EPA Proposes Easing Some Heavy-Duty Truck Emissions Rules While Increasing Projected Pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed changes to heavy-duty vehicle emissions rules originally issued under the prior administration. The plan would scale back and postpone requirements on emissions-reducing technology warranties and useful life while replacing an automatic engine power reduction with a driver alert when systems fail.

Npr reported that EPA analysis estimates the revisions would save the trucking industry between $4,130 and $6,152 per affected diesel engine.

The same analysis projects a 4.2 percent rise in ozone-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from heavy-duty trucks in 2030 and an 11.6 percent increase by 2055 compared with current rules. The agency did not model resulting effects on air quality or human health.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that the changes, if finalized, would help manufacturers improve vehicles without rushing products to market and would ease real burdens for operators.

Kelly Loeffler, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, wrote that the revisions would alleviate burdensome diesel regulations on behalf of farmers, truckers, and small business owners. The American Trucking Association had requested the changes in February, arguing that the earlier policies would force a premature rollout of commercial vehicles with unproven engine technologies.

The group also asked the EPA to permit manufacturers to pay penalties instead of complying while developing compliant engines, an option included in the proposal. Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All campaign, stated that clean truck standards save lives and that weakening them would mean more toxic pollution and more families paying the price with their health.