Please Pause... Gyeongnam Province Restricts Operation of Grade 5 Emission Vehicles

Gyeongsangnam-do will enforce restrictions on the operation of Grade 5 emission vehicles to reduce automobile exhaust emissions.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gyeongsangnam-do will restrict the operation of Grade 5 emission vehicles to reduce automobile exhaust emissions, a major source of fine dust.

The restriction period is from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the day following the issuance of an emergency fine dust reduction measure.

According to Gyeongnam Province, the emergency reduction measure is issued when one or more of the following conditions are met: ▲ the fine dust average exceeds 50㎍/㎥ from 0 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the day or exceeds 50㎍/㎥ the next day ▲ abnormal advisories (75㎍/㎥ or higher) or warnings (150㎍/㎥ or higher) are issued in four cities/counties and the next day exceeds 50㎍/㎥ ▲ the next day exceeds 75㎍/㎥.

The province announced on the 23rd that the restriction will be expanded this year from the existing four cities?Changwon, Jinju, Gimhae, and Yangsan?to cover all eight cities including Tongyeong, Sacheon, Miryang, and Geoje.

Enforcement will be carried out through 130 cameras installed at 108 locations on major roads, and the restrictions will not be enforced on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.

Violators of the operation restriction will be fined 100,000 KRW once per day at the first detection location. Emergency vehicles, vehicles for the disabled, national merit vehicles, commercial vehicles, and vehicles that have completed low-emission measures are exempt from enforcement.

For vehicles applying for low-emission measures, fines will be temporarily waived until December this year, and for vehicles without developed or installable reduction devices, fines will be waived until December next year.

Emission grades can be checked on the automobile emission website or by inquiring about the system on the website.

Not only Gyeongnam but also Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Busan and Daegu will implement continuous operation restrictions during the 4th seasonal management period from December this year to March next year.

Among the six special/metropolitan cities, except for Busan and Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, and Sejong will conduct a pilot this year and fully implement the restrictions from December 2023, with plans to gradually expand to provincial-level areas in the future.

A provincial official said, “Reducing fine dust emissions will greatly help improve the local air environment. Early scrapping support and emission reduction device attachment projects are currently underway for Grade 5 diesel vehicles, so owners of vehicles without low-emission measures are encouraged to actively participate.”

He added, “Since the exemption targets and periods for operation restrictions vary by city and province, please check the enforcement standards of the area before driving there.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.