Australia: On-Road Vehicles and Engines

• Background
• Emission Standards (2002/03 And Later)

Background

The development of emission standards for highway vehicles and engines is coordinated by the National Transport Commission (NTC). The regulations—Australian Design Rules (ADR)—are administered by the Department of Transport and Regional Services. Australian emission standards for heavy vehicles are based on European regulations, with acceptance of selected US and Japanese standards. The long term policy is to fully harmonize Australian regulations with UN ECE standards.

The emission standards apply to new vehicles including petrol (gasoline) and diesel cars, light omnibuses, heavy omnibuses, light goods vehicles, medium goods vehicles and heavy goods vehicles, as well as to forward control passenger vehicles and larger motor tricycles. They also cover off-road passenger vehicles (but not off-road engines, such as those used in construction or agricultural machinery).

The evolution of vehicle emission standards in Australia occurred through a number of regulatory actions. Some of the important steps can be summarized as follows:

• Emission standards for petrol engined light vehicles commenced in the early 1970s.
• A smoke emission requirement (ADR30/00) was introduced in 1976 for vehicles with 4 or more wheels powered by a diesel engine. The alternative smoke standards were US EPA ’74 or later or British standards “Performance of Diesel Engines for Road Vehicles” BS AU 141a:1971 or ECE R 24/00, 24/01, 24/02 or 24/03 “Diesel and Pollutants” or, in the case of an engine alone, ECE R 24/03.
• The first emission standards (apart from smoke standards) for heavy diesel fueled vehicles became effective in 1995 for all new models and in 1996 for all existing models. These emission standards were introduced via ADR70/00 (adopting ECE R49, US & Japanese HDV standards). The requirements of the 1995/96 standards were:
  • Required: Euro 1 for both light-duty and heavy-duty (heavy goods) vehicles. Euro 2 and 3 were also accepted though not included in the regulation.
  • Acceptable alternatives: US EPA ’91 or ’94 (EPA ’98 was also accepted though not included in the regulation); 1993 Japanese exhaust emission standards for “light duty and medium duty vehicles” and 1994 Japanese exhaust emission standards for “passenger cars and heavy duty vehicles”.

A second round of more stringent emission standards applied from 2002/2003 model year (for new/existing models). The standards—initially equivalent to Euro 2/3—have been gradually tightened to adopt Euro 4 for light-duty cars and trucks (diesel and petrol), and Euro 5 for heavy-duty diesel engines.

Emission Standards (2002/03 And Later)

The emission standards were introduced via two new series of ADRs, which apply to vehicles depending on their gross vehicle mass (GVM):

• ADR79/00, ADR79/01, and ADR79/02 for light-duty vehicles at or below 3.5 t GVM (replacing ADR37/01)
• ADR80/00, ADR80/01, ADR80/02, and ADR80/03 for heavy-duty vehicles above 3.5 t GVM (replacing ADR70/00)

The new ADRs apply to new vehicles fueled with petrol, diesel, as well as with LPG or natural gas, with an implementation schedule from 2002/3 to 2010/11. The requirements are summarized in Table 1 (the requirements and dates for heavy LPG and NG vehicles are the same as for diesel).

The two year date combinations shown in the table refer to the dates applicable to new model vehicles and all model vehicles, respectively. For example, in the case of 02/03, this means that from 1 January 2002 any new model first produced with a date of manufacture after 1 January 2002 must comply with the ADR, and from 1 January 2003 all new vehicles (regardless of the first production date for that particular model) must comply.

