Boris outlaws 10-year-old plant to control pollution

Construction plant over 10 years old will be banned in London under tough new air quality restrictions due to be implemented next year.

London mayor Boris Johnson’s mandatory Supplementary Planning Guidance aims to slash emissions of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from plant in an effort to achieve an overall 40% reduction in emissions by 2020.

The standards, based on an EU Directive, will also place tighter controls on dust from construction and demolition, which is thought to generate up to 15% of air pollutant emissions in London. 

From September 2015, all non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) with a net power of between 37kW and 560kW working in Greater London will have to meet Stage IIIA engine emissions standards for NOx and PM emissions, set out in EU Directive 97/68/EC. 

In addition, NRMM used on any site within the Central Activity Zone or Canary Wharf will be required to meet the tougher Stage IIIB standards as a minimum. The standards will tighten again in 2020 to Stage IV across the whole of London, in line with the mayor’s proposals for an Ultra Low Emission Zone. 

Crossrail is compelling its contractors to retrofit diesel particulate filters (DPFs) or use cleaner Cat 3b engines on all its sites in London

The rules effectively mean any equipment over 10 years old will need to replaced or retrofitted on all developments in central London and major developments in outer London of 10 homes or more, or more than 1,000 sq ft, with occasional exemptions for specialist construction machinery.

Johnson said: “By replacing the oldest and most polluting bulldozers and machinery on building sites we can greatly reduce harmful emissions and boost our air quality.

“We’ve all walked past construction sites and seen thick clouds of dust generated from equipment that simply hasn’t been updated or replaced in decades.

“This new guidance will reduce NO_x and is part of a series of strong measures including the Ultra Low Emission Zone from 2020, that will greatly reduce London’s air pollution from all emission sources.”

The new Supplementary Planning Guidance replaces The Control of Dust and Emissions from Demolition and Construction Best Practice Guidance published jointly by London councils and the mayor back in 2006.

Crossrail has been unusual in adopting the 2006 guidance as a contractual condition, compelling its contractors to retrofit diesel particulate filters (DPFs) or use cleaner Cat 3b engines on all its sites in London. 

“We had a slow start, there was a lot of resistance from the industry,” Rob Paris, Crossrail’s head of sustainability and consents told CM. “People were concerned that the DPFs might affect warranties or overheat the engines and cause safety issues. But we pushed for it where viable, and now 73% of non-road vehicles have them fitted and Thames Tideway is adopting the standard too.”

According to the latest version of the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, construction works and non-road mobile machinery are estimated to account for around 15% of larger particulate matter up to 10 micrometers in diameter known as PM 10 and 12% of nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions.

Meanwhile, a study published in 2010 by the mayor estimated that the equivalent of 4,300 deaths per year in London are attributable to long-term exposure to smaller particulate matter under under 2.5 micrometer known as PM2.5, which is widely acknowledged as the pollutant that has the greatest effect on health.

Road transport and heating systems are the main sources of Nox emissions in London, primarily made up of the pollutants nitric oxide, NO, and nitrogen dioxide, NO₂. NO easily converts to NO₂ in the air, so reducing concentrations of NO₂ is essential to control emissions of NO_x.