(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Agricultural or Forestry Tractors (Emission of Gaseous and Particulate Pollutants) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1891) (“the 2002 Regulations”) and the Tractor etc (EC Type-Approval) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/390) (“the 2005 Regulations”).
The Regulations transpose the changes to articles 1 and 3a and Annex IV of Directive 2000/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22nd May 2000 on action to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants by engines intended to power agricultural or forestry tractors and amending Council Directive 74/150/EEC (“Council Directive 2000/25/EC”) made by Directive 2011/72/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14th September 2011 (OJ No L 246, 23.9.2011, p.1) (“Council Directive 2011/72/EU”).
The Regulations also transpose the changes to article 4 of Council Directive 2000/25/EC made by Directive 2011/87/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16th November 2011 (OJ No L 301, 18.11.2011, p.1) (“Council Directive 2011/87/EU”).
Regulation 3 amends regulation 2 of the 2002 Regulations to update references to Council Directives 97/68/EC, 2000/25/EC and 2003/37/EC, inserts a definition of “entry into service” and makes amendments to the definitions of “flexibility scheme”, “stage” and “tractor engine”.
Regulation 4 amends regulation 4 of the 2002 Regulations to give effect to changes to the flexibility scheme brought about by Council Directive 2011/72/EU in relation to tractor engines and tractors and the application of emission stages to narrow-track tractors brought about by Council Directive 2011/87/EU. These changes have the effect of allowing additional flexibility to manufacturers to make use of stage IIIA engines in circumstances where compliance with stage IIIB or IV would otherwise have been required and also have the effect of postponing that requirement for 3 years in relation to narrow-track tractors, as provided in Council Directive 2011/87/EU.
Regulation 5 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of the 2002 Regulations and publish a report within five years after these amending Regulations come into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the 2002 Regulations should remain as they are, or be revoked or be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them.
Regulation 6 amends Schedule 1 to the 2002 Regulations by substituting a new Table 1 which now shows the appropriate stage for each category of engine.
Regulation 7 makes amendments to Schedule 3 (UK Flexibility Schemes) to give effect to the changes brought about by Council Directive 2011/72/EU with regard to the operation of flexibility schemes in the UK, in particular as a consequence of the substitution by that directive of a revised Annex IV to Council Directive 2000/25/EC.
Regulation 8 amends the 2005 Regulations to update the definitions of “separate directive” and “the Tractor Type Approval Directive” (Council Directive 2003/37/EC). The purpose of doing so is to ensure that amendments in relation to type-approval made to Council Directive 2000/25/EC by Council Directive 2011/87/EU, to Council Directive 86/297/EEC by Council Directive 2012/24/EU, and to Council Directive 2009/144/EC by Council Directive 2013/8/EU, are all transposed in the United Kingdom.
The Department has taken the opportunity to amend the 2002 and 2005 Regulations by means of a single instrument as a matter of convenience to the reader and to avoid the need for two separate instruments to be purchased.
Full impact assessments of the effect that this instrument will have, in relation respectively to Directive 2011/72/EU and Directive 2011/87/EU, on the costs of business and the voluntary sector are available from the Department for Transport, 33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR, telephone number 020 7944 2116 and are also published with the explanatory memorandum alongside the instrument on the UK legislation website, www.legislation.gov.uk. No impact assessment has been produced for the changes to the 2005 Regulations because they represent small reductions in regulatory burden which impose no costs upon industry.
A copy of the Directives referred to in this Explanatory Note may be viewed in the Official Journal of the European Union via the EUR-Lex website at http://eur-lex.europa.eu.
