City cracks down on dirty vehicles

The local government plans to get about 200,000 heavily polluting vehicles off the streets over the next three years to improve air quality in the city, the local environmental authority announced Monday.

"Motor vehicle exhaust emissions have become the main source of air pollution in city. They account for 25 percent of the city's PM 2.5 density," said Cai Zhigang, an official from the pollution prevention department of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau.

PM 2.5 refers to particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, a type of air pollution that can cause asthma, bronchitis and cardiovascular disease. "If successful, the city's PM 2.5 density might fall by 10 percent," Cai told the Global Times.

The bureau estimated that about 230,000 vehicles registered in Shanghai fail to meet the national emission standards that the city adopted in 1999. Those vehicles are responsible for more than half of local exhaust emissions, though they only account for 12.5 percent of all vehicles registered in the city, according to a news release from the bureau.　

The local government plans to attack the problem in phases. It aims to get 150,000 vehicles off the road by the end of 2014 and another 50,000 off the road by the end of 2015.

To meet this target, the local government will offer a subsidy to the owners of vehicles that cannot meet local emission standards.

Starting September 1, vehicle owners can receive a subsidy ranging from 3,000 ($472) to 32,000 yuan for each vehicle they scrap, according to the bureau.

The subsidy is limited to locally-registered vehicles owned by individuals, private companies and nongovernmental organizations. Long distance buses can receive an additional subsidy of 50,000 yuan.

"The size of the subsidy depends on the type of vehicle, when it was purchased and which emission standard it meets, but we did refer to prices on the second-hand car market when we created the policy," Cai said.

The local government has banned vehicles that fail to meet local emission standards from entering the area inside of Middle Ring Road. As part of the new plan, it intends to prevent them from venturing inside Outer Ring Road after 2014.

The local government is also working to remove heavily polluting vehicles from its fleet.

All government-owned vehicles that cannot meet emission standards will be phased out over the next two years with special funds, Cai said.