Comment Log Display

CARB Board Members:
On behalf of CIOMA members we wish to make the following comments
on the Truck and Bus Regulation.  CIOMA members rely extensively on
diesel powered equipment in the delivery of fuel to the state fuel
consumers.  It provides the needed horsepower to haul and deliver
heavy fuel loads and provides a reliable technology, conveniently
powered by the fuel our members distribute.  We commented
extensively a year ago and our comments remain very critical of
this regulation and our members¡¦ ability to comply.

We have the following comments:
ƒ{	Our members are largely family owned small businesses who
operate fleets between 5 and 50 trucks.  Some members are common
carriers and have larger fleets.  However, to a small family-owned
business this regulation is unaffordable.
ƒ{	The so-called ¡§$2 billion¡¨ in assistance has failed to full
materialize.  And most, if not all, of the money available cannot
be accessed by our members due to fleet size, mileage requirements
or other barriers.
ƒ{	Our members own and operate trucks, such as bobtail units, that
require replacement of the entire truck, not just the engine.  In
these cases the cost, per truck, can exceed $250,000.
ƒ{	The recession has created significantly reduced income for our
members.  This directly affects their ability to afford particle
trap retrofits and new truck purchases.

CARB has failed to review or revise its economic analysis for this
regulation, even though the economic conditions have changed
dramatically over the last year.  CARB needs to perform an
affordability analysis of this regulation, beyond just calculating
the cost to industry.  Without this information, Board members have
no idea of how this will be implemented or the potential
consequences of their action.

CARB has never performed any research that might shed light on the
health consequences of companies laying of employees (curtailing
their health benefits) or the possibility of companies reducing
health care benefits to their employees due to having to make truck
expenditures.  Again, Board members will be ignorant of possibly
damaging health consequences from their actions.

CARB is facing a crisis in confidence and needs to send out its
underpinning science study for new peer review, and open debate on
its findings.

CARB¡¦s own analysis has indicated that diesel emissions have been
significantly reduced du to the recession.  Taking time to
re-examine both the economic and scientific data underlying the
regulation will create no harm to the public.

In the end, the SIP commitment may need to be re-evaluated due to
the potential negative consequences of this regulation.

Finally, without significant re-tooling this regulation may lead
to widespread civil disobedience, as regulated parties are faced
with no other options.  The regulated community has expressed its
desire to achieve a workable regulation that industry can afford
and achieve.  This was most clearly express last year when the
Driving Towards a Cleaner California (DTCC) proposal was offered
that provided equivalent emission reductions at the end of the
compliance period.  However, flexibility ¡V to assist companies in
their affording the costly requirements ¡V was provided during the
span of the regulation.

We ask for delay and good-faith negotiations to revise this to a
program that does not create further adversarial conditions between
the regulators and the regulated.

CIOMA represents independent marketers who purchase gasoline and
other petroleum products from refiners and sell the products to
independent gasoline retailers, businesses, and government
agencies, as well as representing branded ¡§jobbers¡¨ who supply
branded retail outlets, especially in rural areas.  Our members are
primarily small, family owned businesses who encounter unique
difficulties in meeting California¡¦s complex and increasingly
expensive environmental requirements.  We represent approximately
400 members, about half of whom are actively engaged in the
marketing and distribution of petroleum products and fuels.