WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 20: EPA Administrator Michael Regan delivers remarks at an event about a new national clean air standard for heavy-duty trucks near U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters on December 20, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
As Biden administration officials reveal first crackdown in decades on pollution from heavy duty vans Last month, they introduced the requirements as an important step towards environmental justice and cleaner air.
This measure forces engine manufacturers to adopt technology designed to limit exhaust emissions emissions. However, falling within the 1,200-page rule is an exemption – promoted by manufacturers including daimler Truck North America and Navistar International Corp. — at risk of wiping out the potential for smog reduction of regulation.
Since pollution control systems do not operate effectively in colder conditions, this provision is designed to relax some standards as temperatures drop. But the change begins at a mild 77F (25C) — warmer than average for most of the continental United States, even in the summer.
For Dave Cooke, a senior media analyst at the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, the joke speaks for itself. “It’s a gap big enough to push through a polluting pickup truck,” Cooke said.
The administration’s approach highlights the challenge it faces President Joe Biden as he struggles to balance two sometimes competing goals: protecting the environment and boosting the economy. Biden touts his green credentials, but industry lobbyists — armed with warnings about higher costs — are undermining some of his efforts.
Pressure from allies in the oil industry has further complicated efforts to curb pollution from the prolific Permian basin. And the risks will only grow as the administration begins drafting sweeping regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and passenger cars.
The I have to go to school every dayThe new U.S. rule, finalized in December, aims to prevent smoke-based pollutant emissions from 18-wheelers and other heavy-duty trucks starting with 2027 models. This is a limited update. for the first time in more than two decades.
Proponents hail the regulation as key to preventing respiratory illnesses that arise when nitrous oxide spews from exhaust pipes and reacts with sunlight to form ozone. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the requirements would promote “improving air quality across the United States,” especially for the poor and communities of the United States. color overloaded by air pollution.
When engines come off the assembly line, they will have to meet emissions limits that are 80 percent stronger than current standards. The provisions will help reduce nitrous oxide emissions from heavy trucks on the road by nearly 50% by 2045, the EPA estimates. Additional road tests are said to ensure that pollution does not increase when the engine is used in the real world.
But the limits on the road dropped from 77F to 41F. And at colder temperatures, real-world test data will be completely discarded. That’s a far cry from the EPA’s earlier suggestion of skipping on-road performance of just 19.6F or less. While the new rule still limits pollution, the exemption has made it less effective.
“We’re concerned that that could mean manufacturers have to use less control technology,” said Kim Heroy-Rogalski, California director, and “could let their emissions go up” “. Air The Resource Board’s mobile resource regulation development branch.
In California alone, this change could add one ton more nitrous oxide pollution a day by 2037, according to CARB estimates — roughly the equivalent of putting 780,000 more cars on the road, compared with those What would this rule achieve without the adjustment .
The waivers come at the behest of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, a small but powerful trade group. Lab tests commissioned by the team used a stream of cold air blown over a sample engine to show emissions rise below 77F. The association says tightening pollution controls will require more heat, use more fuel and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Daimler Truck North America told EPA that the proposed standards are not feasible because cold air temperatures “directly affect the system’s ability to comply.” PACCAR Inc. and Navistar urged the EPA to rule out test results at higher temperatures.
When officials at the California Air Resources Board noticed the effort last fall, they pushed back. The state, which has long been at the forefront of US environmental regulations, is struggling to combat smog made worse by heavy trucks transporting goods across the region.
CARB has already performed real-world emissions monitoring on operating trucks — but in contrast to industry-funded lab tests, California data shows that pollution controls are still in place. works when the temperature drops.
In the end, the EPA agreed with the manufacturers’ argument, calling the group’s test a key indicator of the standard’s viability and concluding that the results suggest the limits “should be higher in terms of numbers.” volume to account for real-world temperature effects.” The CARB data came too late to be considered in developing the final rule, the EPA said in an emailed statement. The agency highlights other requirements that will help drive real-world performance. The EPA’s approach is unique. In Europe, real-world emissions shouldn’t be allowed to rise even when it’s as cold as 19 degrees Fahrenheit, said Ray Minjares, heavy vehicle program director at the International Council on Clean Transport.
The Manufacturers Association argues that adjusting the temperature will not lead to an increase in the percentage of ozone because it does not form more readily in colder weather. The industry group says California’s road tests are based on older engine models. Daimler says regulating the ambient temperature “reflects both the laws of physics and the laws of sound.”
California officials and environmental activists are pushing the Biden administration to change course. Critics can file a lawsuit challenging the rule.
“We really think the EPA should reconsider that temperature regulation,” says Heroy-Rogalski. CARB is looking for ways “that we might have to encourage them to reconsider that.”
Related videos:
