Hastert Seen Seeking Engine Rule Delay

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has joined those pressing the Bush administration to postpone the Environmental Protection Agency’s Oct. 1 deadline for heavy-duty diesel engines to meet new emission standards, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Caterpillar Inc., a major engine maker facing substantial penalties because it has said it won’t meet the deadline, is located in Hastert’s home state.

Hastert’s action echoes a recent appeal for a temporary postponement of the deadline by the American Trucking Associations, as well as Caterpillar and about 70 other lawmakers, including Rep. Ray LaHood (R.-Ill.), who represents Peoria, Ill., where Caterpiller is headquartered.

An earlier plea was rejected by the Justice Department and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. (TT 7-15, p. 1)

The deadline came about as the result of a 1998 consent agreement worked out between the Clinton administration and engine manufacturers, the Post said. It calls for a drastic reduction in the amount of nitrogen oxides emitted by engines after Oct. 1, 2002.

However, Caterpillar and others now argue that more time is needed for manufacturers to test the new engines.

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