8Guidelines for developing compliance programs

8 Guidelines for developing compliance programs

Schedule A of this Measure contains Guidelines to assist jurisdictions to develop programs for reducing emissions from in-service diesel vehicles, in order to achieve compliance with appropriate in-service emissions standards.

Compliance programs may incorporate a combination of the approaches in the Guidelines. Emission management approaches other than those in the guidelines may also be implemented.

Compliance programs

A compliance program may include any or all of the following components:

• information and education campaigns;
• compulsory maintenance programs;
• periodic inspections;
• random roadside inspections;
• alternative compliance programs;
• information collection and determination of the need for targeted enforcement; and
• a means of monitoring systems performance so that problems can be identified and solutions developed and implemented.

Communications program

Compliance programs will each require a communications program to inform the target audience/s of their responsibilities, the benefits that may be gained from compliance and the implications, for the operator and the community, of non-compliance.

Developing compliance programs

The factors to be considered in developing a compliance program include:

• the status of air quality in an airshed;
• the nature of the pollutants and their distribution both in space and over time;
• the principal vehicular sources of pollutants which may be related to vehicle type or size, fuel type, traffic conditions or the manner in which vehicles are driven;
• the ownership and operating patterns of high emitting vehicles;
• compliance patterns of owners;
• operators’ understanding of the environmental issues associated with high emitting vehicles and of the effectiveness of the solutions; and
• the impact of a system on vehicle operators compared to the level of benefit the community may obtain. Important considerations in this respect are:

– the availability and quality of information about operator responsibilities;

– the ‘reasonableness’ of operator responsibilities;

– equity issues; and

– a system’s credibility, efficiency, effectiveness, cost and convenience.

Compliance program effectiveness

The effectiveness of programs will be assessed on their ability to achieve the Goal and Desired Environmental Outcome specified in Clause 10 and Clause 11 respectively.