Regulation 2 Amendment to regulation 2 (interpretation)

for the definition of “the 1989 Regulations” there shall be substituted—

• ““the 1999 Regulations” means the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999^f1;”; and

the following new definitions shall be inserted in the appropriate alphabetical order—

• ““axle-lift device” means a device permanently fitted to the vehicle for the purpose of reducing or increasing the load on the axles, according to the loading conditions of the vehicle either—

  1. (a)

     by means of raising the wheels clear off the ground or by lowering them to the ground, or

  2. (b)

     without raising the wheels off the ground,

  in order to reduce the wear on the tyres when the vehicle is not fully laden and, or alternatively, to make it easier for the vehicle to move off on slippery ground by increasing the load on the driving axle;

• “complies with” shall, in relation to the requirements of a Community Directive, be construed in accordance with regulation 5 of the 1999 Regulations;

• “diesel engine” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 2.2 of Directive 88/77/EEC as amended by Directive 91/542/EEC, Annex I;

• “Directive 88/77/EEC” means Council Directive 88/77 of 3rd December 1987 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from diesel engines for use in vehicles;

• “Directive 91/542/EEC” means Council Directive 91/542 of 1st October 1991 amending Directive 88/77/EEC;

• “first used” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 2(4) of the 1999 Regulations;

• “gas”, “semi-trailer”, “trailer” and “wheel” have the meanings given in regulation 2(1) of the 1999 Regulations;

• “low pollution engine” means an engine which—

  1. (a)

     is fuelled solely by gas; or

  2. (b)

     is fuelled predominantly by gas and has a minimum gas tank capacity of 400 litres; or

  3. (c)

     being a diesel engine, complies with at least the requirements for the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants specified in paragraph 6.2.1 of Annex I to Directive 88/77/EEC^f2 as amended by Directive 91/542/EEC^f3, the maximum masses of which as shown on line B in the table to that paragraph, are—

     Mass of carbon monoxide (CO)	Mass of hydrocarbons (HC)	Mass of nitrogen oxides (NOx)	Mass of particulates (PT)
     g/kWh	g/kWh	g/kWh	g/kWh
     4.0	1.1	7.0	0.15

• “loadable axle” means an axle the load on which can be varied without the axle being raised by the use of an axle-lift device; and

• “retractable axle” means an axle which is raised or lowered by an axle-lift device, either by raising the wheels of the vehicle clear off the ground or by lowering them to the ground.”.