Australia: New Vehicle Efficiency Standard Bill

 

The Bill, published on 27 March 2024, contains several minor changes to the Australian New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, which was previously discussed in public consultation.

The proposed revisions to the preferred option canvassed in the Consultation Impact Analysis are:

• Revised headline targets for Type 2 (light commercial) vehicles (210g/km NEDC in 2025, reducing gradually each year to 110g/km NEDC in 2029).
• Changes to the definition of a Type 2 vehicle, to include off-road passenger (MC category) vehicles with a body on frame chassis and a rated towing capacity over 3,000kg.
• The proposed CO2 emissions targets for 2025 will only apply to vehicles supplied between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2025.

The Bill also contains a range of secondary obligations that vehicle suppliers must comply with working in tandem with the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 (RVSA) to establish a streamlined framework for suppliers bringing vehicles to Australia. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (the department) is already the regulator for the RVSA, and the Bill adapts these powers to enforce the NVES. The Bill also enables the creation of rules to support the regulatory framework.

The Bill is supported by the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2024 (Consequential Bill), which amends the Clean Energy Regulator Act 2011 and the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 (RVSA) to facilitate implementationn of the NVES framework.

New deadline for comments is 31 May 2024.

To find out more about vehicle regulations in Australia, please contact the Institute for Global Automotive Regulatory Research directly.