Comment Log Display

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is currently considering
the adoption of an on-road diesel truck and bus regulation that if
implemented as presently drafted would have a profound, negative
impact on California's economy. 

Western Propane Service supports improving the state's air
quality. However, the Board's proposed regulation places a
significant economic risk on our business today, which is already
under stress from the recent financial crisis. 

 CARB is proposing this multi-billion dollar regulation during the
worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and small
businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Companies like mine
are being asked to dispose of equipment and assets before their
useful life has been completed and purchase new equipment before it
would otherwise be acquired. A combination of this proposed rule
and the state of the economy have left the trade-in or resale value
of our equipment worth pennies on the dollar. My company and others
like us simply don't have the resources or access to capital to
retrofit our engines. Some of us may be forced to sell off our
 trucks at a loss or shutter our companies' doors, ultimately
costing jobs and revenue to the state's economy. 

Given the multi-billion dollar cost of this regulation and the
current volatile economic environment, please support the
alternative proposal proposed by the Driving Toward a Cleaner
California Coalition that would give companies like mine the
opportunity to comply in the most reasonable time frame and
flexible manner possible while still attaining aggressive emission
reductions. In fact, CARB's own analysis of the DTCC alternative
confirms that the DTCC alternative proposal achieves roughly
similar emissions benefits to the proposed regulation in the
long-term.

Thank you for your consideration.