Topic: Quebec adopts stringent GHG emissions standards

[tpl]

From CanadianDriver news.

Montreal, Quebec – The Quebec government will adopt stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards in mid-January that are equivalent to those of California, becoming the first province to do so.

The regulations will apply to light-duty vehicles, model year 2010 to 2016, that are sold, leased or marketed in Quebec.
...

I presume that at this instant for 2010 that the California standards are the same as the 50 state and Canadian standards and I imagine that the advent of "California cars" again will take a few years.

It would be a REALLY USEFUL STUPID thing to have some Canadian provinces having different standards from the rest of the country...maybe even to the extent of having to sell ones car if one moved to Quebec. And just another variant for the manufacturers to support.

IMHO either the Gov of Canada should adopt the CA standards or not permit PQ ( and maybe BC) to set their own. One or the other... I don't care.

[airbalancer]

Fourteen other U.S. states have also adopted the California plan, including Vermont, Maine, and New York state, all of which border Quebec.


With New York and California in the plan, you have more sales then Canada, no brainer  for Quebec,
I believe Ontario and BC are also going the same way.
So it probably be standard rating for NA

Will any of the new diesel passengers engines pass the California ?

[tpl]

The Canadian gov may as it wishes choose to permit a different standard for diesels.

14 states plus two or three provinces does suggest that Canada as a whole should adopt the standards.

I might suggest that now our "auto industry" is nearly non-existent we'd be better off adopting the ECE standards with their emphasis on CO2 ( = economy) rather than the US standards. They are I think quite similar except for diesels.

[Calbrez]

It is ridiculous that we don't have universal emission standards. This speaks to a bigger issue..

The EU (25 sovereign nations and counting) has more universal standards than North America with it's 3 countries and a couple of tropical islands!

It's imperative to standardize this type of stuff from an economic and social standpoint.

[Turbo Bob]

This is the most ridiculous piece of legislation I have ever seen, but not as ridiculous as the way it has been introduced.  Unbelievable!! 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/auto-sector-slams-new-quebec-rules/article1424929/

New environmental regulations in Quebec that commence next week could raise the prices of 80 per cent of the vehicles sold in the province, causing consumers to halt purchases of new vehicles that emit fewer greenhouse gases than those already on the road, auto industry members say.

The industry is fuming about new rules under the Quebec Environmental Quality Act, which were announced during the year-end holiday period and take effect Thursday.

The new measures cover large auto manufacturers – those selling more than 12,000 vehicles annually in Quebec – which, as of 2016, will face a fine of $5,000 for every vehicle they sell that doesn't meet new emissions standards, beginning with 2010 model-year vehicles.

Although the fines do not take effect for more than five years, the government will begin collecting data as of Jan. 14. Vehicle manufacturers have been selling 2010 models for months, however, so it's impossible to change quickly to meet the new standards.

“The province of Quebec is completely out of step with the rest of North America,” said Rick Gauthier, president of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association. “There's been no consultation, no discussion, no forewarning to vehicle manufacturers or the industry that this is going to happen,” he said.

“We are now in the process of evaluating the impact on Quebec consumers and dealers,” said David Mondragon, president of Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd.

Industry critics said the rules will be self-defeating and have little or no impact on the environment because the $5,000 penalty, or part of it, will likely be factored into the prices of new vehicles. Consumers will likely hang on to older, more highly polluting vehicles longer, buy used vehicles, or purchase new vehicles in provinces that border on Quebec, they said.

Jacques Béchard, head of the Quebec dealers' association, said the main manufacturers will meet with the government next week.

“We are astonished by this regulation,” he added, saying many of the rules are unclear.

Mr. Béchard said the industry had talks with the government in 2008 about potential regulations, but thought the province had backed off after U.S. President Barack Obama said he wanted a national standard and Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged to go along.

Quebec Environment Minister Line Beauchamp unveiled the regulations on Dec. 29, just weeks after Premier Jean Charest returned from the Copenhagen climate conference determined to plow ahead with a made-in-Quebec plan, first promised during the Bali climate change talks two years earlier.

In announcing the regulations, Ms. Beauchamp said they will apply to the collective fleet of individual manufacturers. “The goal is to get them to improve technology in bigger vehicles and to get them to refine their sales strategies to emphasize lighter vehicles,” she said.

“Manufacturers will have five years to show they are respecting the ceiling imposed by Quebec, by adapting their products and altering their sales strategies. And if they fail, they will pay.”

Ms. Beauchamp said Quebec's standards would echo those taking effect in California and 14 other states. But Mr. Gauthier and others noted that there are no California standards because California has agreed to work with the U.S. government to develop a national standard for emissions.

“The government told us nothing concrete would be introduced until the automobile industry was consulted,” said Renée Cardinal, a spokeswoman for the Montreal auto dealers' association. “We were taken aback, like most of the auto industry.”

Ms. Cardinal said Quebec dealers have always maintained the province should not go it alone. “We're less than 3 per cent of the North American market. The automobile industry is not going to adapt just for Quebec standards. Ideally Quebec would follow the rest of North America instead of heading out on its own.”

Industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers estimated that about one-third to one-half the vehicles sold in Quebec would have to be taken off dealers' lots. “The time frame is ridiculous,” he added. “By next Thursday?”

He noted that Quebec drivers are already serious about helping the environment, with 65 per cent of them driving small vehicles.

Ms. Beauchamp, who is on vacation, was not available Friday. 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

With the vacuum of leadership in Ottawa, it was inevitable that provinces start going their own way.

It's kind of ironic. Business leaders have been great supporters of devolution of power to the provinces, as has Harper's brand of conservatism. The thought is that it's easier for industry to bully provinces like Saskatchewan, New Brunswick or PEI, than making the Feds kowtow. When provinces actually start diverging with respect to regulation, suddenly it's all "Whoa, Whoa, we need common standards."

CO2 emissions standards are coming in one form or another (remember BC's carbon tax), it would be better for Harper to divert his attention from his scorched earth politics and actually try to achieve something useful.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

This piece of crap legislation is completely unfair to manufacturers, dealers, and customers. Further, the timing is ridiculous and does nothing to foster improvements in vehicle weight reduction, efficiency, and fuel economy impovements which take time. There's no 'goal' with appropriate timing to work toward, just an aggressive out-of-touch approach. Some of the vehicles targeted for stop-sale this week are commercial vehicles, which businesses - including the government itself - order. Just up unbelieveable. And no manufacturer is going to work gangbusters to meet a Quebec only emission requirement, because the sales in the province outside of small cars are too small to justify the investment for the most part.

Beyond that, the legislation isn't even clear or comprehensive enough to fully interpret.

Distict society, vive la difference indeed. 

[Turbo Bob]

If anything it encourages people to run older more polluting cars for longer. Stupid piece of legislation IMHO. 

[sirAQUAMAN64]

If anything it encourages people to run older more polluting cars for longer. Stupid piece of legislation IMHO. 

And purchase of used vehicles, or importation of nearly new US vehicles.

[tenpenny]

There's a simple solution - the car manufacturers could simply give up on sales in Quebec.  Don't bother at all.  Saves marketing costs, too: no need to worry about special campaigns in a different laguage.  Write off the province, and get on with life.