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Board amends diesel rules

Public health still protected as economy recovers
. http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/newsrelease.php?id=171

Release #:10-64
Date:12/17/2010

ARB PIO: (916) 322-2990
CONTACT:

Karen Caesar
(626)575-6725
kcaesar@arb.ca.gov

Stanley Young
(916)956-9409
syoung@arb.ca.gov


Changes to diesel rules protect public health, provide relief and
flexibility to California businesses

Public health still protected as economy recovers
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SACRAMENTO - The California Air Resources Board today took
further steps to fight air pollution and protect public health by
offering businesses a variety of options to comply with
regulations to reduce soot from diesel engines.

“No other state, and no other nation has such an extensive set of
rules to slash pollution from diesel engines.  The diesel rules
for vehicles cover almost everything that moves on or off the
road, from trucks and buses to off-road construction equipment,
and over the next 12 years they will prevent 3,900 premature
deaths by removing thousands of tons of diesel soot from the air
we breathe,” said ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols.  “The changes we
set in place today will continue those public health benefits
while reducing the cost of compliance by more than 60 percent.”

The amendments complement earlier emission control measures that
aggressively target diesel pollution, which is associated with a
host of health ailments including cancer.  With the amended
regulations in place, diesel particulate matter emissions will be
reduced from today’s levels by 50 percent by 2014 and 70 percent
by 2020.

Over the past year, ARB staff held 20 public workshops throughout
the state to solicit stakeholder input and discuss options for
revising diesel control measures affecting commercially owned
trucks, buses, port trucks, tractor trailers and off-road
vehicles, including construction and large-spark ignition
equipment (e.g, forklifts). 

Statewide On-Road Truck and Bus Regulation:

Approved in December 2008, this regulation will clean up
emissions from the nearly one million heavy duty diesel trucks
that operate in California.  The approved amendments ensure that
the regulation will continue to do its job, helping the state
meet its federal obligations under the Clean Air Act while also
allowing businesses more flexible compliance options.  Key
amendments will:

    * Reduce overall compliance costs by about 60 percent as
California recovers from the recession;
    * Exempt about 150,000 lighter trucks from having to retrofit
withl particulate filters;
    * Delay initial compliance date for the retrofitting of
heavier trucks and allow them to operate another 8 years before
being required to use a truck that meets 2010 emissions
standards; and,
    * Expand credits for fleet downsizing, adding cleaner
vehicles ahead of any regulatory requirements, and for
installation of early retrofits.


In addition, the Board voted to require all school buses greater
than 14,000 lbs. GVWR to be retrofit with diesel filters by 2014.
If no retrofit is available, the buses have until 2018 to be
replaced by vehicles with a 2010 model year engine or emissions
equivalent.

For more details on the Statewide Truck and Bus Regulation,
please see:  http://www.arb.ca.gov/dieseltruck

Off-Road (e.g., construction equipment) Regulation:

First approved in July 2007, this pioneering regulation – the
first of its kind in the nation – is aimed at reducing diesel
emissions from the state's estimated 150,000 "off-road" vehicles
used in construction, mining, airport ground support and other
industries.  The state’s economic downturn, which began after
this regulation was adopted, heavily impacted this sector,
causing emissions to decline primarily due to fewer pieces of
equipment in use, along with reduced activity of the remaining
equipment.  As amended, the regulation will:

    * Delay implementation for all fleets by four years;
    * Reduce costs by 97 percent in next 5 years;
    * Expand or extend credits for businesses that comply before
their deadline or have downsized; and,
    * Ease annual requirements to clean up engines (e.g., small
fleets can extend phase-out period for oldest equipment over 10
years, from 2019 to 2029).  


For more details on the Off-Road Regulation, please see: 
http://www.arb.ca.gov/ordiesel

Port Truck Regulation:

Approved in December 2007, the port truck (or “drayage”)
regulation was adopted to modernize and clean up some of the
oldest, dirtiest trucks in the fleet – those that serve the
state’s busiest ports and rail yards.  The regulation has already
had an impact by banning pre-1994 trucks from these facilities
and requiring diesel particulate filters on others earlier this
year, enabling adjacent communities to breathe a little easier. 
The new amendments will:

    * Assure that all trucks serving the ports, including the
smaller Class 7 trucks, will have diesel particulate filters by
2014; and,
    * Expand the regulation to include trucks operating outside
port or rail yard properties to prevent non-compliant trucks from
receiving cargo from clean trucks in those areas.


For more details on the Port Truck Regulation, please see:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onroad/porttruck/porttruck.htm

Other amendments adopted today affect the Heavy Duty Diesel
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measure
(http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/hdghg/hdghg.htm) and the Large Spark
Ignition Regulation
(http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/orspark/orspark.htm)

California’s diesel emissions control measures were adopted under
the ARB’s Diesel Risk Reduction Plan, which was approved by the
Board in 2000, two years after diesel exhaust was declared a
toxic air contaminant by the state’s Scientific Review Panel. 
The ARB has already passed measures addressing urban buses,
garbage trucks, school bus and truck idling, stationary engines,
transport refrigeration units, cargo handling equipment at ports
and rail yards, ship engines, harbor craft and fuel.  

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.