Congressman calls for hearing on California truck emissions rules

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) requested that the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit examine two California Air Resources Board truck emissions rules during a hearing. In a letter to Subcommittee Chairman John J. Duncan (R-TN), DeFazio asked Duncan to schedule a hearing to examine CARB’s On-Road Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles (In-Use) regulation, and the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction regulation, according to a report in Land Line magazine. DeFazio expressed concern over the impact the California agency’s regulations will have on trucks domiciled outside the state.

Also known as the Retrofit Rule, CARB’s Truck and Bus rule required trucking fleets to install diesel particulate filters and upgrade their truck engines beginning in January 2012.
To meet CARB’s Heavy Duty Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction regulation, 2010 and older tractors must begin using a combination of low-rolling-resistance tires and aerodynamic products aimed at improving diesel efficiency beginning in 2013. All tractors and trailers must be compliant by 2020.

“I have heard from a constituent in my district who is concerned these new ARB rules unfairly apply to out-of-state truck drivers and motor carriers,” DeFazio wrote in the letter, dated March 28. “I believe a hearing presents an opportunity to understand these rules and to probe what effects rules put in place by one state mean for motor carriers based outside of that state, and what effects such rules could have on efficient transportation and goods movement on our nation’s highways.”