Emission limits and type-approval rules for non-road mobile machinery

KEY POINTS

Non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) covers a very wide variety of machinery typically used off the road, such as:

• small gardening and handheld equipment (lawnmowers, chainsaws, etc.);
• construction machinery (excavators, loaders, bulldozers, etc.);
• agricultural and farming machinery (harvesters, cultivators, etc.);
• railcars, locomotives and inland waterway vessels.

The regulation does not apply to engines for a number of specific applications, including those for:

• stationary machinery;
• sea-going vessels that have a valid maritime navigation or safety certificate;
• recreational vehicles, except snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and side-by-side vehicles;
• vehicles and machinery exclusively used or intended to be exclusively used in competitions.

Type-approval

• The regulation sets out the procedures engine manufacturers have to follow in order to obtain type-approval¹ of their engines.
• Type-approval is a requirement for manufacturers to place their engines on the European Union (EU) market.
• Manufacturers must submit a separate application for each engine type or engine family² to the approval authority of an EU Member State.
• Type-approvals are issued for an unlimited duration.
• The EU may decide that international regulations or non-EU country regulations are equivalent to the conditions and procedures for EU type-approval.
• National authorities are required to cooperate efficiently with each other and with the European Commission, and to exchange data and information relating to EU type-approvals through the Internal Market Information System (IMI).

Exhaust emissions

• The design, construction and assembly of engine types and engine families must comply with the requirements set out in the regulation.
• Engine types and engine families must not exceed the exhaust emission limits from the dates set out in the regulation for placing those engines on market.

Postponement of certain transitional provisions in Regulation (EU) 2016/1628

• The disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has led to delays in the supply chain of critical parts and components, leaving manufacturers with stocks of engines and unfinished products. This means that many engine and machinery manufacturers will not be able to meet the deadlines set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 without sustaining serious economic damage.
• Regulation (EU) 2020/1040 amends Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 and extends the deadlines by 12 months for producing and placing on the market non-road mobile machinery and tractors equipped with transition engines, which comply with earlier standards. This extension does not apply to transition engines covered by the dates specified in the second, third and fourth subparagraphs of Article 58(5) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1628.