Commission Directive 2010/26/EU of 31 March 2010 amending Directive 97/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 97/68/EC of 16 December 1997 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery⁽¹⁾, and in particular Articles 14 and 14a thereof,

Whereas:

1. Article 14a of Directive 97/68/EC sets out the criteria and the procedure for extending the period referred to in Article 9a(7) of that Directive. Studies carried out in accordance with Article 14a of Directive 97/68/EC show that there are substantial technical difficulties to comply with stage II requirements for professional use, multi-positional, hand-held mobile machinery in which engines of classes SH:2 and SH:3 are installed. It is therefore necessary to extend the period referred to in Article 9a(7) until 31 July 2013.

2. Since the amendment of Directive 97/68/EC in 2004, technical progress has been made in the design of diesel engines with a view to make them compliant with the exhaust emission limits for stages IIIB and IV. Electronically controlled engines, largely replacing mechanically controlled fuel injection and control systems, have been developed. Therefore, the current general type-approval requirements in Annex I to Directive 97/68/EC should be adapted accordingly and general type-approval requirements for stages IIIB and IV should be introduced.

3. Annex II to Directive 97/68/EC specifies the technical details of the information documents that need to be submitted by the manufacturer to the type-approval authority with the application for engine type-approval. The details specified regarding the additional anti-pollution devices are generic and should be adapted to the specific after-treatment systems that need to be used to ensure that engines comply with exhaust emission limit stages IIIB and IV. More detailed information on the after-treatment devices installed on the engines should be submitted to enable type-approval authorities to assess the engine’s capability to comply with stages IIIB and IV.

4. Annex III to Directive 97/68/EC sets out the method testing the engines and determining their level of emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants. The type-approval testing procedure of engines to demonstrate compliance with the exhaust emission limits of stage IIIB and IV should ensure that the simultaneous compliance with the gaseous (carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen) and the particulate emission limits is demonstrated. The non-road steady cycle (NRSC) and non-road transient cycle (NRTC) should be adapted accordingly.

5. Point 1.3.2 of Annex III to Directive 97/68/EC foresees the modification of the symbols (section 2.18 of Annex I), the test sequence (Annex III) and calculation equations (Appendix III to Annex III), prior to the introduction of the cold/hot composite test sequence. The type approval procedure to demonstrate compliance with the exhaust emission limits of stage IIIB and IV requires the introduction of a detailed description of the cold start cycle.

6. Section 3.7.1 of Annex III to Directive 97/68/EC sets out the test cycle for the different equipment specifications. The test cycle under point 3.7.1.1 (specification A) needs to be adapted to clarify which engine speed needs to be used in the type approval calculation method. It is also necessary to adapt the reference to the updated version of the international testing standard ISO 8178-4:2007.

7. Section 4.5 of Annex III to Directive 97/68/EC outlines the emissions test run. This section needs to be adapted to take account of the cold start cycle.

8. Appendix 3 of Annex III to Directive 97/68/EC sets out the criteria for the data evaluation and calculation of the gaseous emissions and the particulate emissions, for both the NRSC test and the NRTC test set out in Annex III. The type approval of engines in accordance with stage IIIB and IV requires the adaptation of the calculation method for the NRTC test.

9. Annex XIII to Directive 97/68/EC sets out the provisions for engines placed on the market under a ‘flexible scheme’. To ensure a smooth implementation of stage IIIB, an increased use of this flexibility scheme may be needed. Therefore, the adaptation to technical progress to enable the introduction of stage IIIB compliant engines needs to be accompanied by measures to avoid that the use of the flexibility scheme may be hampered by notification requirements which are no longer adapted to the introduction of such engines. The measures should aim at simplifying the notification requirements and the reporting obligations, and at making them more focused and tailored to the need for market surveillance authorities to respond to the increased use of the flexibility scheme that will result from the introduction of stage IIIB.

10. Since Directive 97/68/EC provides for the type-approval of stage IIIB engines (category L) as from 1 January 2010 it is necessary to provide for the possibility to grant type approval from that date.

11. For reasons of legal certainty this Directive should enter into force as a matter of urgency.

12. The measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established in Article 15(1) of Directive 97/68/EC,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: