European Union (Charging of Heavy Goods Vehicles for the Use of Certain Infrastructures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Charging of Heavy Goods Vehicles for the Use of Certain Infrastructures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014.
(2) These Regulations come into operation on the date of signature.
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paragraphs: (1) The European Communities (Charging of Heavy Goods Vehicles for the Use of Certain Infrastructures) Regulations 2009 ( S.I. No. 87 of 2009 ) (hereinafter referred to as “the Principal Regulations”) are amended as set out in paragraphs (2) to (18) below.
(2) Regulation 2 of the Principal Regulations is hereby replaced by the following:
“2.In these Regulations “the Eurovignette Directive” means Directive No. 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures, as amended by Directive 2006/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006, Council Directive 2006/103/EC of 20 November 2006 and Directive 2011/76/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011.”
(3) All references in the Principal Regulations and in these Regulations to “the Commission” shall refer to “the European Commission” as defined in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union.
(4) In Regulation 5, the reference to “Minister for Transport” is hereby replaced by “Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport”.
(5) Regulation 7 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended as follows:
(a) by the insertion of the following additional definitions:
““cost of traffic-based air pollution” means the cost of the damage caused by the release of particulate matter and of ozone precursors, such as nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, in the course of the operation of a vehicle;
“cost of traffic-based noise pollution” means the cost of the damage caused by the noise emitted by the vehicles or created by their interaction with the road surface;
“external-cost charge” means a charge levied for the purpose of recovering the costs incurred in the State that are related to traffic-based air pollution and/or to traffic-based noise pollution;
“motorway” means a road specially designed and built for motor traffic, which does not serve properties bordering on it, and which:
(i) is provided, except at special points or temporarily, with separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic, separated from each other either by a dividing strip not intended for traffic or, exceptionally, by other means;
(ii) does not cross at grade with any road, railway or tramway track, bicycle path or footpath; and
(iii) is specifically designated as a motorway;
“weighted average infrastructure charge” means the total revenue of an infrastructure charge over a given period divided by the number of vehicle kilometres travelled on the road sections subject to the charge during that period;
“weighted average external-cost charge” means the total revenue of an external-cost charge over a given period divided by the number of vehicle kilometres travelled on the road sections subject to the charge during that period;”
(b) by the replacement of the existing definition of “infrastructure charge” with the following definition:
““infrastructure charge” means a charge levied for the purpose of recovering the construction, the maintenance, the operation and the development costs related to infrastructure incurred in the State;”
(c) by the replacement of the existing definition of “toll” is hereby with the following definition:
““toll” means a specified amount payable for a vehicle based on the distance travelled on a given infrastructure and on the type of the vehicle comprising an infrastructure charge and/or an external-cost charge;”
(d) by the replacement of the existing definition of “vehicle” is hereby with the following definition:
““vehicle” means a motor vehicle or articulated vehicle combination intended or used for the carriage by road of goods and having a maximum permissible laden weight of over 3.5 tonnes;”
(e) by the repeal of the definition of “weighted average toll” and by the replacement of all references in the Principal Regulations to that term with references to the term “weighted average infrastructure charge.
(6) Regulation 8 of the Principal Regulations is hereby replaced by the following Regulation:
“8. (1) Tolls and user charges may, with the approval of the Minister, be maintained or introduced on the trans-European road network, or on certain sections of that network, and on additional sections of the road network in the State comprising motorways that are not part of the trans-European road network, providing that such tolls and/or user charges comply with the conditions set out in Regulations 8a and Regulations 10 to 22.
(2) Tolls may be levied at a particular point only on the infrastructure to which the toll relates.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, these Regulations shall not apply to the imposition of tolls and/or user charges on roads not included in the trans-European network, provided that the imposition of tolls and/or user charges on such roads does not discriminate against international traffic and does not result in distortions of competition between operators.”
(7) The following Regulation is hereby inserted after Regulation 8:
“8a. (1) The external-cost charge may be related to the cost of traffic-based air pollution. On road sections crossing areas with a population exposed to road traffic-based noise pollution, the external-cost charge may include the cost of traffic-based noise pollution.