Comment Log Display

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is considering the
adoption of an on-road diesel truck regulation that if implemented
as drafted would have a profoundly negative impact on California’s
economy. 

My company supports improving the state’s air quality.  However,
the Board’s proposed regulation places a significant economic risk
on businesses today. We view this as a terrible time to force this
plan upon an already ailing economy and we believe it will cause
businesses to leave California, which will worsen the state’s
financial crisis. 

CARB is proposing this multi-billion dollar regulation during the
worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and small
businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Companies like mine
are being asked to dispose of equipment and assets before their
useful life has been completed and purchase new equipment before it
would otherwise be acquired. A combination of this proposed rule
and the state of the economy have left the trade-in or resale value
of our equipment worth pennies on the dollar. My company and others
like us simply don’t have the resources or access to capital to
retrofit our engines.  Some of us may be forced to sell off our
trucks at a loss or shutter our companies’ doors, ultimately
costing jobs and revenue to the state’s economy. 

Given the multi-billion dollar cost of this regulation and the
current volatile economic environment, please support the
alternative proposal proposed by the Driving Toward a Cleaner
California Coalition that would give companies like mine the
opportunity to comply in the most reasonable timeframe and flexible
manner possible while still attaining aggressive emission
reductions. In fact, CARB’s own analysis of the DTCC alternative
confirms that the DTCC alternative proposal achieves roughly
similar emissions benefits to the proposed regulation in the
long-term.

Thank you for your consideration in this most critical matter.