Faced with mounting opposition from truckers, farmers and other industry groups, the California Air Resources Board has pushed back consideration of a landmark regulation to reduce diesel emissions from more than 300,000 trucks and buses traveling the state’s roads and highways.
The proposed regulation is designed to prevent thousands of premature deaths and more than $1 billion in health problems associated with diesel exhaust by converting all trucks to cleaner-burning engines by 2020. It would require truck and bus fleet operators to start installing diesel filters in 2010 and then begin replacing the diesel engines entirely to newer, less-polluting models. When implemented over the next 12 years, it is estimated it will cost business about $5 billion.
The board had been scheduled to consider the regulation in October, but that was before a barrage of opposition from industry and agricultural groups. In a statement late last month, the Air Resources Board staff said that the proposal will now be presented to the governing board at its December meeting.
Contributing to this decision was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s executive order last month suspending overtime pay for many state agencies. The statement said that now with the limited staff time there would be insufficient time to complete the outreach and analysis by October.
“An important part of this effort is to complete our analysis of the economic impact on the many different types of fleets that will be affected by these rules,” the statement said. “We have also been meeting with many stakeholders, and are analyzing alternative regulatory proposals some have offered.”
Among the groups that have submitted alternative proposals is Driving Toward a Cleaner California, a coalition of truck owners, grocers, construction contractors and other business leaders vehemently opposed to the ARB regulation.
“The CARB rule? In a word, ouch!” said Valerie Liese, president of Ontario-based Jack Jones Trucking Inc. and the next president of the California Trucking Association.
Liese said that due to the sour economy, her company has cut back the number of trucks it has on the road from 50 to 38.
She said it will cost about $15,000 to put filters on each truck and then about $85,000 to replace her trucks in future years.
The trouble with installing the filters, Liese said, is that on older trucks, the cost of the filters exceeds the residual value of the vehicles.
The Air Resources Board, in its proposed regulation, intends to use $1 billion in Proposition 1B funds to help trucking fleets meet these costs. But Liese and other industry leaders contend that’s still not enough. They want more time to meet the deadlines.
Besides more time, the Driving Toward a Cleaner California coalition wants financial incentives to be given to operators that decide to convert fleets ahead of schedule. The group also wants exemptions for specialty vehicles that are hard or very expensive to replace, such as bobtail cargo tankers that cost up to $250,000 apiece.
Green Chemistry
Amid all the rancor over the state budget, a major deal was struck between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislative leaders of both parties on a plan to manage chemicals in products. It will dramatically alter how manufacturers operate statewide.
Two bills AB 1879, by Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, and SB 509, by Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto have been combined; they form the framework for the Schwarzenegger administration’s green chemistry initiative. The package passed the Legislature in late August, with the Schwarzenegger administration’s support, though it could get caught up in the governor’s pledge to veto even “good bills” if a budget isn’t passed this month.
The combined bills require the state Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations by 2011 that would identify “chemicals of concern” in many manufactured products. For each chemical, the environmental and health impacts must be assessed and alternatives weighed. All the information would then be entered into a database to be applied to uses of the chemicals in products or manufacturing.
So far, industry groups have reacted cautiously to the package. There is support for a standardized way of handling regulation of chemicals in products, instead of the current chemical-by-chemical approach.
Senior Hiring
The California Franchise Tax Board lost an administrative appeal last month to restrict the hiring of senior citizens using tax credits under the state’s enterprise zone program.
The board had sought to limit the hiring to senior citizens who meet low-income requirements. But DeVry Inc., the vocational and technology-oriented university with 16 campuses in the state including Pomona, Long Beach and Palmdale challenged the board’s move, saying the current eligibility of all senior citizens for hiring tax credits should be maintained. On Aug. 19, the state Board of Equalization ruled in DeVry’s favor.
Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227.
