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Vehicle emissions
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Related links:

Australian Transport Council

Environment Protection and Heritage Council

Australasian Fleet Managers Association

Australian Trucking Association

Clean Fleet

Green Vehicles Guide

Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage

Minimising vehicle emissions

The RTA is working to reduce the impact of motor vehicles on the environment.

We represent NSW on national government bodies (including the Land Transport Environment Committee, Australian Transport Council and Transport Emissions Liaison Group) and work with industry groups to develop fuel quality and emission reduction policies. Working closely with the vehicle and transport industries ensures that programs have the maximum environmental benefit with the minimum costs to businesses.

The Commonwealth Government has announced new emission standards for petrol and diesel vehicles that will eventually bring Australia in line with stringent European standards. In 2002 fuel quality standards were introduced that will help get the maximum emission reductions from new engine technology. NSW played a major role in negotiating these standards and continues to push for better performance from new vehicles.

The RTA investigates alternative fuels and is regularly involved in trials and testing the emission performance of various fuels. The RTA also supports research into new engine and vehicle technology such as devices that can be fitted to existing vehicles to further reduce their emissions.

Cleaner Vehicles Action Plan

In 2001 the NSW Premier announced the Cleaner Vehicles Action Plan which aims to improve air quality by reducing fuel consumption and developing a market for cleaner newer motor vehicles. The plan’s five elements are:

  1. NSW Clean Car Benchmarks.
  2. Stamp duty as an environmental incentive.
  3. Cleaner NSW Government fleet.
  4. Green Vehicles Guide.
  5. Voluntary Clean Fleet program (see related links above right).

The RTA's involvement in the plan includes:

  • Participation in the development of the Green Vehicles Guide to provide consumers with information on the environmental performance of motor vehicles.
  • Development of the Clean Fleet program with modules available for both light and heavy vehicle fleets. The program will provide recognition of environmentally responsible fleet operators.
  • Purchasing cleaner vehicle models for its own fleet.

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Vehicle emissions