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The Air Pollution Control (Non-road Mobile Machinery) (Emission) Regulation, which aims to control emissions from non-road mobile machinery (NRMMs) to improve air quality, will commence on June 1. NRMMs include non-road vehicles, as well as mobile machines and equipment (regulated machines) such as crawler cranes, excavators and air compressors.
A spokesman from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said that the Regulation:
(a) requires regulated machines to comply with the Stage IIIA emission standards of the European Union (EU); and non-road vehicles to comply with the prevailing Euro V emission standards for newly registered road vehicles;
(b) empowers the EPD to issue approval labels to new NRMMs complying with the above emission standards and exemption labels to existing NRMMs. Applications for exemption labels for existing NRMMs should be made between June 1 and November 30 this year. Late applications for exemption labels will not be considered.
(c) requires all regulated machines sold or leased for use in Hong Kong to bear an approval or exemption label issued to them by the EPD, starting from September 1; and
(d) restricts specified activities and locations including construction sites, container terminals and back-up facilities, restricted areas of the airport, designated waste disposal facilities and specified processes to use NRMMs that bear an approval or exemption label issued to them by the EPD, starting from December 1.
"A dedicated NRMM online application system will be launched on June 1. Applicants can submit their approval or exemption applications through the online system. The public can also check whether an NRMM has been approved or exempted by the EPD and verify the label information through the online system," he said.
Any person who sells or leases a regulated machine for local use, or uses a regulated machine in specified activities or a non-road vehicle in specified locations without an approval or exemption label issued by the EPD is liable to a fine of up to $200,000 and imprisonment for up to six months.
Emissions from NRMMs account for about 6 per cent and 8 per cent of the local emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and respirable suspended particulates (RSP) respectively. NRMMs complying with the EU Stage IIIA standard will emit about 60 per cent less NOx and RSP compared with those at EU Stage I level, which account for most of the existing NRMMs. Controlling emissions from NRMMs helps improve air quality and reduce environmental nuisance caused by them in areas close to container terminals and construction sites.
For enquiries, please contact the EPD on 2594 6590 or at nonroadenq@epd.gov.hk.
Ends/Friday, May 29, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:04
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