The Clean Vehicle Standard requires vehicle importers to meet annual average CO2 emissions targets across the new and used light vehicles they import, so high-emission imports must be offset by zero- or low-emission ones. The annual targets for 2023 to 2027 are currently fixed in section 175 of the Land Transport Act 1998, so changing them requires an amendment Act. This bill enables the targets for 2025 onwards to be set and amended by secondary legislation (Order in Council) — the policy statement says this is to streamline implementation of Cabinet decisions from the target review already under way. It also empowers a cost recovery scheme, set in secondary legislation, to charge fees contributing to the costs of administering the standard, which is currently Crown-funded.
Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (committee of whole house, first reading, second reading, third reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.
This bill changes how the Clean Vehicle Standard is set under the Land Transport Act 1998. The standard requires importers of new and used light vehicles to meet progressively tightening average carbon dioxide emissions targets across the vehicles they import each year, allowing higher-emission vehicles to be offset by low- and zero-emission ones. The bill provides for the CO2 targets from 2025 onward, and fees to fund the scheme's administration, to be set by secondary legislation rather than fixed in the Act.
Supporters argue that setting targets and fees by regulation gives flexibility to adjust the scheme as the vehicle market and technology change. Others may prefer targets to remain in primary legislation for certainty and parliamentary scrutiny, and will focus on how ambitious the targets are and how the administration fees are set.
See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.