From the EPA: Final Rule Reduces Air Toxics from Stationary Diesel Engines

Emissions reductions will save lives and protect health

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is setting the first standards that will reduce emissions of formaldehyde, benzene, acrolein and other toxic air pollutants from certain stationary diesel engines. These pollutants are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health problems and environmental damage.

“Improving air quality is one the agency’s top priorities,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “Controlling emissions from these engines will save lives and protect our communities from serious health problems, including heart attacks, asthma and other respiratory illnesses.”

The emission limits apply to existing diesel engines meeting certain criteria for age, size, and use. EPA estimates that more than 900,000 of the engines generate electricity and power equipment at industrial, agricultural and other facilities. The engines also are used in emergencies to produce electricity and pump water for flood and fire control. Emergency engines used at most residences, hospitals and other institutional facilities, and commercial facilities such as shopping centers are not covered by this rule.

To meet the emissions requirements, owners and operators of the largest of the engines will need to install emissions controls, such as catalysts, to engine exhaust systems. Emergency engines covered by this rule need to comply with operating requirements that will limit emissions.

EPA estimates that the rule will reduce annual air toxics emissions by 1,000 tons, particle pollution by 2,800 tons, carbon monoxide emissions by 14,000 tons, and organic compound emissions by 27,000 tons when fully implemented in 2013.

EPA will issue final emissions standards for similar existing stationary engines that burn gasoline, natural gas and landfill gas, known as spark ignition engines, by August 10, 2010.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/new.html

Notice from CARB on March 1st Deadline

Until further notice, no enforcement action will be taken for noncompliance with the March 1, 2010, large fleet performance requirements of the off-road regulation.

Air Resources Board (ARB) Executive Officer James N. Goldstene issued a statement informing fleets that until further notice, ARB will take no enforcement action for noncompliance with the March 1, 2010, large fleet performance requirements of the off-road regulation. This is primarily due to the fact that ARB has not received authorization from U.S. EPA to enforce the emission related requirements of the regulation.

Please note that the idling, reporting, labeling, and sales disclosure requirements in the regulation remain in effect and fully enforceable. This means that large fleets still must comply with the April 1, 2010, reporting deadline (i.e., still must report their reduced activity and reduced horsepower to ARB). For more information regarding these requirements, please see the off-road knowledge center webpage at http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/ordiesel/knowcenter.htm

Also, in recognition of the continuing effects of the global recession, on March 11, 2010, in Sacramento, ARB will conduct a hearing where stakeholders may testify on whether the off-road regulation should be modified further, beyond the relief that the Board already enacted in July, 2009. At the hearing, ARB will gather more factual information on the impact of the recession on affected fleets to determine if further changes to the regulation are warranted.

ARB next week will also issue an enforcement advisory to clarify the current situation and next steps. Further information concerning the status of the off-road regulation is available in the following letter that ARB sent yesterday to the Associated General Contractors, available at http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/ordiesel/documents/goldstene21110.pdf

Air Pollution Linked to Atherosclerosis

A recent study by researchers from California, Spain and Switzerland, have found a link between increase exposure to air pollution and thickening of artery walls, leading to cardiovascular disease.

The team found that artery wall thickening amoung people living within 100 meters of an LA highway progressed twice as quickly as those who lived farther away from the congested thorough fare.

“The fact that we can detect progression of atherosclerosis in relation to ambient air pollution above and beyond other well-established risk factors indicates that environmental factors may play a larger role in the risk for cardiovascular disease than previously suspected,” says study co-author Howard N. Hodis, M.D., director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit and professor of medicine and preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine.

The research findings were based on five randomized controlled trials conducted during the past decade, involving the measured effects of outside air pollution to the progression of atherosclerosis in 1,483 test participants living in the Los Angeles area. Investigators found that the annual progression of artery wall thickness among those living within 100 meters of a highway was accelerated by 5.5 micrometers a year, or more than twice the average progression of people living further away.

