The Agricultural or Forestry Tractors (Emission of Gaseous and Particulate Pollutants) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

Introduction of the Flexibility Scheme into the 2002 Regulations

8.  After Schedule 2 to the 2002 Regulations, the following Schedule shall be inserted—

Regulation 2

“SCHEDULE 3 UK Flexibility Schemes

Introduction

1.   An engine may be placed on the market under a flexibility scheme if the scheme in question satisfies the requirements of this Schedule and the engine falls within the limits of the scheme.

Flexibility Schemes: general

2.   A flexibility scheme under this Schedule shall be a scheme for the placing on the market of engines which fall within a category specified in column (4) of Table 1 in Schedule 1—

(a) that would all be of the same category (referred to in this Schedule as “the relevant category”) if manufactured and entered into service on the day the application for approval under paragraph 3 is made, and

(b) that are installed or intended to be installed in tractors manufactured by a tractor manufacturer (referred to in this Schedule as “the tractor manufacturer”).

Approval

3.— (1) The requirement of this paragraph is that the scheme is approved by the UK type-approval authority pursuant to an application made under this paragraph.

(2) An application for approval under this paragraph—

(a) may be made only by the tractor manufacturer;

(b) shall include—

(i) a sample of the labels referred to in paragraphs 6(a) and (b); and

(ii) such information as the UK type-approval authority may request in order to enable it to determine whether or not to approve the scheme; and

(c) may request that the limit on the number of engines that may be placed on the market under the scheme be determined in accordance with paragraph 5(3).

(3) The UK type-approval authority shall notify the tractor manufacturer of its decision whether or not to approve the scheme.

Limit values requirement

4.   An engine may only be placed on the market under a flexibility scheme approved under paragraph 3 if, had it been entered into service for the first time immediately before the first day of the stage that is in force at the time when the engine is placed on the market, it would have complied with the limit value requirements then imposed by Council Directive 2000/25/EC.

Number of engines that may be placed on the market under a flexibility scheme

5.— (1) The total number of engines placed on the market under a flexibility scheme shall not exceed the maximum number determined in accordance with this paragraph.

(2) Unless sub-paragraph (3) applies, the maximum number is 20 per cent. of—

(a) if, at the time when the application under paragraph 3 is made, the tractor manufacturer has been marketing tractors with engines of the relevant category in the territory of the Member States for a period of less than 5 years, the arithmetic mean of the tractor manufacturer’s relevant annual sales over the period in which such marketing has taken place; or

(b) in any other case, the arithmetic mean of the relevant annual sales, over the 5 years preceding the application made under paragraph 3.

(3) If a request has been approved under paragraph 3(2)(c) the maximum number, in relation to engines with a power output (measured in kilowatts) within the range specified in column 1 of the Table, is the number specified in column 2.

(4) In this paragraph, a reference to the “relevant sales” is a reference to the number of tractors that have been—

(a) fitted with an engine with a power output within the same power output range as engines of the relevant category;

(b) sold by the tractor manufacturer; and

(c) sold in the territory of a member State.

Table

Alternative fixed number of engines that may be placed on the market under a flexibility scheme

Column 1	Column 2
Power output of Engines (P)	Number of engines
19 ≤ P < 37 kW	200
37 ≤ P < 75 kW	150
75 ≤ P < 130 kW	100
130 ≤ P < 560 kW	50

Labelling requirements

6.   The requirements of this paragraph are that—

(a) when the engine is placed on the market by the engine manufacturer, a label bearing the following text has been permanently affixed to the engine by the engine manufacturer—

• “Engine placed on the market under the flexibility scheme”; and that

(b) when a tractor in which an engine to which the flexibility scheme applies is installed is placed on the market by the tractor manufacturer, the following label has been permanently affixed to the tractor by the tractor manufacturer—

• “TRACTOR No.….(sequence of tractors) OF… (total number of tractors in respective power band) WITH ENGINE No … WITH TYPE APPROVAL (Dir. 2000/25/EC) No…”.

Reports

7.— (1) Whilst the flexibility scheme is in force, the tractor manufacturer shall, before the end of every period of six months, beginning with the date on which the decision to approve the scheme has been notified under paragraph 3(3), provide the relevant type-approval authorities with a report on the implementation of the flexibility scheme.

(2) A report under sub-paragraph (1) shall include cumulative data relating to the scheme, including at least the following—

(a) the number of engines placed on the market and their serial numbers;

(b) the number of tractors placed on the market and their serial numbers;

(c) the member States in which tractors covered by the scheme have been placed on the market.

(3) In this paragraph, “relevant type-approval authorities” means the type-approval authorities that have jurisdiction for the territories, or part of territories, of member States in which engines or tractors have been placed on the market under the flexibility scheme.

Voluntary end of the scheme

8.— (1) If, before the maximum number of engines determined under paragraph 5 has been placed on the market, the tractor manufacturer wishes to terminate the flexibility scheme, he shall provide the relevant type-approval authorities with a report under paragraph 7 that shall state that fact (in addition to including the data required under that paragraph).

(2) Once a report has been provided to a relevant type approval authority under sub-paragraph (1) above, the flexibility scheme shall cease to have effect and no further engine shall be placed on the market under the scheme.

(3) In this paragraph, “relevant type-approval authority” has the same meaning as in paragraph 7.”.