Beijing official: No plan for levying vehicle emission fees in 2009

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Chinese media) -- Beijing has no plans to

impose vehicle emission fees in 2009, Du Shaozhong, deputy-director of the

city's environmental protection bureau said on Sunday.

Du made the announcement in response to rumors from

local media about possible fees on vehicle emissions.

He said that the Ministry of Environmental Protection

had been levying fees for the discharge of water, air and noise pollution, but

it had yet to issue a policy on vehicle emissions.

The Beijing Times ran a story on Saturday declaring

that Beijing would soon start levying vehicle discharge fees.

"We usually follow the state policies on pollutant

discharge fees," said Du. "Beijing had suggested tightening the management on

vehicle tail gas after the Beijing Olympics. But relevant state departments are

still doing research on the policy."

He said the city has made many efforts to reduce the

air pollution caused by vehicles. Among a series of actions, 576 yellow-tagged

cars, which refer to vehicles with a higher volume of pollutant discharge than

the state standard for urban area, were removed from Beijing before the Spring

Festival.

Starting Jan. 1, all the vehicles with yellow tags --

except for those, such as garbage and cargo trucks -- will not be allowed within

the Fifth Ring Road. After Oct. 1, they won't be permitted within the Sixth Ring

Road, Du said.

"We should approach all forms of fee collection with

care because the government has always been trying to abolish redundant fees

which burden the people," a commentary in the Beijing Youth Daily said Sunday.

The emissions fee could well be covered by fuel

taxes, since the consumption of fuel usually decides how much pollutant a

vehicle will discharge, according to the commentary.

Environmental departments have carried out pilot

programs on vehicle emission fees in some cities. In 1998, eastern Hangzhou

City, central Zhengzhou City and northeastern Jilin City began to collect such

fees, with 300 yuan (about 44 U.S. dollars) a year for small-sized cars, and 500

yuan for middle-sized vehicles. However, the fee was canceled in June 2003.