The Australian Government should not consider mandating new heavy vehicle emissions standards until it develops a revised regulation impact statement (RIS) which assess all viable policy options, includes all significant costs to industry, complies with the Government requirement that all increases in regulatory burden be offset, and appropriately considers the impact of the policy on rural and remote Australia.

In December 2016, the Australian Government released its draft RIS on vehicle emission standards for cleaner air. The RIS identified that dense urban areas frequently experience periods of poor air quality. It assessed six policy options, and proposed mandating Euro 6 emissions standards for new light vehicles and mandating Euro VI emissions standard for new heavy vehicles.

The ATA has highlighted a number of concerns with the RIS.

The RIS did not identify and analyse an appropriate range of viable policy options, such as amending vehicle design standards to increase the use of Euro VI vehicles through improved productivity.

It also did not offer an overall net benefit as it did not include maintenance costs, did not consider US/Japanese standards, and most likely underestimated additional costs associated with urea.

The RIS did not meet the Government’s own requirement to fully offset increased cost burdens through reductions in the existing regulatory burden, and also failed to consider the impact on regional businesses.