The Australian federal government is seeking public feedback on its plans to introduce a noxious emissions standard for non-road diesel engines, which will include farm and mining equipment such as tractors, cranes, loaders, excavators, bulldozers, forklifts, pumps, and generators.
The public consultation period on the draft proposals, which was launched over a month ago, has gained little attention with no official government announcement or media coverage.
Non-road diesel equipment actually burns a comparable amount of diesel to the 5 million diesel vehicles that are allowed on Australian roads, and is therefore a huge source of unregulated noxious emissions.
Indeed, according to the government’s own consultation page, non-road diesel equipment is “the largest unregulated” source of pollution in Australia.
“These emissions are harmful to human health and the environment. They are carcinogenic, and contribute to premature deaths, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases,” the paper says.
“Noxious air pollution emitted by these engines poses a significant health risk. Standards were implemented in the United States and European Union over twenty years ago and low-emitting technology is already available.
“Introducing a national emission standard will accelerate the uptake of cleaner technologies and help Australians to live longer, healthier lives.”
The government says future management of diesel equipment will mean changes for industry and individuals. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is preparing an impact analysis to advise government on the likely impacts to stakeholders and is taking public submissions on draft analysis until July 14.
Feedback on the draft impact analysis will be incorporated into the final report to the Australian Government for their decision.
Extracted in full from: Gaping hole in pollution policy: Non-road diesel engines face noxious emissions standard (thedriven.io)
