Greenhouse-Gas Rules to Include Study of Several Technologies, Officials Say
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The next phase of the federal government’s greenhouse-gas regulations for trucks will include an examination of a “suite” of technologies that can lower emissions and increase fuel efficiency, an Environmental Protection Agency official said.
The first phase of the regulations took effect in January. The next phase for heavy- and medium-duty trucks will affect model years after 2018.
“In the first phase of the rule we mainly looked at the tractor engine,” Arvon Mitcham, an EPA project manager, told attendees at a session of the Technology & Maintenance Council’s annual conference. “But now we’ve heard from the industry, and we want to look at the tractor-trailer as a system. We recognize that some of the objectives of our Phase 2 will be built upon a successful Phase 1.”
President Obama has ordered EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with assistance from the California Air Resources Board, to issue a proposed Phase 2 rule by March 15, 2015, Mitcham said.
Federal regulators will then seek public comment and must issue a final rule a year later.
“For 25 years our industry has had a focus on reducing emissions and increasing use of onboard diagnostics,” said Paul Menig, CEO of Tech I-M. “On the negative side, we’ve seen increased fluid costs, increased cost of acquisition for new trucks, possibly reduced residual values, more downtime, and increased maintenance costs. And yet, we have seen significant improvement in the quality of our air and still see improvements in fuel economy well above 6 miles per gallon.”
Additional coverage will be included in the March 17 print edition of Transport Topics.
