EU32020L0362Enacted

Directive 2000/53/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

Jurisdiction:
European Union
Type:
Chemical Restriction · EPR
Last action:
Jan 1, 2020
VehiclesHazardous Materials
Next steps for producers

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Obligations under this law
  • ·Comply with prohibition on use of hexavalent chromium in vehicle materials and components placed on market after 1 July 2003, subject to applicable exemptions
  • ·Ensure hexavalent chromium used as anti-corrosion agent in carbon steel cooling systems of absorption refrigerators does not exceed 0.75% by weight in the cooling solution
  • ·For sub-entry (i) refrigerators (electrical heater, <75W): cease use of hexavalent chromium in vehicles type approved on or after 1 January 2020, except for spare parts of vehicles type approved before 1 January 2020
European Commission — Environment (Circular Economy) →

No designated program action is recorded for this measure yet — treat the above as the general obligation and verify against the source text.

Delegated Directive grants a narrow exemption to hexavalent chromium (a restricted hazardous substance under ELV Directive 2000/53/EC) for anti-corrosion use in motor caravan cooling systems, thereby carving out a specific product category from the chemical restriction that otherwise advances circular economy and end-of-life vehicle stewardship.
Covered Products
  • ·Motor caravans containing absorption refrigerators with carbon steel cooling systems using hexavalent chromium as anti-corrosion agent (up to 0.75% by weight in the cooling solution)
  • ·Absorption refrigerators designed to operate fully or partly with electrical heater with average utilised electrical power input < 75W at constant running conditions (sub-entry i)
  • ·Absorption refrigerators designed to operate fully or partly with electrical heater with average utilised electrical power input ≥ 75W at constant running conditions (sub-entry ii)
  • ·Absorption refrigerators designed to fully operate with non-electrical heater (sub-entry iii)
  • ·Spare parts for the above vehicles
Producer Obligations
  • ·Comply with prohibition on use of hexavalent chromium in vehicle materials and components placed on market after 1 July 2003, subject to applicable exemptions
  • ·Ensure hexavalent chromium used as anti-corrosion agent in carbon steel cooling systems of absorption refrigerators does not exceed 0.75% by weight in the cooling solution
  • ·For sub-entry (i) refrigerators (electrical heater, <75W): cease use of hexavalent chromium in vehicles type approved on or after 1 January 2020, except for spare parts of vehicles type approved before 1 January 2020
  • ·For sub-entry (ii) refrigerators (electrical heater, ≥75W): cease use of hexavalent chromium in vehicles type approved on or after 1 January 2026, except for spare parts of vehicles type approved before 1 January 2026
  • ·For sub-entry (iii) refrigerators (non-electrical heater): exemption applies without expiry date (marked 'X'), no phase-out deadline currently set
  • ·Monitor availability of suitable alternative substances to hexavalent chromium for future compliance
Exemptions
  • ·Hexavalent chromium as anti-corrosion agent in carbon steel cooling systems of absorption refrigerators at up to 0.75% by weight in cooling solution — sub-entry (i): vehicles type approved before 1 January 2020 and spare parts for these vehicles
  • ·Hexavalent chromium as anti-corrosion agent in carbon steel cooling systems of absorption refrigerators at up to 0.75% by weight in cooling solution — sub-entry (ii): vehicles type approved before 1 January 2026 and spare parts for these vehicles
  • ·Hexavalent chromium as anti-corrosion agent in carbon steel cooling systems of absorption refrigerators at up to 0.75% by weight in cooling solution — sub-entry (iii): absorption refrigerators designed to fully operate with non-electrical heater (open-ended exemption, marked 'X')
Key Deadlines
Jan 1, 2020compliance: Expiry of exemption for sub-entry (i): absorption refrigerators with electrical heater <75W average power input — hexavalent chromium no longer permitted in vehicles type approved on or after this date; spare parts for vehicles type approved before this date remain exempt
Jan 1, 2026compliance: Expiry of exemption for sub-entry (ii): absorption refrigerators with electrical heater ≥75W average power input — hexavalent chromium no longer permitted in vehicles type approved on or after this date; spare parts for vehicles type approved before this date remain exempt
Apr 5, 2020other: Deadline for Member States to adopt, publish, and communicate to the Commission national transposing laws, regulations, and administrative provisions
Preemption Notes
This is an EU-level delegated directive amending Annex II of Directive 2000/53/EC. Member States must transpose into national law by 5 April 2020 but have no discretion to set stricter or more lenient substance restrictions under this harmonised framework.
Compliance Dimensions
Bans & RestrictionsHexavalent chromium as anti-corrosion agent in carbon steel cooling systems of absorption refrigerators in motor caravans with electrical heater < 75W, in vehicles type approved on or after 1 January 2020 (Material Restriction), 2020; Hexavalent chromium as anti-corrosion agent in carbon steel cooling systems of absorption refrigerators in motor caravans with electrical heater ≥ 75W, in vehicles type approved on or after 1 January 2026 (Material Restriction), 2026

