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As part of its efforts to improve roadside air quality, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) will launch a $540 million one-off grant scheme on July 1 to encourage early replacement of Euro II diesel commercial vehicles.
Announcing details of the scheme today (June 28), an EPD spokesman said that from July 1, owners who scrapped their Euro II diesel commercial vehicles and replaced them with new commercial vehicles that complied with the prevailing emission standard for registration of new vehicles, i.e. the Euro IV emission standard, would receive a one-off grant. Depending on vehicle types, the grant ranges from $17,000 to a maximum of $203,000 per vehicle.
The spokesman said the grant scheme would be made available for 36 months and Euro II vehicles would be identified by their dates of first registration.
He stressed that replacing these vehicles could bring about substantial improvement in roadside air quality.
"Diesel commercial vehicles are the dominant air pollution source at street level. They account for about 88% and 76% respectively of the respirable suspended particulate (RSP) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from the entire vehicle fleet. As emissions from vehicles of the old emission design standard are substantially higher than those of new models, phasing out aged commercial vehicles holds the key to better roadside air quality," the spokesman said.
He called on eligible vehicle owners to make good use of the grant to upgrade their vehicles, both for higher efficiency and better air quality.
Euro II diesel commercial vehicles emit up to seven times more RSP and double the amount of NOx compared with Euro IV ones. There are at present some 27,300 licensed Euro II diesel commercial vehicles in Hong Kong.
"We completed a similar scheme for pre-Euro and Euro I vehicles by the end of March 2010. Over the period of the scheme, about 23,000 vehicles or 40% of the eligible vehicles were phased out," the spokesman said.
Details of the scheme are available at the EPD's website at www.epd.gov.hk .
Ends/Monday, June 28, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:00
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