c o l u m n

Andrew Ryder • Editor
On Emissions

Paying The Piper

Both intrastate and interstate operators will pay for California’s clean air.

The 1998 diesels are the cleanest ever, and they’ll be even cleaner in 2004. But that may all be a moot issue for California.
Under the 1994 State Implementation Plan (SIP), overall truck nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions must be reduced by 11 tons a day by 2010. If California fails to comply, the feds will impose (drastic) measures to ensure it does — something the trucking industry would rather avoid.
The reduction would be simple if it wasn’t for one small problem: California has the oldest truck fleet in the country.
According to the California Trucking Assn., there are approximately 295,000 Class 8 trucks registered in the state. Of these, 156,000 are more than 10 years old.
Since trucks built before 1988 generally have little or no emission controls, they far outweigh the gains being made by newer low-emission diesels.
CTA says the fleet is aging because California’s more expensive clean diesel makes it the most expensive state in which to operate a truck. To save costs, operators are repairing older trucks and holding off purchases of new, cleaner vehicles.
Various solutions have been suggested. At the extreme end, environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council are calling for a total elimination of diesel engines in the state. (The group is also suing the state, claiming that SIP requirements have not been met).
NRDC touts scientific studies linking hundreds of premature deaths to diesel exhaust.
The group’s claims are not falling on deaf ears. The California Air Resources Board and the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment recently issued a report in which they proposed listing diesel exhaust as a toxic air contaminant. CTA and the Engine Manufacturers Assn. say the report is based on a number of erroneous assumptions.
But the state may still take action to limit human exposure to diesel exhaust. Fleets may be hit with additional costs associated with masks, filters and other protective equipment for employees.
Meantime, CTA is working with California lawmakers to come up with a way to reach the 11-tons-per-day SIP target without taking fleets to the cleaners.
Two pieces of proposed legislation provide ways to help operators pay for new, cleaner vehicles.
AB 1368, by Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, proposes a 6-cents-a-gallon tax on all fuel purchased outside the state and used within the state. The proceeds would be given to California operators as grants to help them buy new engines or retrofit old ones to reduce emissions.
SB 1096, from Sen. Jim Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, would provide fleets a tax credit of up to $20,000 if they purchased new trucks.
Both bills were held up in the Senate this year but are expected to be reintroduced in 1998.
CTA and other industry groups tend to favor Brulte’s incentive approach over Villaraigosa’s “let’s stick it to the out-of-state truckers” approach. CTA is suggesting other incentives such as no sales tax on new trucks from 1998 until 2003; investment tax credits of 6.5% at purchase; and grants from the Energy Commission to rebuild engines.
Another piece of legislation that did get through will relieve some of the cost burden for California truckers. Effective Jan. 1, operators who buy fuel in California can get tax credits for fuel burned outside the state. Current rules only reimburse 18 cents of the 26-cents-per-gallon state taxes for that fuel.
While CTA acknowledges the bill will help fleets, it sees it as only a bandaid measure and would like to see a nationwide clean fuel and low emissions standard similar to California.
Until that happens (and it may never), Californians will have to foot most of the bill for their SIP. The rest will be paid by those who are unlucky enough to truck into the Golden State.