“14. Hexavalent chromium as an anti-corrosion agent of the carbon steel cooling system in absorption refrigerators up to 0,75 % by weight in the cooling solution: (i) designed to operate fully or partly with electrical heater, having an average utilised electrical power input < 75W at constant running conditions; (ii) designed to operate fully or partly with electrical heater, having an average utilised electrical power input ≥ 75W at constant running conditions; (iii) designed to fully operate with non-electrical heater. Vehicles type approved before 1 January 2020 and spare parts for these vehicles Vehicles type approved before 1 January 2026 and spare parts for these vehicles X”

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Full bill text

5.3.2020

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 67/116

COMMISSION DELEGATED DIRECTIVE (EU) 2020/362
of 17 December 2019

amending Annex II to Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on end-of-life vehicles as regards the exemption for hexavalent chromium as anti-corrosion agent of the carbon steel cooling system in absorption refrigerators in motor caravans
(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on end-of-life vehicles ( 1 ) , and in particular Article 4(2)(b) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Pursuant to Article 4(2)(a) of Directive 2000/53/EC, Member States are to prohibit the use of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium in materials and components of vehicles put on the market after 1 July 2003.

(2)

Annex II to Directive 2000/53/EC lists vehicle materials and components exempt from the prohibition pursuant to Article 4(2)(a) thereof. Exemption 14 regarding the use of hexavalent chromium needs to be amended to align for coherence the wording of that exemption with similar exemptions for the use of hexavalent chromium provided for in Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 2 ) and Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 3 ) .

(3)

The assessment of exemption 14 in view of technical and scientific progress led to the conclusion that although suitable alternative substances to hexavalent chromium have become available, they cannot yet be used in products. It is expected that suitable alternatives to the use of hexavalent chromium may become available in the future. It is hence appropriate to split the current exemption in three sub-entries and set an expiry date for two of the sub-entries to the exemption.

(4)

Directive 2000/53/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1
Annex II to Directive 2000/53/EC is amended as set out in the Annex to this Directive.

Article 2

1. Member States shall adopt and publish by 5 April 2020 at the latest, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions.
When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law, which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3
This Directive shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .

Article 4
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 17 December 2019.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

( 1 )
OJ L 269, 21.10.2000, p. 34 .

( 2 ) Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment ( OJ L 174, 1.7.2011, p. 88 ).

( 3 ) Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC ( OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1 ).

ANNEX
In Annex II to Directive 2000/53/EC, entry 14 is replaced by the following:

‘14. Hexavalent chromium as an anti-corrosion agent of the carbon steel cooling system in absorption refrigerators up to 0,75 % by weight in the cooling solution:

(i)

designed to operate fully or partly with electrical heater, having an average utilised electrical power input < 75W at constant running conditions;

(ii)

designed to operate fully or partly with electrical heater, having an average utilised electrical power input ≥ 75W at constant running conditions;

(iii)

designed to fully operate with non-electrical heater.

Vehicles type approved before 1 January 2020 and spare parts for these vehicles
Vehicles type approved before 1 January 2026 and spare parts for these vehicles

X’

Full text as ingested. Verify against the official source above.

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