The National Post - Wednesday, April 5, 2000

OTTAWA - Sport utility vehicles, minivans and light-duty trucks will have to meet the same pollution emission standards as passenger cars under regulations to be introduced by the federal government.

David Anderson, the Environment Minister, will soon announce that starting in 2004, gas-guzzling SUVs will no longer be afforded special treatment.

The emission standard for light-duty trucks, which currently applies to all three vehicle types, is considerably more relaxed than the one applied to cars.

The Canadian measures are designed to match ones introduced recently in the United States.

In December, Bill Clinton, the U.S. president, announced that beginning in 2004, SUVs and minivans will have to move toward the emission standards set for passenger cars. The transition, he said, must be completed by 2008.

Officials at Environment Canada confirmed yesterday that the same requirements will be adopted here.

Mr. Anderson gained the power to control emissions from light-duty trucks as part of the new Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which took effect last Friday. Those standards used to be set by the transport minister.

The new standards will force automakers to cut tailpipe emissions from SUVs and minivans in half. The new rules will apply to emissions of smog-causing pollutants such as nitrous oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. Those pollutants contribute to the formation of acidic smog that can aggravate respiratory problems and burn the lungs on hot summer days.

The new emission requirements will be phased in over five years beginning with 2004 vehicle models.

Fully half the new vehicles purchased in the United States are SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans, which produce three to five times more pollution than cars, according to U.S. studies. About one-third of the new vehicles purchased in Canada fall into those categories.

The changes could add several hundred dollars to the price of SUVs and minivans as new emissions-reduction technology is added to the vehicles.

"It is a challenge for us, but it is one that we're committed to," said Mark Nantais, director of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association.

Gerry Scott, a spokesman for the David Suzuki Foundation, called the new tailpipe emissions standards "a step in the right direction."