This Tuesday was a first monitoring committee on EPZs
(low emission zones) in the presence of the presidents of the 43 cities concerned and the ministers of ecological transition and transport. Little announcement at the end, “one could almost be disappointed” confides Jean-Luc Moudenc, LR mayor of Toulouse, president of the Toulouse metropolis and vice-president of the urban France association, but he hopes that this meeting will mark the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between the State and the metropolises responsible for to implement these EPZs in their territories.
Jean-Luc Moudenc regrets the insufficient aid offered by the State to the most modest to buy a new vehicle:there are people who do not necessarily have the means to quickly change their old vehicle and who, when they live outside the ZFE perimeter but go there to work or other, suffer a double penalty because they do not have got no help“.
However, the timetable is accelerating, as a reminder, since September 1, commercial vehicles and heavy goods vehicles with a Crit’air 4 sticker can no longer drive within the perimeter of the ZFE in Toulouse
. A perimeter that includes a large part of Toulouse inside the ring road, as well as a small part of Colomiers and Tournefeuille, i.e. a perimeter of 72 km2. Cars and two-wheelers certified Crit’air 4, 5 and unclassified (the oldest vehicles) will be prohibited from January 1, 2023. From January 1, 2024, all Crit’air 3 motorized vehicles will be excluded from the perimeter.
The State has entrusted the baby to us, but setting up an EPZ is a State obligation. It must therefore become more involved in helping the poorest financially. I fear that those who live on the periphery may feel excluded and enter a new social movement of the Yellow Vests type if the State does not do more – Jean-Luc Moudenc
The metropolis as a one-stop shop?
Today there is aid from the State, cities and regions which are granted according to different criteria (income, age of the vehicle, etc.) and this complicates things for the beneficiaries, according to the president of the Toulouse metropolis. “Where you should have ecological planning, you have ecological anarchy“, he denounces. Jean-Luc Moudenc proposes that the metropolises, responsible for setting up ZFEs, “organize a one-stop shop“.
It would be much easier for people than to go to three different authorities and go through three different formalities. Jean-Luc Moudenc
Jean-Luc Moudenc hopes that the public authorities will be effective this year “to improve the somewhat wobbly system in the 11 cities concerned and to anticipate what will be put in place in the thirty or so other metropolises and large agglomerations which will establish a ZFE”.
MEDEF 31 and CPME 31 are concerned about companies and their employees
In a press release published on Tuesday, the MEDEF 31 and the CPME 31 consider the ZFE as a “subject of major concern which directly impacts the lives of companies and their employees”. If they judge the EPZ as “a relevant tool for improving air quality in urban agglomerations and areas that regularly exceed standards” they demand various measurements and studies and judge that certain panels announcing the entry of the ZFE in Toulouse are badly positioned. Among their demands:
- Carry out the health impact studies, provided for by law, to assess the expected benefits in terms of restriction, according to both the Crit’Air classifications and also according to the Euro vehicle standards; and communicate them to economic actors
- Carry out, in addition, socio-economic impact studies, in order to assess the best cost/effectiveness ratio of the restriction measures; and communicate them to economic actors
- Identify any derogations, including in the form of paid derogations (Ex: X pass cards) to respond to exceptional situations;
- Organize a consultation by associating all the actors concerned, in particular the representatives of the economic actors in addition to the consular chambers.
- Conduct local communication campaigns that are readable, measurable and accessible to all, showing the benefits, in particular health benefits, and the expected consequences, depending on each of the levels of restriction envisaged
- Set up additional financial aid at the regional level to support the renewal of the vehicle fleet and create a one-stop shop, particularly for businesses
- Create a monitoring committee dedicated to the implementation of ZFE-ms at the regional level to work on the harmonization of ZFEs, financial aid and offer support tools (means of public transport, charging infrastructure …)
- Advocate for the creation, at national level, of an intermediate vignette between level 2 and level 1 for diesel vehicles meeting Euro6 standards and above