Commencement and citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1990 and shall come into force on 26th June 1990.

Preliminary

2.-(1) The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986(2) shall be further amended in accordance with the following provisions of these Regulations.

(2) The Secretary of State is satisfied that-�

(a)it is requisite that the provisions of regulations 3 and 4 shall apply as from 26th June 1990 to vehicles registered under the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971(3) before the expiration of one year from the making of these Regulations; and

(b)notwithstanding that the said provisions will then apply to those vehicles, no undue hardship or inconvenience will be caused thereby.

Amendments to regulation 3 (interpretation)

3. In the Table in regulation 3(2) the following entry shall be inserted in the appropriate place-�

Amendments relating to exhaust emission

4.-(1) Regulation 61 shall be amended as follows.

(2) In paragraphs (3) to (6) for the words "the Table" wherever they occur there shall be substituted the words "Table I".

(3) After paragraph (3) there shall be inserted the following paragraph-�

"(3A) A motor vehicle to which an item in Table II applies shall be so constructed as to comply with the requirements relating to conformity of production models set out in the provisions specified in that item in column (4) of that Table."

(4) After paragraph (6) there shall be inserted the following paragraphs-�

"(7) Subject to paragraphs (8), (9) and (10), no person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, on a road a motor vehicle to which an item in Table II applies if, in relation to the emission of the substances specified in column (6) of the item, the vehicle does not comply with the requirements relating to conformity of production models specified in column (4) unless the following conditions are satisfied in respect to it-�

(a)the failure to meet those requirements in relation to the emission of those substances does not result from an alteration to the propulsion unit or exhaust system of the vehicle,

(b)those requirements would neither be met in relation to the emission of those substances nor would such emissions be materially reduced if maintenance work of a kind which would fall within the scope of a normal periodic service of the vehicle were to be carried out on the vehicle, and

(c)the failure to meet those requirements in relation to such emissions does not result from any device designed to control the emission of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen or particulates fitted to the vehicle being other than in good and efficient working order.

(8) Paragraph (7) shall not apply to a vehicle first used before 26th June 1990.

(9) Where-�

(a)a vehicle is fitted with a device of the kind referred to in sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (7),

(b)the vehicle does not comply with the requirements specified in that paragraph in respect to it, and

(c)the conditions specified in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of that paragraph are satisfied in respect to the vehicle,

nothing in paragraph (7) shall prevent the vehicle being driven to a place where the device is to be repaired or replaced.

(10) Where-�

(a)a vehicle was constructed or assembled by a person not ordinarily engaged in the business of manufacturing motor vehicles of that description, and

(b)the propulsion unit of the vehicle had previously been used as the propulsion unit of one or more other vehicles,

paragraphs (3A), (7), (8) and (9) shall apply to the vehicle referred to in sub-paragraph (a) as if its date of first use was the date of first use of the other vehicle, or (if there was more than one such other vehicle) the vehicle in which the propulsion unit was first so used.

(11) In this regulation, a reference to a vehicle to which an item in Table II applies is a reference to a vehicle which-�

(a)is of a class specified in that item in column (2) of that Table,

(b)is first used on or after the date specified in that item in column (3) of that Table, and

(c)is not exempted by the entry in that item in column (5) of that Table.

(12) In Table II-�

(a)"exempt vehicle" means-�

(i)a vehicle with less than 4 wheels,

(ii)a vehicle with a maximum gross weight of less than 400 kg,

(iii)a vehicle with a maximum speed of less than 25 km/h, or

(iv)an agricultural motor vehicle;

(b)"direct injection" means a fuel injection system in which the injector communicates with an open combustion chamber or the main part of a divided combusion chamber.

(c)"indirect injection" means a fuel injection system in which the injector communicates with the subsidiary part of a divided combustion chamber.

(d)a reference in column (5) to a vehicle complying with an item is a reference to a vehicle that complies with the provisions specified in that item in column (4) whether the vehicle is or is not within the class of vehicles to which that item applies and any instrument mentioned in that item shall for the purposes of the reference have effect as if it applied to the vehicle in question (whether it would otherwise have done so or not).".

(5) The Table shall be re-named "Table I" and in Table I as so re-named-�

(a)in item 3, column 4 there shall be added the following paragraph-�

"(c)a vehicle to which any item in Table II applies.";

(b)item 4 shall be omitted.

(6) After Table I as re-named in accordance with paragraph (5), there shall be inserted the following Table-�

Power measurement

5. In paragraph 1(b)(iii) of Part III of Schedule 8 there shall be inserted after the words "15th of February 1984" the words "or Annex 10 of ECE Regulation 24.03 or Community Directive 88/195".

Minor and consequential amendments

6.-(1) In Table 1 of Schedule 2 after item 53 there shall be added the following items-�

(2) In Table II of Schedule 2, after item 21 there shall be inserted the following item-�

(3) In Schedule 3A-�

(a)in paragraph 1, the definition of "off-road vehicle" shall be omitted, and

(b)paragraphs 3 and 4 shall be re-numbered as paragraphs 2 and 3 respectively.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.

The definition of "off-road vehicle" contained in Community Directive 87/403/EEC is added to regulation 3(2) of the 1986 Regulations (regulation 3).

Regulation 61 of the 1986 Regulations is amended so as to introduce:

(a)compulsory compliance with the limits on gaseous emissions from cars and light vans set by Community Directive 83/351/EEC and the technically similar ECE Regulation 15.04;

(b)more stringent limits on gaseous emissions from cars and light vans set by Community Directives 88/76/EEC, and 89/458/EEC;

(c)new limits on gaseous emissions from diesel engined vehicles over 3500 kg gross weight set by Community Directive 88/77/EEC;

(d)the technical requirements set by ECE Regulation 49 for diesel engined industrial tractors, works trucks and engineering plant;

(e)new limits on particulate emissions from diesel engined cars set by Community Directive 88/436/EEC; and

(f)prohibitions on the use of a vehicle which fails to meet with such of the above requirements as are applicable to it where: the failure results from an alteration to the engine or exhaust system; the requirements would be met or the emissions could be materially reduced if the vehicle were to undergo a normal periodic service; or the failure is due to equipment on the vehicle specifically designed to reduce emissions not being in good and efficient working order. (Regulation 4)

The provisions of Schedule 8 to the 1986 Regulations as to engine power measurement are amended to take account of Community Directive 88/195/EEC and the technically similar ECE Regulation 24.03. (Regulation 5)

Copies of the EEC Directives and ECE Regulations of relevance to these Regulations can be obtaied from Her Majesty's Stationery Office. The details of the relevant EEC Directives and ECE Regulations are set out below.