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ARB staff would like to clarify for off-road fleets that the
March 1, 2010, off-road regulation retrofit requirements are
still in effect. 

ARB staff are committed to ensuring that the off-road regulation
does not present a safety hazard, but wish to remind fleets that
the recent agreement with OSHA (see
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/ordiesel/documents/retrofitvisibility.pdf)
does not relieve fleets of their obligations to install verified
exhaust retrofits where a verified device can be installed
without impacting operator visibility.

Fleets that must complete retrofits in 2010 should begin by
retrofitting those vehicles for which retrofits may be installed
without impacting operator visibility (for example, under the
hood or out of site of the operator). 

As many fleets have expressed interest in the safety exemption,
ARB wishes to clarify which fleets could have their retrofit
requirements reduced by the exemption.  The safety exemption will
only reduce a fleet’s total retrofit requirement for March 1,
2010, if over 80 percent of its fleet (by horsepower) is exempt
from retrofitting.  Any fleet that does not qualify for
exemptions for over 80 percent of its horsepower will still be
required to meet the March 1, 2010, requirement of retrofitting
the remaining 20 percent of the total fleet horsepower.  The
total fleet horsepower includes all off-road diesel vehicles,
including those exempt from retrofitting.

We have received many questions regarding the details of how the
new Interim Retrofit Visibility Policy will be implemented with
respect to existing retrofits, retrofits currently on order,
double credit under the off-road regulation, as well as many
requests for details on how to quantify and measure visibility
impairment due to retrofits.  We appreciate stakeholder’s
patience as we develop and publicize answers to those questions
as quickly as possible.