EPA Jumpstarts Administrator Wheeler’s Cleaner Trucks Initiative - Agency Seeks Input On Initiative For Cleaner Emission Standards For Heavy-Duty Trucks
Lenexa, KS… U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler followed up on his November 2018 announcement and took concrete steps to advance the Cleaner Trucks Initiative (CTI) during an event at the Fauquier Livestock Exchange Jan. 6, 2020, in Marshall, Virginia.
The CTI rulemaking will establish new, more stringent emission standards for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other pollutants for highway heavy-duty engines. Through this Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), EPA is seeking input from the public and interested stakeholders.
“The Trucking industry touches nearly every part of our economy. A strong and resilient trucking industry is imperative to maintaining a strong and resilient economy. Through this initiative, we will modernize heavy-duty truck engines, improving their efficiency and reducing their emissions, which will lead to a healthier environment,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “The U.S. has made major reductions in NOx emissions, but through this initiative we will continue to reduce emissions, while spurring innovative new technologies, ensuring heavy-duty trucks are clean and remain a competitive method of transportation.”
This rulemaking will also offer opportunities to streamline and improve certification procedures to reduce costs for engine manufacturers. This action follows on the petitions from over 20 organizations, including state and local air agencies, to revise and promulgate more stringent NOx standards.
From 2007 to 2017, U.S. NOx emissions dropped by more than 40%, but there is more work to be done. Today, over 100 million people live in areas of nonattainment for ozone and particulate matter (PM) and, according to EPA estimates, heavy-duty vehicles will continue to be one of the largest contributors to NOx emissions – a precursor of ozone and PM formation – from the transportation sector in 2025. Updating these standards will result in significant mobile source NOx reductions, which will aid communities across the country in achieving ozone and PM attainment with EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards program.
EPA last revised NOx standards for on-highway, heavy-duty trucks and engines in January 2001. Pursuant to the Clean Air Act, the CTI will provide manufacturers sufficient time to comply with new standards and ensure that updated standards consider feasible emissions control technologies. Working together with state and industry partners, we can achieve environmental results through the pursuit of common-sense regulations that encourage economic growth.
EPA intends to publish a proposed rule in early 2020.
Learn more about the Cleaner Trucks Initiative here: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles...
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