Engine Makers to Appeal Calif. Decision

The Engine Manufacturers Association said it will appeal an Aug. 21 court ruling that California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District can require public agencies to buy low-emission or alternative-fuel vehicles for their fleets of trucks, vans, buses and other vehicles.

The ruling, hailed as a landmark by environmentalists, upheld a ban on diesel vehicles used in southern California public fleets to reduce air pollution.

A spokesman for the district, William Kelly, said the fuel plan does not now affect commercial trucking but covers refuse trucks, school buses, street sweepers, vans used in shuttle operations, limousines, taxis and all government agency vehicles.

“We have not gotten involved with trucking as yet, but we are developing a rule next year that would apply to the purchase of utility trucks and petroleum tankers,” he said in an Aug. 28 interview with Transport Topics. “That would be our next step.

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