The Air Pollution Control (Emission Reduction Devices for Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulation will be tabled in the Legislative Council for negative vetting later this month. If approved, all pre-Euro diesel heavy vehicles except long-idling ones will need to install an approved particulate reduction device starting April 1.

To prepare for this, the Environmental Protection Department is inviting suppliers to express interest in seeking approval for their particulate-reduction devices for pre-Euro diesel heavy vehicles. 

These vehicles include light buses, goods vehicles and buses weighing over four tonnes and registered before April 1, 1995.

Devices solely designed for pre-Euro diesel heavy vehicles needed to run their engines for operating their on-board equipment - long-idling vehicles - are excluded.

At a later stage, the Government plans to extend the requirement to long-idling vehicles, also, including  the following types: aerial platform, concrete mixer, gully emptier, lorry crane, mobile crane, mobile concrete pump and pressure tanker.

To be approved under the Amendment Regulation, a particulate-reduction device should be able to reduce particulate emissions of pre-Euro diesel heavy vehicles for cross-boundary use by 25% and those running in Hong Kong only by 35%.

The Government completed a programme in 2004 to provide financial assistance to retrofit pre-Euro diesel heavy vehicles with particulate-reduction devices. About 97% of these vehicles have received financial assistance for the installation.

Since December 1, 2003, pre-Euro diesel light vehicles have been required to have an approved particulate-reduction device. Failure to install one could lead to licence cancellation or refusal of licence renewal.

Application forms for the expressions of interest and guidelines are available at the Environmental Protection Department's website, www.epd.gov.hk. For more information, contact the department's Mobile Source Control Group on 2824 0022.