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Please consider the following news release from the California
Air Resources Board:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/newsrelease.php?id=541

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 13, 2013

NEWS RELEASE 13-72

CONTACT:

Karen Caesar
(916) 322-2990
kcaesar@arb.ca.gov

The California Air Resources Board yesterday announced that it
will provide relief to truckers working to meet state deadlines
for upgrades to their aging diesel fleets. The relief is detailed
in a regulatory advisory which recognizes ‘good faith’ efforts of
fleets to meet upcoming compliance deadlines. The advisory also
provides ‘early access’ to planned regulatory changes to be
considered by the Board in April 2014.

The move comes as larger fleets are required under the Statewide
Truck and Bus Regulation to complete the upgrade for most of
their trucks with diesel particulate filters by Jan. 1, 2014, and
as smaller fleets are just beginning to undertake similar
actions.

“The Air Resources Board is implementing new, flexible compliance
options for truck owners who show they have made good faith
efforts to comply with the regulation before Jan. 1, 2014, and is
providing additional time for many fleets to complete their
clean-up efforts,” said ARB Executive Officer Richard Corey.
“These changes will help businesses meet the clean-up
requirements in a way that will not compromise the health
benefits or emissions reductions that this vitally important
regulation will achieve over its lifetime.” 

Funds for fleet upgrades are available to qualified applicants,
including $30 million in Prop 1B grants targeted for use by small
fleet owners with three or fewer trucks.  In addition,
state-sponsored loans through the Truck Loan Assistance Program,
which recently received $20 million to help small businesses
comply with the regulation, are also available. Owners of logging
trucks may also be eligible for $3 million in grant monies.  (For
more on funding opportunities, visit:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truckstop/azregs/fa_resources.htm.

Next month, Air Resources Board staff will conduct workshops
throughout the state to hear comments from local elected
officials, industry representatives and stakeholders on staff’s
planned regulatory changes. For a list of locations, see:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/documents/2013-12%20Workshops.pdf.

Proposed amendments to the regulation, which are still under
development, are expected to provide additional time for owners
in specified regions to complete their clean-up efforts. Also,
owners of lower-use vehicles throughout the state are expected to
gain flexibility options as well.

For more information on the specified regions, what constitutes a
“good faith effort” to comply with the Truck and Bus Regulation,
or which fleets are being afforded with additional time to
comply, truck owners are urged to view today’s advisory here:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/mailouts/msc1328/msc1328.pdf.

Anyone with questions on regulatory requirements can visit ARB’s
Truck Stop Website
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truckstop/truckstop.htm, call
866-6DIESEL, or email 8666Diesel@arb.ca.gov. We do ask for extra
patience as call volumes are extremely high as the Jan. 1
deadline draws nearer.

Fast Facts:
   •   Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases and
over 40 other known cancer-causing compounds. In 1998, California
identified diesel particulate matter as a toxic air contaminant
based on its potential to cause cancer, premature death and other
health problems.
   •   The Truck and Bus Regulation (Regulation) was adopted in
2008 to clean up harmful emissions from nearly all heavy-duty
diesel trucks operating in California.  The Regulation was
amended in 2010 to provide economic relief to truckers affected
by the recession, particularly small fleets, by delaying the
first compliance requirements by one year and extending the time
the truck could be operated before needing to be replaced.  
   •   The Regulation requires most heavy trucks in California to
install soot filters or upgrade to newer models with filters by
Jan. 1, 2014, and that nearly all trucks have them installed by
Jan. 1, 2016.
   •   Out of the 260,000 trucks registered in California that
need a soot filter, about 140,000 are already compliant, with
another approximately 100,000 using regulatory flexibility to
delay their compliance date.
   •   About 20,000 still need filters by the end of 2013, with
5,000 of these being in large fleets.
   •   For small fleets (three or fewer vehicles), Jan. 1, 2014,
is a critical compliance milestone because for the first time at
least one vehicle in each fleet will need to comply.  ARB
estimates that about 15,000 vehicles in small fleets still need
to retrofit or upgrade to meet this compliance deadline.
   •   At its October Hearing, the Board heard an update on the
Regulation and agreed with staff’s proposal to move forward with
a number of near-term strategies to provide flexibility while not
compromising the overall reduction and health benefits to be
achieved by the Regulation.
   •   In 2000, the ARB adopted its Diesel Risk Reduction Plan, a
blueprint for developing regulations to address diesel emissions
from all sources including garbage trucks, urban buses,
construction equipment, port trucks and fuels.  For more
information, see:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/diesel/documents/rrpapp.htm