Directive 2012/46 - Amendment of Directive 97/68/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 353/80

Directive 2004/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 amending Directive 97/68/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery (2) introduced new emission Stages IIIA, IIIB and IV to Directive 97/68/EC, in order to increase environmental protection and preserve human health. The test methods have been amended accordingly, first by Directive 2004/26/EC and later by Commission Directive 2010/26/EU of 31 March 2010 amending Directive 97/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery (3).

The Stage IV limit values will become mandatory for type approvals issued as of 1 January 2013 for engines of category Q and as of 1 October 2013 for engines of category R. Based on the experience gained with heavy duty euro V and VI engines under Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 on type-approval of motor vehicles and engines with respect to emissions from heavy duty vehicles (euro VI) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information and amending Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 and Directive 2007/46/EC and repealing Directives 80/1269/EEC, 2005/55/EC and 2005/78/EC (4), certain gaps have been identified in the test requirements for Stage IV engines. In order to enable type approval of Stage IV engines of categories Q and R, taking into account technical progress, and in order to increase global harmonisation, it is necessary to revise and complement certain provisions of Directive 97/68/EC. It is also necessary in order to reduce the margin of interpretation of test results and to limit the errors in the appreciation of engine emissions.

Directive 2010/26/EU introduced provisions on NOx control which are necessary to ensure that the sophisticated after treatment systems, required in order to meet the new emission limits for Stage IIIB and IV engines, function properly. In particular, to avoid that operators circumvent compliance with emission limits, it is appropriate to complement the provisions on NOx control by introducing an operator warning system based on the corresponding provisions of Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 for heavy duty vehicles (euro VI), combined with a two-stage inducement system which reduces significantly the equipment’s performance thus enforcing compliance.

With the introduction of electronically controlled engines it is necessary to adapt the test procedure in order to ensure that engine tests better reflect real use conditions, further preventing circumvention of emission requirements (cycle beating). Therefore, during type approval,...