ESTA has expressed concern at reports that the USA authorities are refusing to accept cranes and other construction machinery equipped with the latest Tier 5 engines.
ESTA Section Cranes President Wouter van Noort said: “ESTA is urgently seeking clarification from our American friends and from the crane and equipment manufacturers.”
ESTA has been told that under legislation introduced by the previous administration, the USA Environmental Protection Agency does not currently allow the import of machines that are fitted with Tier 5 engines, even though they are environmentally cleaner than their Tier 4 equivalents.
Unless the American current legislation is changed, cranes sold to the USA cannot be traded back into the EU as second-hand machines – unless they are given a new engine. This affects all construction machinery – not only cranes – and European equipment manufacturers are talking to the EPA to try and find a solution.