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Australia has eased its proposed vehicle emissions regulations that will fine producers of emissions-intensive vehicles and incentivize those producing or importing cleaner vehicles, as reported by Reuters on March 26. The revisions involve reclassifying some popular pick-up trucks, commonly used by Australian builders and farmers, as light commercial cars that don’t have to comply with stricter fuel economy standards. The compromise made by the Australian government intends to address the automobile industry’s concerns that the stringent emissions rules could raise the prices of cars and lead to fewer options for consumers.
The Australian government unveiled the initial fuel economy rules in February, setting emissions targets for 2025 at 141g of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometer(km) for passenger vehicles and 199g for light commercial vehicles. These standards were set to be lowered to 58g and 81g respectively by 2029. In contrast, the softened rules now set emissions targets for light commercial vehicles at 210g per km by 2025 and 110g by 2029. Furthermore, the government has postponed the effective start date of the penalties and incentives system from January 2025 to July. The move intends to allow more time for the industry to adapt and regulators to implement supervising IT systems. The government anticipates the revised rules to help cut CO2 emissions by 321m tons by 2025, compared with the 369m tons projected under the initial plan.
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