Commencement and citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 1992 and shall come into force on 31st December 1992.

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 regulation 3 shall apply as from 31st December 1992 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 relating to exhaust emissions

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

(2) In paragraph 4(b)-

(a)in sub-paragraph (i), for "or 88/76" there shall be substituted ", 88/76 or 91/441";

(b)the word "or" immediately following sub-paragraph (i) shall be omitted;

(c)for sub-paragraph (ii), there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraphs-

"(ii)in a case where the first use is on or after 1st April 1991 but before 31st December 1992, with Community Directive 83/351, 88/76 or 91/441, or ECE Regulation 15.04; or

(iii)in any other case, with Community Directive 91/441."

(3) In paragraph (7)(b), for the words "those requirements would neither" there shall be substituted the words "neither would those requirements".

(4) For paragraph (10) there shall be substituted the following paragraph-

"(10) Where a vehicle is constructed or assembled by a person not ordinarily engaged in the business of manufacturing motor vehicles of that description, the date on which it is first used shall, for the purposes of paragraphs (3A), (7), (8) and (9), be regarded as being the 1st January immediately preceding the date of manufacture of the engine by which it is propelled.

However, the date on which a vehicle is first used shall not, by virtue of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, be regarded in any circumstances as being later than the date on which it would otherwise have been regarded as being first used had those provisions been omitted."

(5) In paragraph (10B), the word "or" immediately following sub-paragraph (f) shall be omitted, and after sub-paragraph (g) there shall be added the following words-

• "or

  (h)

  a vehicle first used before 1st August 1987 if the engine is a rotary piston engine; and for the purposes of this paragraph "the engine", in relation to a vehicle, means the engine by which it is propelled."

(6) After paragraph (10B) there shall be inserted the following paragraph-

"(10C) For the purposes of this regulation-

(a)any rotary piston engine shall be deemed to be a four-stroke engine; and

(b)"rotary piston engine" means an engine in which the torque is provided by means of one or more rotary pistons and not by any reciprocating piston."

(7) In paragraph (11), after sub-paragraph (c) there shall be added the words "and for the purposes of determining whether a vehicle is a vehicle to which item 8, 9 or 10 in that Table applies, regulation 4(2) shall be disregarded".

(8) For Table II, there shall be substituted the following Table-

Consequential amendments

4.-(1) In Tables I of Schedule 2, after item 62, there shall be inserted the following items-

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

Explanatory Note

(This Note is not part of the Regulations)

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

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

(a)compulsory compliance with the limits on emissions from-

(i)vehicles with spark-ignition engines, and

(ii)light-duty vehicles with compression-ignition engines, first used on or after 31st December 1992 as set by Council Directive 91/441/EEC;

(b)provision for such vehicles first used before 31st December 1992 to comply with those limits instead of existing requirements;

(c)compulsory compliance with certain limits on emissions from vehicles with compression-ignition engines first used on or after 1st October 1993 as set by Council Directive 91/542/EEC if those vehicles do not comply with the limits referred to in paragraph (a) above;

(d)compulsory compliance with the remaining limits on emissions from vehicles with compression-ignition engines first used on or after 1st October 1996 as set by Council Directive 91/542/EEC if those vehicles do not comply with the limits referred to in paragraph (a) above;

(e)provision for vehicles with compression-ignition engines first used before 1st October 1993 to comply with the limits referred to in paragraph (c) above instead of existing requirements;

(f)provision for vehicles with compression-ignition engines first used before 1st October 1996 to comply with the limits referred to in paragraph (d) above instead of existing requirements; and

(g)provision for vehicles with compression-ignition engines first used on or after 1st April 1991 and before 1st October 1993 to comply with ECE Regulation 49 as amended instead of the limits set out in Council Directive 88/77/EEC.

Regulation 4(2) of the 1986 Regulations provides that where a provision is applied to a motor vehicle first used on or after a specified date it does not apply to a vehicle manufactured at least six months before that date. Regulation 4(2) is disapplied in relation to the requirements referred to in paragraph (a), (c) and (d). Those requirements will, accordingly, apply to vehicles first used on or after the dates specified irrespective of the date of manufacture.

Regulation 61 is also amended so that vehicles with rotary piston engines fitted to vehicles first used before 1st August 1987 will not have to comply with paragraph (10A) of that regulation. Paragraph (10A) imposes limits on the carbon monoxide content and hydrocarbon content of the exhaust emissions from certain vehicles with 4-stroke petrol engines.

A minor amendment is made in relation to vehicles fitted by persons who are not motor manufacturers.

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