European Union (Charging of Heavy Goods Vehicles for the Use of Certain Infrastructures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 384/2014

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 19th August, 2014.

I, PASCHAL DONOHOE, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive No. 2011/76/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 20111 hereby make the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Charging of Heavy Goods Vehicles for the Use of Certain Infrastructures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on the date of signature.

Amendment of the Principal Regulations

2. (1) The European Communities (Charging of Heavy Goods Vehicles for the Use of Certain Infrastructures) Regulations 2009 ( S.I. No. 87 of 2009 ) (hereinafter referred to as “the Principal Regulations”) are amended as set out in paragraphs (2) to (18) below.

(2) Regulation 2 of the Principal Regulations is hereby replaced by the following:

“2.In these Regulations “the Eurovignette Directive” means Directive No. 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures, as amended by Directive 2006/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006, Council Directive 2006/103/EC of 20 November 2006 and Directive 2011/76/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011.”

(3) All references in the Principal Regulations and in these Regulations to “the Commission” shall refer to “the European Commission” as defined in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union.

(4) In Regulation 5, the reference to “Minister for Transport” is hereby replaced by “Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport”.

(5) Regulation 7 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended as follows:

(a) by the insertion of the following additional definitions:

““cost of traffic-based air pollution” means the cost of the damage caused by the release of particulate matter and of ozone precursors, such as nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, in the course of the operation of a vehicle;

“cost of traffic-based noise pollution” means the cost of the damage caused by the noise emitted by the vehicles or created by their interaction with the road surface;

“external-cost charge” means a charge levied for the purpose of recovering the costs incurred in the State that are related to traffic-based air pollution and/or to traffic-based noise pollution;

“motorway” means a road specially designed and built for motor traffic, which does not serve properties bordering on it, and which:

(i) is provided, except at special points or temporarily, with separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic, separated from each other either by a dividing strip not intended for traffic or, exceptionally, by other means;

(ii) does not cross at grade with any road, railway or tramway track, bicycle path or footpath; and

(iii) is specifically designated as a motorway;

“weighted average infrastructure charge” means the total revenue of an infrastructure charge over a given period divided by the number of vehicle kilometres travelled on the road sections subject to the charge during that period;

“weighted average external-cost charge” means the total revenue of an external-cost charge over a given period divided by the number of vehicle kilometres travelled on the road sections subject to the charge during that period;”

and

(b) by the replacement of the existing definition of “infrastructure charge” with the following definition:

““infrastructure charge” means a charge levied for the purpose of recovering the construction, the maintenance, the operation and the development costs related to infrastructure incurred in the State;”

and

(c) by the replacement of the existing definition of “toll” is hereby with the following definition:

““toll” means a specified amount payable for a vehicle based on the distance travelled on a given infrastructure and on the type of the vehicle comprising an infrastructure charge and/or an external-cost charge;”

and

(d) by the replacement of the existing definition of “vehicle” is hereby with the following definition:

““vehicle” means a motor vehicle or articulated vehicle combination intended or used for the carriage by road of goods and having a maximum permissible laden weight of over 3.5 tonnes;”

(e) by the repeal of the definition of “weighted average toll” and by the replacement of all references in the Principal Regulations to that term with references to the term “weighted average infrastructure charge.

(6) Regulation 8 of the Principal Regulations is hereby replaced by the following Regulation:

“8. (1) Tolls and user charges may, with the approval of the Minister, be maintained or introduced on the trans-European road network, or on certain sections of that network, and on additional sections of the road network in the State comprising motorways that are not part of the trans-European road network, providing that such tolls and/or user charges comply with the conditions set out in Regulations 8a and Regulations 10 to 22.

(2) Tolls may be levied at a particular point only on the infrastructure to which the toll relates.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt, these Regulations shall not apply to the imposition of tolls and/or user charges on roads not included in the trans-European network, provided that the imposition of tolls and/or user charges on such roads does not discriminate against international traffic and does not result in distortions of competition between operators.”

(7) The following Regulation is hereby inserted after Regulation 8:

“8a. (1) The external-cost charge may be related to the cost of traffic-based air pollution. On road sections crossing areas with a population exposed to road traffic-based noise pollution, the external-cost charge may include the cost of traffic-based noise pollution.

(2) The external-cost charge shall vary and be set in accordance with the minimum requirements and the methods as specified in Part I of Schedule and shall respect the maximum values set out in Part II of Schedule 5.

(3) The costs taken into account shall relate to the network or the part of the network on which external-cost charges are levied and to the vehicles that are subject thereto.

(4) The external-cost charge related to traffic-based air pollution shall not apply to vehicles which comply with the most stringent EURO emission standards until four years after the dates of application laid down in the rules which introduced those standards.

(5) The amount of the external-cost charge shall be set by the Minister.”

(8) Regulation 10(3)(a) is amended by the insertion of the words “road safety due to traffic diversion” after the word “or”.

(9) Regulation 14 is hereby repealed and replaced with the following Regulation:

“14. Discounts or reductions to the infrastructure charge may be made available to operators on condition that:

(a) the resulting charging structure is proportionate, made public and available to users on equal terms and does not lead to additional costs being passed on to other users in the form of higher tolls;

(b) such discounts or reductions lead to actual savings in administrative costs; and

(c) do not exceed 13% of the infrastructure charge paid by equivalent vehicles not eligible for the discount or reduction.”

(10) The second sentence of Regulation 16 shall be replaced by the following sentence:

“In particular, where tolls and/or user charges are collected exclusively by means of a system that requires the use of a vehicle on-board unit, the appropriate on-board units compliant with the requirements of Directive 2004/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 20042 on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the Community shall be made available to all users under reasonable administrative and economic arrangements.”

(11) Regulations 17 and 18 are hereby repealed and replaced by the following Regulations:

“17.User charges shall be proportionate to the duration of the use made of the infrastructure, shall be set at a level which is not higher than the maximum rates stipulated in Schedule 2 and shall be valid for a day, a week, a month or a year. The monthly rate shall be no more than 10 % of the annual rate, the weekly rate shall be no more than 5 % of the annual rate and the daily rate shall be no more than 2 % of the annual rate.

18. Annual rates of user charges only may be applied to vehicles registered in the State.”

(12) Regulations 19 is hereby repealed and replaced by the following Regulation:

“19.(1) Tolls shall be based on an infrastructure charge, which shall be based on the principle of the recovery of infrastructure costs. Specifically, the weighted average infrastructure charge shall be calculated by reference to the construction costs and the costs of operating, maintaining and developing the...