Regulatory Control on Emissions from Non-road Mobile Machinery (NRMMs)

 

Non-road mobile machinery (NRMMs) include a wide range of mobile machines (including transportable industrial equipment), or vehicles powered by internal combustion engines used primarily off-road.  The emissions from NRMMs can cause environmental pollution and nuisance and have adverse health effects.  To improve air quality and protect public health, Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has introduced a new regulation to bring NRMMs under emission control in line with environmentally advanced countries.  These NRMMs include regulated machines and non-road vehicles.

[Back to Top]

 

Controls and Requirements of the NRMM Regulation 

The Air Pollution Control (Non-road Mobile Machinery) (Emission) Regulation (“Regulation”) came into operation on 1 June 2015.

Under the Regulation, NRMMs, except those exempted, are required to comply with the prescribed emission standards.  From 1 September 2015, all regulated machines sold or leased for use in Hong Kong must be approved or exempted with a proper label in a prescribed format issued by EPD.  Starting from 1 December 2015, only approved or exempted NRMMs with a proper label are allowed to be used in specified activities and locations including construction sites, container terminals and back up facilities, restricted areas of the airport, designated waste disposal facilities and specified processes.

Approval of NRMMs
In order to obtain approval for NRMMs, supportive information and documents (e.g. third-party emission certificates, model and serial number of the machine and engines, etc.) for each NRMM should be provided to EPD to prove that the concerned NRMM is in line with the prescribed emission standards.

The prescribed emission standards
(a) Regulated machines:

Regulated machines refer to any mobile machines or transportable industrial equipment which have to comply with the following emission standards:

Compression-ignition engines

Positive-ignition engines

* Standards specified in Announcement No.72 made by Japan Ministry of Environment (“MoE”) in 2006.

Examples of regulated machines

(b) Non-road vehicles:

Non-road vehicles include private cars, goods vehicles, buses, light buses, motor cycles, motor tricycles or special purpose vehicles that are not licensed under the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374E).  They are required to meet the emission standards and smoke requirements as stipulated under the Air Pollution Control (Non-road Mobile Machinery) (Emission) Regulation (Cap. 311Z).

The Regulation was amended in 2018 to tighten statutory emission standards of the following types of newly approved non-road vehicles with effect from 1 January 2019:

1. newly approved non-road goods vehicles, petrol private cars, buses with design weight of more than 9 tonnes and light buses with design weight not exceeding 3.5 tonnes are required to comply with Euro VI emission standards; and
2. newly approved non-road diesel private cars are required to comply with California LEV III emission standards.

Emission standards for other non-road vehicle classes, including buses with design weight not exceeding 9 tonnes, light buses with design weight of more than 3.5 tonnes and special purpose vehicles remain unchanged.

Examples of non-road vehicles

Exemption of existing NRMMs
Exemption of existing NRMMs had been terminated on 1 December 2015. Existing NRMMs which were in Hong Kong on or before 30 November 2015 could exempt from complying with the emission requirements.

 

Modification
An approved or exempted NRMM can only be modified materially upon obtaining the permission from EPD.

 

Revocation
EPD may revoke the approval or exemption if any information or documents provided in support of the application for approval or exemption of the NRMM is false or misleading, or when a non-road vehicle is licensed under Cap. 374E as it is no longer a non-road vehicle.

Labelling requirements
For identification, each approved or exempted NRMM is required to bear a unique label with a reference number issued by EPD in accordance with the requirements specified in the Regulation.  The label must be painted or securely fixed on the machine or vehicle and be displayed at a conspicuous position of the machine or vehicle.  The label must be of a size of at least 200 mm in width and 130 mm in height.

Sample of Approval Label

Sample of Exemption Label

Illustrative photo – Display label at a conspicuous position

[Back to Top]

 

Applications for approval or exemption of NRMMs, or for modification of approved/exempted NRMMs can be submitted via the web-based NRMM system [https://nrmm.epd.gov.hk/application/common/home] starting from 1 June 2015.  Applicants can also check whether a particular NRMM has been approved or exempted by EPD via the system.

[Back to Top] 

 

Implementation of Regulatory Control on Emission from Non-road Mobile Machinery (NRMM)

Trade notification letter dated 10 November 2015

Trade notification letter dated 16 November 2015

[Back to Top]

 

A New Regulation on Controlling Emission from Non-road Mobile Machinery 
Briefing on Non-road Mobile Machinery Web-based Information System 
Legislative Council Brief of The Air Pollution Control (Non-road Mobile Machinery) (Emission) Regulation
Emission Control of Non-Road Mobile Machinery: Briefing on Submission of Applications via Web-based Information System 
Emission Control of Non-Road Mobile Machinery: Briefing on Submission of Applications via Web-based Information System (Update) 

[Back to top]

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

[Back to top]

 

Leaflet 
Poster

[Back to top]

 

For further enquiries, please contact EPD at:

Air Science and Modelling Group,
Environmental Protection Department
33/F, Revenue Tower,
5 Gloucester Road
Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Telephone: 2594 6590 (Office hour: 9:00 am – 5:30 pm)
Fax: 2838 2155
Email: nonroadenq@epd.gov.hk

[Back to top]