Announcement date
13 October 2022
Link to announcement
https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/media-release/cleaner-emissions-standards-trucks-and-buses
Problem being addressed
Noxious emissions from road vehicles are a major source of air pollution, causing illnesses and premature deaths. While Australia has standards in place to limit these emissions, key vehicle markets in Europe, North America and Asia have introduced more stringent standards. As Australia accounts for less than one per cent of global heavy vehicle sales, it risks having reduced access to the latest vehicle technologies developed for these markets if it doesn’t adopt these more stringent standards for emissions.
Proposal
Australia currently mandates the international Euro V noxious emissions standards for all heavy vehicles manufactured from 1 January 2011. This Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) evaluates whether the Australian Government should mandate the latest international standards for heavy vehicles, known as Euro VI.
Assessed RIS outcome
Good practice
Assessment comments
The analysis in the RIS is good quality overall. The RIS addresses the seven RIS questions and follows an appropriate policy development process commensurate with the significance of the problem and magnitude of the proposed intervention.
Regulatory burden
If Euro VI (Stage C) was mandated for all newly approved heavy vehicle models manufactured from 1 January 2024 and for all new heavy vehicles manufactured from 1 January 2025, as proposed by industry stakeholders, the benefit-cost analysis indicated this would result in a net benefit of $6,428 million by 2050 and a benefit-cost ratio of 3.52. The estimated health benefits and fuel savings from this measure ($8,977 million by 2050) were found to outweigh any expected increases in capital costs for heavy vehicle manufacturers ($1,488 million over the same period) or possible increases in operating costs for heavy vehicle operators and road managers ($843 million over this period). The net benefits of this approach outweighed the net benefits of the original proposal for a 2027-2028 introduction by $2,063 million.