Background information
The
Environment Act 1995 requires the Government to publish a National Air Quality
Strategy. This strategy sets out standards relating to:
- The
quality of air objectives for particular pollutants
- Measures
for achieving these objectives at national and local level.
The
Act requires the Government to publish a national air quality strategy. It also
requires local authorities, including North Lincolnshire Council, to review
and assess air quality in their areas, and to take action to improve any areas
of poor air quality.
The
Road Traffic (Vehicle Emission) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002 enable
councils in England to issue £20 Fixed Penalty Notices. Notices can be
issued to drivers who:
- Allow
their vehicle engines to run unnecessarily while the vehicle is parked and
refuse to turn off the engine when requested to do so.
Furthermore
it is already an offence to leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while
the vehicle is parked. This is part of regulation 98 of the Road Vehicles (Construction
and Use) Regulations 1986[1], as amended.
With
this in mind, North Lincolnshire Council is required to make sure that statutory
nuisances and localised incidents of pollution are resolved in an appropriate
and speedy manner. If the council receives a complaint of a localised pollution
incident from the unnecessary running of a vehicle engine whilst the vehicle
is parked, and the driver refuses to turn off the engine when requested to by
an authorised officer of the council, a £20 Fixed Penalty Notice may be
issued.
The
council does not intend to patrol the neighbourhoods or streets of North Lincolnshire
looking for vehicles with their engines running. Moreover, the council intends
to respond to justified complaints.
How will it work in practice?
When
the council responds to a justified complaint of localised pollution, it will
ask motorists to switch off their engines while their vehicles are parked. If
motorists refuse to cooperate the council can issue £20 Fixed Penalty Notices.
If
the motorist fails to pay the Fixed Penalty Notice within 28 days of the date
of issue, the penalty will automatically increase from £20 to £40.
The council does not have to issue a reminder of the Fixed Penalty Notice.
Failure
to pay the increased penalty within 56 days of the original issue date
of the Fixed Penalty Notice will result in the council taking further enforcement
action. The person driving or using the vehicle at the time of the offence is
liable to pay the Fixed Penalty Notice, whether they are the owner of the vehicle
or not.
It
is not the intention of the council to target motorists who leave their engines
running when parked for no more than a few seconds.
Instead
action will be targeted at more serious offenders such as lorries that park
in town and village centres and leave their engines running whilst unloading.
The powers are designed to encourage all motorists to have due regard to the
local environment when parking.
Emissions
from stationary vehicles are a contributor to discomfort to people in the immediate
vicinity, especially where they occur in sensitive areas such as outside homes,
schools, shops and offices. High levels of localised pollution can also trigger
the symptoms of asthma and other respiratory diseases in vulnerable people.
The
council will appoint authorised people within the council to issue Fixed Penalty
Notices to offending drivers. We expect high standards of professionalism from
the personnel engaged in this work. This includes offering warnings and advice
in the first instance to vehicle users, particularly those in breach of the
Regulations.
Officers
will carry their council authorisation to issue Fixed Penalty Notices. As the
council intends only to respond to justified complaints, the powers are initially
to be delegated to officers of the Neighbourhood Response Team - namely Environmental
Health Officers, Technical Officers and Community Wardens. At this time there
is no intention to delegate the powers further as it will be complaint lead.
As
a result of the council's decision to adopt these powers, maximum publicity
has been given locally to the need to switch off engines when a vehicle is parked
and the fact that Fixed Penalty Notices may be issued to those drivers who fail
to do so. This has been done through:
The
promotion of the powers was to prevent motorists from being surprised or unaware
of the changes when advised to switch off the engine of a parked vehicle. The
offence is an absolute one. This means it is not dependent on the knowledge
of the person committing the offence (i.e. the vehicle user).
So when can I have my engine running when I am stationary?
Regulation
98(2) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended,
sets out the circumstances where vehicles are permitted to be stationary with
the engine running. These circumstances are:
- Where
a vehicle is stationary owing to the necessities of traffic e.g. when vehicles
are queuing at traffic lights
- Where
an engine is being run so that a defect can be traced and rectified e.g. when
a disabled vehicle is being attended to by a breakdown / recovery agent
- Where
machinery on a vehicle requires the engine to be running e.g. where the engine
powers refrigeration equipment, the compaction equipment in a refuse vehicle,
the suction / brushes to a road sweeping vehicle
- Where
a vehicle is propelled by gas produced by the functioning of plant carried
on the vehicle.
The
council will apply a common sense approach to the new powers. It might be reasonable
to leave an engine running for a short time on a hot day for an air-conditioning
system to have an effect. However it may not be reasonable to leave an engine
running for a longer period of time to maintain a pleasant environment.
Officers
will consider carefully the level of enforcement action to take, as there might
be mitigating circumstances, such as:
- A
cold day at a taxi rank
- If
the driver is elderly to keep warm
- If
the vehicle is a recovery vehicle carrying out a recovery and needing to run
lights off the engine
- To
help defrost a windscreen in very cold weather.
The
offence of leaving an engine to 'idle' is one that all councils
have been given powers (April 2002) to enforce in an effort to address growing
concerns about pollution and the environment.
Under
the provisions of the Environment Act 1995 (Fixed Penalty Notice procedures),
every vehicle user issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for their illegally polluting
vehicle has the right to request a hearing in respect of the offence within
28 days of issue.
Under
the Regulations, a hearing is in fact a prosecution of the offence in court.
Once a hearing has been requested, the Fixed Penalty Notice falls, and the council
will pursue the matter as a prosecution.
Penalties
awarded in court will not be payable to the council. However the council will
be able to apply for an award of costs towards the expense involved in pursuing
a prosecution. Councils are empowered to take prosecutions under section 222 of
the Local Government Act 1972.