Association Calls on CARB to Repeal Costly, Unneeded Off-road Diesel Rule
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has acknowledged that it has vastly overestimated the amount of diesel pollution being emitted by the construction equipment currently in use in California. In fact, the construction industry will meet state-mandated targets for reducing pollution for many years to come even with no statewide rule forcing contractors to retire or retrofit their equipment. CARB staff recently reviewed and fixed significant flaws in its emissions data in direct response to an AGC study showing that actual diesel fuel sales in California to construction companies were far lower than the state's computer model predicted. AGC is calling on CARB to repeal its costly and unneeded rule. If AGC stops the rule in California, won't be able to adopt it locally.
that CARB staff developed over the summer led the Board to agree that emissions from the off-road equipment in California's construction industry are and will remain far lower than they originally thought. CARB previously relied on the now-abandoned estimates to justify the imposition of requirements on contractors in California to reduce emissions from their off-road diesel equipment fleets. Â However, in late August and early September, CARB has acknowledged that California does not need its costly off-road rule to meet the air quality goals that it set for itself set in 2007.
- Â Without the rule, NOx emissions from off-road equipment will remain well below the levels that the Board has targeted for the foreseeable future.
- Without the rule, the PM emissions from off-road equipment will remain well below the levels that the Board has targeted for at least the next five years. Â