Clean-air rule targets existing diesel-truck fleet

Big rigs in southern California will need to cut certain emissions, under a regulation approved last week.

By Daniel B. Wood | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
and Alison Tully | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

from the October 1, 2007 edition

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City of Commerce, Calif. - A new air cleanup rule approved Sept. 27 promises faster replacement or retrofitting of the dirtiest trucks on the road: the diesel-powered big rigs that ply southern California's highways by the tens of thousands on their way to and from the Port of Los Angeles, the nation's busiest.

Although California and its network of air-pollution control districts have battled for decades to clean up the skies – and have more measures on the drawing board – this regulation targeting trucking is likely to have the biggest impact and to become a model for other places with serious pollution problems, say environmentalists.

"This is a big deal nationally because it requires the fixing of problems on trucks that are already on the road," says Kathryn Phillips, manager of California Clean Air for Life Campaign, a program of Environmental Defense. "This could mean reaching lower emissions from trucks ... 10 to 20 years sooner than would happen if we just waited for older trucks to wear out and be replaced at their natural pace."

The rule, submitted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and approved by local and state officials Thursday, applies to the area that includes Los Angeles, which has the dirtiest skies in America. It was opposed by long-haul truckers, who say the rule requires them to make expensive upgrades whose costs, in the end, will be passed along to consumers of transported goods.

In California, about two-thirds of targeted emissions come from mobile sources, and 70 to 80 percent of that comes from diesel.

Here in the City of Commerce, a Los Angeles suburb known for its pro-business climate and as a manufacturing and industrial center, Angelo Logan applauds the new rule. A former mechanic who grew up here, he says the community's high rates of respiratory illness – 2.5 times higher than the national average – have led people with families to relocate elsewhere.

"Young people want to raise their children in the same neighborhood … but are scared because of the health risks of diesel emissions," says Mr. Logan. "Regulatory agencies need to use their authority to mandate that the trucking industry become a responsible corporate citizen."

Los Angeles tops the list of most-polluted skies, but California's San Joaquin Valley, Houston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, and Dallas are right behind – and all are struggling to meet federally mandated clean-air deadlines.

"Other cities and regions of the country [that] are looking for ways to reach clean-air goals will likely look to this California regimen for guidance," says Ms. Phillips.

About 687,000 diesel trucks produce more than one-quarter of California's particulate air pollution and cause 2,000 premature deaths and 3,600 hospital visits annually, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The US Environmental Protection Agency has given the SCAQMD until 2014 to bring its particulate-emissions count into compliance with US law and until 2023 for ozone. The new truck rules, along with other measures, are expected to help California reach those goals sooner.

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