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ANTI-POLLUTION * USA - California proposes rules limiting that, from nearly all diesel trucks
The black soot that big-rig trucks belch from their chugging diesel engines may soon become a thing of the past
San Jose,CA,USA -The San Jose Mercury News, by Paul Rogers -10 Dec 2008: -- In one of the more far-reaching smog regulations that California has ever proposed, state air regulators are considering a first-in-the-nation plan that would require nearly every privately owned heavy diesel truck in the state to install a filter that would reduce emissions of soot from their rigs by 85 percent... The new regulation would affect 1 million truckers, half of them registered out of state who regularly drive on California freeways. If approved by the California Air Resources Board at its meeting Friday, it would take effect in 2010, with nearly all trucks required to be retrofitted by 2014... The filters — stainless steel and three feet long — attach to exhaust pipes and cost $15,000 to $20,000 per truck. Those who back the proposal point to massive public health benefits. Opponents call the costs prohibitive, especially during a time of economic crisis... But critics, led by the California Trucking Association, the California Chamber of Commerce and roughly 100 other business groups, say the proposed rule would deal a crippling blow to the state's truckers at a time when the economy already is in recession... The basic issue, Nichols said, is that people replace cars about every seven years with less-polluting models so the air continues to get cleaner. But diesel engines can last up to 1 million miles and, unless their turnover is accelerated, can be around for decades... If the rule is approved, as expected, Mary Nichols, chairman of the air board, predicted that other states will copy it... School buses also would be required to get filters but not replace their engines under the rule... The trucking industry is hoping to have an extra six years to comply... (Photo by D. Ross Cameron / Bay Area News Group - A cargo crane looming in the distance, diesel trucks wait)* California truckers choke on proposed emission rules
Silicon Valley,CAL,USA -The San Jose Business Journal, by William-Arthur Haynes -December 11, 2008: -- Silicon Valley trucking companies fear the cost of complying with proposed regulations on diesel emissions could run their businesses off the road... The California Air Resources Board was expected to vote Dec. 12 on controversial regulations estimated to cost the trucking industry $5.5 billion. If passed, the standards would require operators of California’s 1.5 million diesel trucks and buses to begin retrofitting existing engines or replacing them with newer, cleaner-burning fleets by 2010... Driving Toward a Cleaner California, an advocacy group of more than 200 truck owners, farmers and contractors, calls the proposal “the nation’s most stringent new emissions regulations that could also be the most costly and far-reaching rule that business has yet to face”... (Photo by Vicki Thompson - Rudy A. Lopez drives for Roadstar Trucking Inc., which would have to replace its 30-truck fleet if the California Air Resources Board passes proposed diesel emissions regulations) Labels: air pollution
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