Table 1
ADRs for Vehicle Emissions (2002-2011)

ADR Categories			ECE Cat.	ADR	02/03 Diesel	03/04 Petrol	05/06 Petrol	06/07 Diesel	07/08 Diesel	08/10‡ Petrol	10/11 Petrol	10/11 Diesel
Descr.	GVM*	Cat.†
Passenger Vehicles
	≤ 3.5t	MA, MB, MC	M1	ADR 79/..	Euro 2	Euro 2	Euro 3	Euro 4		Euro 4
	> 3.5t			ADR 80/..	Euro 3	US96	US98		Euro 4		Euro 4
Buses
Light	≤ 3.5t	MD	M2	ADR 79/..	Euro 2	Euro 2	Euro 3	Euro 4		Euro 4
	3.5 ≤ 5t			ADR 80/..	Euro 3	US96	US98		Euro 4 or US04, JE05		Euro 4 or US08	Euro 5 or US07, JE05
Heavy	> 5t	ME	M3	ADR 80/..	Euro 3 or US98a	US96	US98		Euro 4 or US04, JE05		Euro 4 or US08	Euro 5 or US07, JE05
Goods Vehicles (Trucks)
Light	≤ 3.5t	NA	N1	ADR 79/..	Euro 2	Euro 2	Euro 3	Euro 4		Euro 4
Medium	3.5 ≤ 12t	NB	N2	ADR 80/..	Euro 3 or US98a	US96	US98		Euro 4 or US04, JE05		Euro 4 or US08	Euro 5 or US07, JE05
Heavy	> 12t	NC	N3	ADR 80/..	Euro 3 or US98a	US96	US98		Euro 4 or US04, JE05		Euro 4 or US08	Euro 5 or US07, JE05
* Gross vehicle mass † Vehicle categories: MA - passenger cars; MB - forward control vehicles, MC - passenger off-road vehicles ‡ 1 July 2008/1 July 2010 for new/existing models a - US EPA model year 2000 or later certificate or equivalent testing required (to ensure that no emission “defeat devices” are used)

Notes to Table 1

1. The introduction of Euro 2 standards for light-duty petrol and light-duty diesel vehicles is via ADR 79/00, which adopts the technical requirements of ECE R83/04.
2. The introduction of Euro 3 standards for light-duty petrol vehicles, and Euro 4 standards for light-duty diesel vehicles, is via ADR 79/01, which adopts the technical requirements of ECE Regulation 83/05. R83/05 embodies the Euro 3 and Euro 4 requirements for light-duty petrol and diesel vehicles, however the ADR only mandates the Euro 3 (pre 2005) provisions of R83/05 for petrol vehicles, but allows petrol vehicles optional compliance with Euro 4 standards.
3. The introduction of Euro 4 standards for light-duty petrol vehicles is via ADR 79/02, which adopts the technical requirements of ECE R83/05.
4. The introduction of Euro 3 and Euro 4 standards for medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles is via ADR 80/00 and ADR 80/01, respectively, which adopt the technical requirements of European Directive 99/96/EC amending Directive 88/77/EEC. ADR 80/01 has been replaced by ADR 80/02 effective 2007/8.
5. The introduction of Euro 4 and Euro 5 standards for medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles is via ADR 80/02 and ADR 80/03, respectively, which adopt the technical requirements of Directive 2005/55/EC as amended by 2005/78/EC and 2006/51/EC.

Smoke Limits. A new smoke emissions ADR (ADR30/01) also applies to all categories of diesel vehicles. The smoke standard, which applies from 2002/3, adopts UN ECE R24/03 and allows the US 94 smoke standards as an alternative. This new ADR replaces ADR30/00.

OBD. ADR 80/02 requires heavy-duty vehicles to have on board diagnostics (OBD) systems meeting the Euro 4 (or Japanese) requirements to warn against “functional failures” (such as an empty urea tank in engines with SCR). ADR 80/03 requires vehicles to have OBD systems meeting the Euro 5 requirements to directly monitor emission levels against set OBD thresholds.

Diesel Fuel. The new emission requirements are synchronized with new diesel fuel specifications of reduced sulfur content, as follows:

• 500 ppm sulfur - effective 31 December 2002
• 50 ppm sulfur - effective 1 January 2006
• 10 ppm sulfur - effective 1 January 2009

Information for this article contributed in part by Jon Real, Department of Transport & Regional Services.