CARB Offers Truckers Flexibility on Diesel Emissions Rule
The California Air Resources Board said late Wednesday it gave its staff until April to come up with a new provision to allow truck fleets more flexibility in reducing their diesel emissions.
The action was taken to “in light of the recession’s effect on the industry,” CARB said in a release. The board passed its rule last December, which was originally set to begin taking effect in 2011.
CARB said its staff demonstrated that the economy has reduced the amount of time trucks have operated, reducing emissions that would have occurred during normal economic times.
The rule was required truck owners to install diesel exhaust filters on their rigs by Jan. 1, 2011, with nearly all vehicles upgraded by 2014.
Possible scenarios for trucking firms include those with 20 to 50 trucks could be given an extra two years to comply, all companies could be given two more years to retrofit or replace 10 of their vehicles, or all fleets could be given an extra year to comply, the Associated Press reported.
The board also directed staff to redo a health report that carried the name of a researcher, Hien Tran, since it was learned he falsely claimed to have a Ph.D. in statistics from a California university, when it was from an online school.
One CARB member made a motion to scrap the entire diesel rule following that revelation, but his motion did not receive a second and was not voted on.
