SAGA — Doing things properly

What is it and what does it mean to motorists?

If you live in or drive around Greater London and some parts of Kent, no doubt you will have seen signs displaying a large green circle, and big black letters, stating LOW EMISSION ZONE.

A little bewildering at first, to say the least. How low? Does your vehicle come within the limit? Or is it over it? How do you know? Well, within the Low Emission Zone, or LEZ, there are a number of fixed cameras that record registration numbers of vehicles entering the Zone. These are then checked against a database of registered vehicles.

The LEZ is aimed at large diesel vehicles and the daily charge is £200 for lorries and will be £100 for vans and minibuses but these fees are only payable by vehicles that don't meet the required emissions standards.

The LEZ will operate 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including Bank Holidays.

What vehicles are affected?

The LEZ is being slowly phased into operation from February 2008 right through to January 2012. This is how the scheme roles out. Obviously, the first two stages of the scheme are already in operation.

• 4 February 2008 – only applies to diesel-engined Lorries weighing 12 tonnes and over
• July 2008 – also applies to Lorries over 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches
• October 2010 – also applies to large vans (over 1.205 tonnes unladen) and minibuses. This will cover large diesel engined vehicles including motor caravans and motorised horseboxes
• It will also affect other specialist vehicles which are derived from lorries and vans, including motorised horse boxes, breakdown and recovery vehicles, refuse collection vehicles, gritters, sweepers, concrete mixers, tippers, removals lorries, fire appliances, ambulances and large hearses (over 2.5 tonnes)

Emission requirements

The idea behind the LEZ is to ensure that the high polluting vehicles on our roads are made to comply Euro III emissions standards. If vehicles cannot meet these standards, or haven’t had the necessary equipment fitted to comply, then they will be charged.

The Euro standards are set by the European Commission and govern exhaust emission standards for new cars and other vehicles sold in Europe.

• TfL use official data from DVLA, VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) and SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) to determine whether particular vehicles meet the required emissions standards
• TfL assumes that all vehicles first registered on or after 1 October 2001 meet the Euro III requirements
• From 2012, the standard will be raised to Euro IV – All vehicles first registered on or after 1 October 2006 will be assumed to meet Euro IV

After 2012, some older vehicles that have been modified to meet earlier requirements, will need further improvements to comply with higher emissions standards.

What modifications will be necessary to comply?

Vehicles that don’t meet the emissions standards will have to have a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) or partial filter fitted.

• Only equipment which has been independently certified as capable of achieving the necessary reductions will be accepted by Transport for London
• The particulate filter is fitted in the vehicle’s exhaust pipe
• Typically, fitting a particulate filter will increase the Euro standard by two (raising it from Euro I to Euro III)
• Partial filters only remove some (about half) of the particulate matter and therefore only improve emissions by one Euro standard e.g. from Euro II to Euro III or Euro III to Euro IV

Once the equipment has been fitted, the vehicle has to be tested at a VOSA HGV test centre.

• If the vehicle passes the test VOSA will issue either a Reduced Pollution Certificate (RPC) or a Low Emissions Certificate (LEC) – depending on the type of vehicle and device fitted
• The RPC is only issued to certain vehicles and may allow a reduction in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). The LEC is available for a wider range of vehicles, but doesn't offer a reduction in VED
• There is a charge for the RPC and LEC and the vehicle will need to be tested annually – but this can be included in the vehicle's annual test

It’s reassuring to see that the Government is taking a responsible stance when it comes to helping protect the environment. After all, with the amount of high volume polluting vehicles using modern roads, something needs to be done to redress the affects of CO2 emissions.