 California Moves To Dramatically Reduce Diesel Particulate-Matter Emissions
By: Karen Caesar
Date:
December 12, 2008
Source: California Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Board (www.arb.ca.gov)
ARB adopts landmark rules to clean up pollution from "big rigs"
Regulations expected to prevent 9,400 premature deaths, improve
air quality and reduce greenhouse gases; more than $1 billion in
funding aid available for business owners
SACRAMENTO - The Air Resources Board today adopted two critical
regulations directly aimed at cleaning up harmful emissions from
the estimated one million heavy-duty diesel trucks that operate
in California. Beginning January 1, 2011, the Statewide Truck and
Bus rule will require truck owners to install diesel exhaust
filters on their rigs, with nearly all vehicles upgraded by 2014.
Owners must also replace engines older than the 2010 model year
according to a staggered implementation schedule that extends
from 2012 to 2022.
Also adopted today, the Heavy Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas
Emission Reduction measure requires long-haul truckers to install
fuel efficient tires and aerodynamic devices on their trailers
that lower greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy.
"Today's vote marks a milestone in the history of California's
air quality," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "The Board's
actions will not only help protect the health of 38 million
Californians, they will also ensure that California continues
strongly on its path to achieving clean air. And in light of
today's extremely challenging financial climate, I am also
pleased to say that the Governor, legislature and voters have
made available more than one billion dollars in grants and loan
programs to help truckers and business owners comply with this
vital public health measure."
Heavy-duty big rigs are the largest remaining source of
unregulated diesel emissions, responsible for 32 percent of the
smog-forming emissions and nearly 40 percent of the
cancer-causing emissions from diesel mobile sources (other diesel
emitters include trains, off-road vehicles and marine engines).
The greenhouse gas reduction measure applies to more than 500,000
trailers, while the diesel regulation applies to about 400,000
heavy duty vehicles that are registered in the state, and about
500,000 out-of-state vehicles that do business in California.
However, because many heavy duty vehicles are replaced or retired
due to normal business practices on a faster schedule than what
the new regulation will require, the number of vehicles expected
to be retrofit by 2014 under the rule is about 230,000, while up
to 350,000 vehicles would be replaced earlier than normal over
the next 15 years.
To help truck owners upgrade their vehicles, the state is
offering more than a billion dollars in funding opportunities.
Options include Carl Moyer grants, which are designated for early
or surplus compliance with diesel regulations; Proposition 1B
funds, for air quality improvements related to goods movement;
and AB 118, which establishes a low-cost truck loan program to
help pay for early compliance with the truck rule. In addition,
ARB is evaluating ways to integrate these programs so that
truckers can get a grant and a loan at the same time, minimizing
paperwork and significantly reducing the monthly payments for a
new truck loan.
To provide flexibility, the diesel regulation is structured so
that owners can choose from among three compliance options to
meet regulation requirements. There are exceptions to the
regulation, including low-use vehicles, emergency and military
vehicles, and personal use motor homes. School buses would be
subject only to requirements for reducing diesel particulate
matter and not for engine replacement.
California has the nation's most polluted air. Because of new
engine standards established in 2001, diesel engines operating in
California have been getting cleaner, but they are not getting
clean fast enough to meet air quality goals. With the new State
Bus and Truck rule in place, by 2014, diesel emissions will be 68
percent lower than they would be without the regulation, while
emissions of the smog-forming pollutant NOx (oxides of nitrogen)
will be 25 percent lower.
Diesel emissions are associated with cancer and exacerbate
cardiovascular and respiratory ailments, as do smog-forming
emissions. The truck regulation is expected to save 9,400 lives
between 2011 and 2025, and greatly reduce health care costs.
These benefits have an estimated value of $48 billion to $69
billion. The cost of installing the trailer
greenhouse-gas-reducing technologies will be quickly recouped
through lower fuel use.
ARB staff held dozens of workshops and met with hundreds of
business owners and other stakeholders over the last 20 months.
Without the diesel regulation, California will not be able to
meet U.S. EPA-mandated air quality standards and deadlines, and
could subsequently lose billions of dollars in federal highway
funding.
To reduce diesel emissions and improve air quality and public
health, the ARB adopted a Diesel Risk Reduction Plan in 2000 and
has already passed regulations addressing urban buses, garbage
trucks, school bus and truck idling, stationary engines,
transport refrigeration units, cargo handling equipment at ports
and rail yards, off-road vehicles, port trucks and other
sources.
For more information on the Statewide Bus and Truck Regulation,
go here:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2008/truckbus08/truckbus08.htm .
Fore more information on the Heavy Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Measure go here:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2008/ghghdv08/ghghdv08.htm.
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
onsidering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.
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