EMISSIONS SOLUTIONS GUIDE
September 2007
U.S. Court Backs States Measures to Cut CO2 Emissions from Cars and Trucks
On September 12th, according to a New York Times report, a federal judge in Vermont gave the first legal endorsement to rules in California intended to reduce greenhouse gases from cars and light trucks. The judge also rejected a variety of challenges from auto manufacturers.
The ruling follows a decision in April by the U.S. Supreme Court that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to regulate heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide as air pollutants. The Vermont ruling endorses the idea that California has the right to set its own regulations on the gases, and that other states have the right to follow California’s lead.
The federal Clean Air Act gives California the unique authority to set its own emission standards and allows other states to adopt California’s rules instead of the federal rules.
The federal court ruling stated that auto manufacturers had not proved their claims that compliance with the rules in Vermont – clones of the California standards – was not feasible. Nor had automakers demonstrated that it will limit consumer choice, create economic hardship for the auto industry, cause significant job loss or undermine safety.
EPA Sued for Failure to Meet Ship Emission Regulations Deadline
The environmental group, Friends of the Earth, filed a lawsuit on September 5th in federal district court against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to meet a deadline to regulate air pollution from large ships. EPA committed to an April 2007 deadline to regulate ocean-going vessel emissions in a 2003 Final Rule approved by the Washington, DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
While ships remain the most efficient mode of transportation per unit of cargo, controlling ship emissions is a challenge, due mostly to the use of low quality bunker diesel fuel which seriously limits the choice of control technologies that can be used on ships.
Air emissions from most land-based engines have been regulated. Ocean going vessels are now among the largest mobile sources of air pollution. Exhaust emissions from the global shipping fleet are projected to double in North America in the next decade.
California Adopts Rule to Reduce Off-Road Equipment Emissions
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has adopted a regulation aimed at reducing diesel emissions from the state’s estimated 180,000 “off-road” vehicles of the type used in construction, mining, and airport ground support.
CARB’s “off-road” regulation will reduce emissions by installation of diesel soot filters and encouraging the replacement of older, dirtier engines with newer emission controlled models. Requirements and deadlines will vary depending on fleet size.
For small fleets, which include small businesses or municipalities with a combined horsepower of 2,500 or less, implementation does not begin until 2015. Medium fleets, with 2,501 to 5,000 horsepower, have until 2013, while large fleets, with over 5,000 horsepower, must begin complying in 2010. Affected vehicles include bulldozers, loaders, backhoes and forklifts, as well as many other self-propelled off-road diesel vehicles.
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