California Gives Relief to Off-Road Construction Equipment Owners

Statement issued today (02-12-10) by California Air Resources Board Executive Officer James N. Goldstene:

“Over the last several years, the construction industry has felt the sting of the faltering economy with reduced activity and idled off-road equipment. This has made it difficult for contractors to pay for required clean-air upgrades to their fleets. Along with this reduced construction activity has been a corresponding reduction in construction emissions.

“Because of this, ahead of a March 1, 2010, compliance deadline, ARB will issue an enforcement advisory to notify all stakeholders affected by the off-road equipment regulation that effective immediately, and until further notice, no enforcement action will be taken for noncompliance. In addition, on March 11 an Executive Officer hearing will be held where stakeholders may testify on the question of whether the off-road regulations should be further modified to account for the down economy and subsequent emissions reductions. That information will be included in an already-scheduled update to the full Board at its April meeting.

“ARB will continue to evaluate the impact of the recession on emissions from all sources and make adjustments to our regulations as needed. However, the health of all Californians requires that all industries continue to use the cleanest, most efficient equipment possible. Clean air is not a luxury – it is a right. We need to continue to work toward goals that save us all money in healthcare costs, lost work and school days, and contribute to our quality of life.”

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB’s mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.

CARB Hosts Symposium on Particulate Matter

The California Air Resources Board will host a symposium on Feb. 26th on the science behind the methodology used to estimate premature deaths in California that are related to exposure to particulate matter (PM). Scientists from academic institutions and government agencies have been invited to participate. Topics to be discussed include scientific findings regarding the association between PM2.5 exposure and premature death, criteria for selecting a concentration-response function for making estimates of PM2.5-related deaths in CA, how uncertainties should be addressed, and whether we can differentiate the effects of PM2.5 from specific sources.

Clean Diesel Technology Helps Meet Current and Any Future Ozone Clean Air Standards

The Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first public hearing on proposed revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone, held in Arlington, VA.

“While the merits of reducing the allowable levels of ozone in the atmosphere are now under considerable debate, there is no debate about the progress and importance of clean diesel technology in meeting the nation’s clean air goals,” said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of DTF, a non-profit group which represents diesel engine, vehicle and equipment makers, fuel refiners and suppliers of engine and emissions control technology.

Clean diesel - the combination of cleaner diesel fuel along with advanced clean-burning diesel engines and emissions control technology - is already at work in key sectors reducing emissions of both particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), an ozone precursor. From 2007 to 2009, new heavy-duty commercial trucks reduced PM levels by over 98 percent, and NOx by about 50 percent. New commercial trucks sold now in 2010 are at near-zero emissions for PM and also for NOx (0.02 grams per brake-horsepower-hour); an additional 50 percent reduction from 2007 levels.

“Low-emissions clean diesel technology is not limited to just new commercial highway trucks,” said Schaeffer. “Today’s clean diesel cars now meet the same emission certification standards as gasoline vehicles while getting 20 to 40 percent better fuel economy.” New construction and farm equipment and marine boats and locomotives are on a pathway to reduce emissions levels of NOx and PM to levels nearly the same as highway vehicles between now and 2014. An important first step occurs June 1, 2010 when off-road machines and equipment begin using ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel; a change first made for highway vehicles in 2006.

Progress in reducing ozone precursors (NOx) is not just limited to new technology. The leaders in clean diesel industry are also attacking the emissions challenge on the other end by demonstrating the ability to modernize and upgrade existing diesel engines and equipment to yield lower NOx and PM. Through replacing some engines with newer models and upgrading existing diesel engine components or adding emissions control devices, everything from school buses to marine work boats and construction equipment can achieve lower emissions; in some cases by as much as 90 percent from original performance levels.

About the Diesel Technology Forum
The Diesel Technology Forum is a non-profit national organization dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of diesel engines, fuel and technology, working with policymakers and other stakeholders on common solutions. Forum members are leaders in clean diesel technology and represent the three key elements of the modern clean-diesel system: advanced engines, vehicles and equipment, cleaner diesel fuel and emissions-control systems.