicles subject to the Type Approval for Goods Vehicles Regulations, regulation 7 increases the maximum number of vehicles which may be regarded as end of series vehicles to 30% of those registered in the 12 months before the date when the new set of requirements came into effect, or 100, whichever is the greater.

A regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business is available from Tony Baker at the Department for Transport (tel: 020 7944 2063 or e-mail: tonyt.baker@dft.gsi.gov.uk), or from the website of the Office of Public Sector Information (www.opsi.gov.uk). A transposition note is also available from the same sources.