Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ment. A lot of these details and problems cannot
possibly be predicted in advance in the planning
of the regulation. However, they are critical to
the success of TEI. As a result, the collection
and sharing of information from trial schemes
and periodic feedbacks are very important to the
removal of potential obstacles, and to the suc-
cess of TEI adoption. The California regulators
made use of operational/maintenance data to
assess the readiness of the ZEBus technologies.
In the case of Hong Kong, before the introduc-
tion of any regulatory and incentive scheme in
2000, the government conducted a trial scheme
to collect useful statistics regarding the cost and
technological/technical performance of LPG taxis.
Such information helped regulators to determine
if LPG vehicle technology was suitable for taxi
operation and how likely it would be that the
taxi trade could meet more stringent air pollution
control regulations.
Highly participatory:
Innovation-oriented
regulations in both cases involve stakeholder par-
ticipation. The lack of stakeholder participation is
a major drawback of the C&C regulation. Without
participation in the regulatory process, mistrust
and miscommunication can occur. As the goal of
TEI regulation is to facilitate wider adoption of
TEI among end-users, it is often desirable to let
these stakeholders experiment and have channels
to work with the regulators. In California's ZEBus
Regulation, formal participatory procedures are
established so that stakeholders and the public
can participate and provide feedback prior to
and after the implementation or amendment of
the Regulation. In the case of Hong Kong, the
government learned from the failure of an earlier
diesel-to-petrol scheme, which was largely due to
the lack of consultation with the trade and other
stakeholders. When the authority put forth the
diesel-to-LPG replacement proposal, substantial
in-depth consultations with all types of stakehold-
ers, particularly the taxi trade, legislators and
government departments were conducted prior to
the announcement of the scheme and the imple-
mentation of regulations. The consultation with
the taxi trade started during the taxi trial scheme
and continued throughout the entire regulatory
process.
Highly capability-enhancing
: Innovation-
oriented regulations in both cases are highly
capability-enhanced. The California Fuel Cell
Partnership (CaFCP) has strongly facilitated the
regulatory implementation, particularly the ZEBus
demonstration. The CaFCP comprises of mem-
bers from the automotive and energy industries,
fuel cell technology companies, and government
institutions. It has offered a platform for learning
and networking, and created funding opportunities
to facilitate transit agencies to demonstrate zero-
emission fuel cell buses. The reporting require-
ments of zero-emission demonstration project as
specified in the Regulation also help to ensure that
transit agencies will develop relevant capabilities
to fulfill the demonstration requirements. In Hong
Kong, the provision of an incentive package, the
LPG taxi trial, the provision of relevant technical
training programmes, and the efforts in ensuring
availability of sufficient LPG fuel infrastructure,
have allowed the taxi trade to acquire relevant
capacities and capabilities in adapting to the new
LPG technology.
Differences in TEI Promoting
Regulatory Characteristics
Important regulatory differences have been noted
between the two case studies. Obviously it will not
do justice to either study by directly comparing
these two regulations. They differ significantly in
scope and scale. However, these differences can
still inform us of characteristics of innovation-
oriented regulations. The ZEBus Regulation
displays strong innovation-oriented regulatory
characteristics in all of these aspects, as compared
with the Air Pollution Control Regulations in Hong
Kong. The major differences lie in goal-setting
and process-based regulatory characteristics.
