Canada: Heavy-duty: Emissions

Overview

 * Standard type: Conventional pollutant emission limits
 * Regulating body: Environment Canada
 * Current standard: Phase 2 (comparable to US2010) in 2003 On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations
 * Applicability: Vehicles with GVWR >3,856 kg (8,500 lbs)

History
Canadian federal regulations establishing exhaust emission limits for on-road vehicles were first promulgated in 1971 under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, administered by Transport Canada. On 13 March 2000, legislative authority for controlling on-road vehicle emissions was transferred to Environment Canada under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999 (CEPA 1999). Under CEPA 1999, the On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations were promulgated on 1 January 2003, and came into effect on 1 January 2004. These regulations replaced the previous regulations adopted under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The new regulations adopted under CEPA 1999 continued the approach of aligning with the federal emission standards of the US EPA.

Harmonization with the United States

Increasingly, the general approach to setting vehicle emissions standards in Canada is to harmonize them with US EPA federal standards for light-duty vehicles and for heavy-duty vehicles as much as possible.

In 1988, on-road vehicle emission standards were first aligned with the US federal standards. In February 2001, the Minister of the Environment in the Federal Agenda on Cleaner Vehicles, Engines and Fuels set out a number of policy measures that would continue the harmonization of on-road emissions standards as well as to expand this harmonization by developing emission standards for off-road engines and standards for fuels that are aligned with those of the federal US EPA requirements.

Reasoning behind US harmonization was published in a 1996 report, The Socio-Economic Impacts of Adopting Tighter Motor Vehicle Emission Standards and Fuel Requirements, prepared by Industry Canada for the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment's Task Force on Cleaner Vehicles and Fuels.

Technical Standards
The On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations include standards for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as motorcycles, in one piece of legislation. In terms of heavy-duty vehicles, the On Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations aligned vehicle and engine certification requirements with those of the US federal EPA HDV requirements beginning 1 January 2004 and including Phase 1 and Phase 2 programs for new heavy-duty vehicles and engines.

The Regulations set out technical standards for vehicles and engines for exhaust, evaporative and crankcase emissions, on-board diagnostic systems and other specifications related to emission control systems. The intention of the Regulations is to ensure that vehicles and engines meeting more stringent exhaust emission standards will begin entering the Canadian market in the 2004 model year and will be phased-in over the 2004 to 2010 model year period. The phase-in schedules vary by standard and by vehicle class and can be summarized as follows: Phase 1 (2005) and Phase 2 (2008-2009) standards for complete heavy-duty vehicles; and Phase 1 (2004-2006) and Phase 2 (2007-2010) standards for heavy-duty engines.

During any phase-in period, every model of vehicle or engine that is certified by the US EPA, and that is sold concurrently in Canada and the United States, is required to meet the same emission standards in Canada as in the United States. Canadian vehicles will therefore have progressively improved emission performance without specifying interim phase-in percentages in the Regulations. The final phased-in standards apply to all vehicles and engines sold in Canada, in the model year that they apply, to 100% of a class of vehicles or engines in the United States.

Phase 1: 2004-2007
Diesel Engines

Phase 1 standards for heavy-duty diesel truck and bus engines apply starting with the 2004 model year. As with the US standards for urban buses, there are two options for NOx+NMHC limits and tighter standards for urban buses.

Otto Engines 

An otto-cycle engine is a type of engine that has operating characteristics that are significantly similar to those of the theoretical Otto combustion cycle. The use of a throttle during normal operation is indicative of an Otto-cycle engine. The standards for heavy-duty Otto cycle engines for Phase 1 are outlined below.

Complete Heavy-Duty Vehicles

A complete heavy-duty vehicle is one with a gross vehicle weight rating of 6350 kg (14,000 pounds) or less and that is powered by an Otto-cycle engine and with the load carrying device or container attached after it leaves the control of the manufacturer. As with the US EPA requirements, Phase 1 standards apply starting in the 2005 model year. The standards for these vehicles are outlined in the following table:

Phase 2: 2007-2010
Phase 2 is the current standard in place for regulation conventional pollutant emissions from heavy-duty vehicles in Canada. The Phase 2 standard is modeled after US heavy-duty vehicle emissions. These current regulated emission standards, taking into account amendments to the original On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emissions Regulations, are specified in the Regulations Amending the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Vehicle Emissions) published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, Vol. 131, No. 17, August 20, 1997.

Diesel Engines

Phase 2 standards apply to diesel engines starting with the 2007 model year.

In the US, the Phase 2 NMHC, CO, and PM standards apply in 2007 and the NOx standard is phased in from 2007-2010. In the case of a standard that is set out in the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to be phased in over a period of time, the standard comes into effect in Canada in the model year for which the CFR specifies that the standard applies to 100% of that class, and continues to apply until another standard comes into effect that applies to 100% of that class. This creates a difference in Canadian and US standards during this phase in period. However, because every engine that is covered by an EPA certificate and that is sold concurrently in Canada and the US must conform to the EPA certification and in-use standards, the differences in emission profiles of engines sold during this period are expected to be small.

Emission standards are as follows:
 * PM - 0.01 g/bhp-hr
 * NOx - 0.20 g/bhp-hr
 * NMHC - 0.14 g/bhp-hr

There are no emission averaging, banking and trading options for heavy-duty engines in Canada.

Otto Engines

The standards for heavy-duty Otto cycle engines are outlined below. Phase 2 standards are the same as those for heavy-duty diesel engines and apply in 2008. As with the heavy-duty diesel engine standards, the NOx standards in the US are phased in and apply to 100% of engines in 2010. Similar comments apply here as those noted above for heavy-duty diesel engines during this phase-in period.

Complete Heavy-Duty Vehicles

Because the Phase 2 standards are phased in during 2008 in the US and apply to 100% of US vehicles only in 2009, similar comments to those made previously for heavy-duty diesel engines apply. The standards for these vehicles are outlined in the following table:

Other Heavy-Duty Vehicles 

On-road heavy-duty vehicles other than complete heavy-duty vehicles must meet the heavy-duty engine requirements for the particular engine installed in that vehicle. Alternatively, heavy-duty diesel vehicles of 6,350 kg (14,000 lb) GVWR or less can conform to the standards for complete heavy-duty vehicles.

There are no emission averaging, banking and trading options for heavy-duty vehicles or complete heavy-duty vehicles in Canada.

Other Provisions

Manufacturers may sell a heavy-duty vehicle or a heavy-duty engine of a given model year in Canada if it is covered by an EPA certificate.

Regulatory documents
Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999 (CEPA 1999) On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations - 1999 On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations - 2003

Regulatory agencies

Environment Canada