Construction Plant-hire Association campaigns against DPFs

The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has stepped up its campaign against the requirement to fit diesel particulate filters (DPFs) to construction plant.

This follows moves by lobby group the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) to have the London Best Practice Guide adopted across the country. Through planning consent, the Guide requires machines over 37kW on larger sites to be fitted with DPFs.

The CPA had already written to Transport Minister Jim Fitzpatrick to refute the EIC's claims and has now written to MPs at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), those on the all-party construction group and members of the shadow cabinet.

"European studies prove that construction plant contributes less than 1.5% of PM10 particulates and trying to suggest that it is anything more significant is nonsense," said CPA chief executive Colin Wood.

The reason he has widened the campaign is because last year DEFRA issued new air-quality guidelines and will be updating the advice it publishes to local authorities looking for ways to reduce pollution. Authorities' could decide that adopting the London Best Practice Guide on large-scale projects in their area is an off-the-shelf solution.

"The problem is that fitting particulate filters on plant will have a miniscule effect on air quality, but will add vast amounts to the cost of providing the machinery and this will feed through to project costs - much of which will be borne by the authorities themselves," said Wood.

He said that while Fitpatrick was not swayed by the EIC's lobbying, he wants other ministers and local authorities to have the full facts before they come to conclusions about effective ways of cutting pollution.