EPA’s Schedule for Consent Decrees Draws Complaints From Engine Makers

PHILADELPHIA — Representatives of diesel engine manufacturers took exception to the timetable for a new Environmental Protection Agency rulemaking proposal, with one accusing the federal regulator of “a breach of faith” at a Nov. 2 public hearing.

Bob Jorgenson, director of product environmental management for Cummins Engine Co., made the charge in offering his remarks — along with those of other manufacturers, the Engine Manufacturers Association, American Trucking Associations, environmental organizations and public interest groups — during the session concerning emissions from diesel and gasoline engines.

The proposals, as they relate to diesel engines, involve codifying the terms of consent decrees agreed to by the six major engine manufacturers in October 1998, said Margo Oge, director of the office of mobile sources at EPA. The comment period ends Dec. 2, and the rules should be finalized at the end of next month, she said.

The settlements with the engine producers — Caterpillar Inc., Cummins Engine Co., Detroit Diesel Corp., Mack Trucks, Navistar International Transportation Corp. and Volvo Truck Corp. — resolved a dispute with EPA over the use of “defeat devices” to pass federal emissions tests and could cost them an estimated $1 billion in compliance costs.

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