Improving Australia’s fuel and vehicle emissions standards— Final impact analysis

To limit the health impacts of noxious emissions from light road motor vehicles, Australia has mandated the international Euro 5 noxious emissions standards (Euro 5 standards) for newly approved models first manufactured from 1 November 2013, and for all light road motor vehicles manufactured from 1 November 2016. Euro 5 standards continue to mandate limits on noxious emissions from new light road motor vehicles entering the Australian fleet. However, many other countries have introduced increasingly stringent vehicle emissions standards. More stringent Euro 6 (or equivalent) emissions standards (Euro 6 standards) for light vehicles have been adopted in the United States, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Korea and India. These countries, which account for over 80% of global new vehicle sales and supply most passenger vehicles sold in Australia, also require manufacturers to meet fuel efficiency standards. This means that the latest vehicle models meeting Euro 6 standards are likely to be cleaner and more fuel efficient than equivalent Euro 5 models currently available in Australia.

This impact analysis considers options to achieve Government objectives of reducing emissions and improving health outcomes, by:

• improving noxious emissions standards to reduce the impacts of noxious emissions from road vehicles on the Australian community
• making changes to fuel quality standards to reduce allowable levels of aromatics in petrol sold in Australia and enable the functionality of those vehicles
• ensuring Australia has access to the latest vehicle technology by aligning Australian fuel and vehicle standards with international best practice and enabling the importation of light vehicles that produce lower levels of noxious emissions.