EPA Won’t Delay 2010 Engine Rule

By Eric Miller, Staff Reporter

This story appears in the Jan. 19 print edition of Transport Topics.

A top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official said last week that the agency has “absolutely no intention” of granting the request by truck and engine manufacturer Navistar Inc. for a two-year delay in implementing 2010 federal diesel emission standards for new heavy trucks.

“Changing the timeline at this point would not only be bad for the environment and unfair for companies that have invested millions of dollars to do the right thing in meeting the environmental standards, but is something that, based on the input and discussions that I have had, cannot be justified,” Margo Oge, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said in a Jan. 12 interview with Transport Topics.

Oge said she was confident all large heavy-truck manufacturers, including Navistar, are on schedule to meet the new standards.

“We have had significant dialogue with all the companies on the technological pathway to the 2010 program, and we are pretty confident that the companies will be able to meet the 2010 standards and will provide products that will not only meet the standard but will be pretty good products for the customer,” she said.

The 2010 standards, mandated by the Clean Air Act, require that diesel engines drastically cut both nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, or soot.

Roy Wiley, a Navistar spokesman, characterized the request not as a delay, but as a chance for carriers to buy either 2010-compliant engines or 2007-compliant engines, which are less expensive.

“All we’ve asked for was choice,” Wiley said. “Give these poor truck owners and operators and trucking companies that are going out of business left and right the opportunity to have a choice.”

“We are prepared to meet and will meet the 2010 emission standards with our EGR engines,” Wiley said.

Navistar is the only manufacturer planning to use exhaust gas recirculation to meet EPA’s 2010 engine mandate to cut nitrogen oxide emissions. All other makers of heavy-truck engines will use selective catalytic reduction systems to comply.

Oge, who said her department has had “weekly discussions with all the stakeholders” affected by the 2010 standard, said a number of states are in “dire need” of the new heavy-truck standards to help them comply with federal clean-air mandates.

“What the states have told us is that they rely on this program to meet their ozone and PM air-quality goals,” Oge said.

In November, Navistar joined the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in calling for a “restructured timeline, phasing in the tougher standard to allow ample breathing room and build confidence within the trucking industry (click here for previous Premium Content story).”

OOIDA said it had asked for the delay because it would give manufacturers more time to “prove the worthiness of the new engines, give the economy an opportunity to recover and explore new fuel alternatives.”

“It’s the worst possible time for the trucking industry to take on a high-stakes gamble with no known level of reliability of the technologies or return on investment,” Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA, said in a statement.

Last year, a Navistar spokesman said the company was prepared to talk to members of Congress and the Obama administration about the requested delay.

However, Oge said she believes the new administration will support enforcing the 2010 deadline.

Navistar’s Wiley said he would not comment on whether the company has discussed the matter with members of Congress or the Obama transition team. However, he said Navistar believes the new administration might be willing to consider the request because so many financially troubled carriers can’t afford the more-costly 2010 engines.

“President-elect Obama wants to stimulate the economy,” Wiley said.

Oge said she had spoken with a top Navistar executive about the request for the first time Jan. 12.

“We have looked at the argument of Navistar, and we believe it has absolutely no basis,” Oge said. “When companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to meet the 2010 standards, we believe it’s pretty unfair to pull the rug from under those companies that have made the investments to meet the problem.”

Jed Mandel, president of the Engine Manufacturers Association, confirmed that all member companies are “ready to go for 2010.”

EMA and officials of Cummins Inc., Volvo Trucks North America, Mack Trucks Inc. and Daimler Trucks North America have rejected Navistar’s plan.

“Moving the goal post now is not necessary and unfair to those who have invested heavily and worked diligently to meet the clean-air goals set by EPA,” said Dennis Slagle, chief executive officer of Mack Trucks.

“All the companies are ready, including Navistar, as I read in various statements,” Mandel said.

“There are demonstration products that are in fleets’ hands as we speak,” Mandel said, “so there are 2010 demonstration engines and tractors that customers are using right now.”

He said the 2010 engines will be more fuel-efficient than current models on the market.

Mandel said he doesn’t expect a large 2009 pre-buy by fleets seeking to postpone buying trucks with engine changes.

“I think that fleets understood and learned from the experience that took place in 2007 that pre-buying isn’t necessarily such a great strategy, which, as I understand it, has led to some overinventory in the fleets right now — which by itself may diminish the likelihood of a pre-buy in 2009.”