Drivers target of smog rules

Auckland's big industries are off the hook when it comes to cutting air pollution but car owners are about to feel the pinch at the testing station.

Domestic fire users will also share the burden of cleaning up the region's air.

Moves to clean up our air are taking on a new urgency as a 2013 Ministry for the Environment deadline looms. That's when new clean-air targets come into force and, if they are not met, new factories or businesses that produce air pollution won't get permits.

It is Auckland Regional Council's job to ensure Auckland meets its goals, including reducing fine particles in the air, or PM10, by more than half.

Fine particle limits are regularly breached in Auckland. PM10 is blamed for aggravating existing health problems such as asthma and causing premature death.

Industry contributes just 8 per cent of PM10 with vehicles and home fires producing 51 per cent and 41 per cent respectively.

Yesterday the ARC's environment committee voted to give industry a reduction target of zero, instead opting for an emissions cap, which has yet to be set.

"We could wipe out whole industries and still not meet the target," said ARC scientist Dr Gerda Kuschel.

Industry contribution will instead fall on motorists and domestic fire users who will each have to cut emissions by 58 per cent.

Car owners will be the first to bite the bullet when they visit the testing station. From October 27 cars will be put through visible smoke tests.

While the worst smoky vehicles are thought to number around 60,000, or 2 per cent of the country's three million-strong fleet, the test is relatively objective and the number of cars that fail could be a lot higher.

Police already issue tickets for smoky vehicles. Infringements issued between 2001 and last year were around 300 a year, according to the Ministry of Transport, although police maintain the figure was higher.

The ARC is desperate to avoid not making the August 2013 deadline, when all new permits for air discharges by industry must be declined if reductions haven't been achieved. That would not only be contentious but economically risky.

"The overall total looks scary but if you bite it off in chunks then it should be achievable," Dr Kuschel said.

To do nothing would mean a 35 per cent shortfall, she said.

ARC wants to help every sector reduce air pollution but is frustrated central Government is not doing enough.

It has lobbied hard for more punitive steps including new emission standards for Japanese imported cars so they meet the emission standards they were manufactured to after being imported here.

ARC is also working with the Ministry of Transport on "breathalysing" cars by remote sensor to identify potential smoky vehicles. The sensor would detect "gross emitters", the car would be identified and the owner required to get the vehicle off the road until it met an emissions test.

More announcements on emissions are expected from Climate Change Minister David Parker within the next couple of weeks.

EXHAUST NASTIES

* Fine air particles, or PM10 (linked to bronchial conditions, asthma).

* Carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas).

* Nitrogen dioxide (linked to asthma).

* Carbon monoxide (linked to heart attacks).

* Sulphur dioxide (greenhouse gas).

* Benzene and hydrocarbons (linked to cancer and damage to nervous system).

What is PM10?

* Tiny particles suspended in liquid or gas that can lodge in bronchial pathways and lungs. Exacerbate asthma and bronchitis; can cause premature death.

New warrant check

* From October 27 all vehicles will have a visible smoke test - once while idling and again when revved for five seconds. If visible smoke is apparent, the car will fail. Then it's off to the mechanic for a tune-up or more, depending on why the vehicle is smoking.