The Federal Government’s delay in adopting simple measures that would reduce industrial diesel pollution is costing lives, billions of dollars, and is leaving states like NSW to go it alone while letting the mining industry off the hook.
Newly obtained freedom of information documents suggest the NSW Environmental Protection Agency is frustrated at the lack of progress from the federal government on industrial diesel reform, with a Commonwealth program stalled since July last year.
June meeting minutes from the NSW EPA Climate Change Mining Advisory Group (CCMAG) state: “The Commonwealth work on non-road diesel vehicle emission requirements has stalled, emphasising the importance of NSW progressing work on this.”
Diesel exhaust emissions at coal mines are a significant source of fine particle pollution in the NSW Greater Metropolitan and Hunter regions, which is why the NSW EPA is advocating adoption of emission standards for new equipment.
According to the Commonwealth’s stalled program, the use of industrial diesel emissions and the atmospheric concentrations of NO2 and PM2.5 they release were responsible for 5,387 “years of life lost” in 2018 - equating to a health cost to society of $1.6 billion for that year.
The most recent federal government figures, from 2018 when the program first began, show the mining industry is responsible for about 60 per cent of off-road diesel use in Australia. Industrial diesel engines accounted for around 6% of national greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 and this figure is rising.
Lock the Gate Alliance Head of Research Georgina Woods said, “It’s not clear why Minister Tanya Plibersek has been sitting for more than a year on a simple regulatory reform that would save years of life lost as a result of toxic air pollution and billions of dollars in health costs while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“As the biggest industrial user of diesel, the mining industry is the biggest contributor to the health and budget costs of that pollution. Every year of delay in cleaning up mining air pollution is cutting Australian lives short. It’s becoming a pattern for the mining industry to block environmental protections that Australians need and we hope that is not what is happening in this case.
“Consultation about cleaning up air pollution from diesel had been underway for years before progress stalled altogether. The Commonwealth and NSW Governments need to prioritise public health and the mining industry must stop standing in the way of environmental protections that Australians need.”
ENDS
More information:
- There are no regulations to limit emissions from most industrial diesel engines in Australia.
- Emission standards for industrial diesel engines were first implemented by the US in 1996, followed by the EU in 1999. Standards have also now been introduced in Canada (2005), Japan (2006), China (2007), India (2008), South Korea (2008) and Brazil (2011).
- Canada, Japan and South Korea have already implemented US Tier 4 equivalent standards and this is what the EPA in NSW has been saying it wants to introduce.
- The cost-benefit analysis conducted by the Commonwealth showed that the scenario where they implement the strongest controls on air pollution from non-road diesel engines (equivalent to US Tier 4) was estimated to deliver the greatest net benefit, with an Net Present Value at that time of $2.2 billion.
- The final report states that “implementation of the emission standards would commence two years after any decision to introduce the regulation” (p55) so every year that passes without doing this costs more years of life lost and more money.
- Particulate matter from coal mining and non-road diesel trucks includes particles smaller than 2.5µm in diameter (PM2.5). These particles are small enough that they can be inhaled deep into the lungs and transfer into the bloodstream. This allows PM2.5 to impact almost every bodily system. There is no known safe exposure level for PM2.5, and any increased exposure of the public to PM2.5 would be expected to have an increased health burden.