Public Comment: Letter to EPA - Proposed Diesel Emission Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a major program to significantly reduce emissions from heavy-duty engines and vehicles. This is comprehensive 50-state control program regulates the heavy-duty vehicle and its fuel as a single system. They are proposing new emission standards that will begin to take effect in 2007, and will apply to heavy-duty highway engines and vehicles operated on any fuel. If fully implemented as proposed, this program will reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), key ingredients in ozone, by 2.8 million and 305,000 tons per year in 2030, respectively. Particulate emissions from these vehicles would be reduced by 110,000 tons per year in 2030.

The EPA Announcement is on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/diesel/f00022.htm

The period for which public comments will be accepted ends on August 14, 2000. EPA must receive all the comments by that deadline.

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Docket No. A-99-06 U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Air Docket (6102) 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20460 E-mail: diesel@epa.gov Dear EPA Administrator: As a person concerned about the quality of the air I breathe and the quality of the American lifestyle, I am writing in objection to your plan to tighten emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles that run on diesel fuel. I have reviewed the available data and believe that your stated goal to reduce the amount of soot that spews from trucks and buses by 90% and cutting smog-causing emissions by 95% will not be achieved and will not result in a major leap forward for cleaner air and healthier communities across the United States. It will result in increased costs for transportation that will seriously impact the life style of those who depend on diesel powered buses for transportation. In addition, the cost of goods transported by diesel powered trucks will create an undue expense for the consumer. At the same time, delaying the cuts on the smog-inducing emissions for 7-10 years is an acceptable decision; however, a 10-15 year period would be more reasonable. That extended period will allow technology to achieve improvements over time without serious economic impact to the consumer. In addition, the scientific evidence is not conclusive that these proposed reductions in NOx can be achieved nor that these sources of emissions pose a serious health risk. There are other soot and smog-causing sources of pollution that present a more serious health risk than the emission from diesel or gasoline power vehicles. Finally, I urge your agency to not consider a cap on the amount of sulfur in highway diesel fuel to be achieved by 2006. By setting an arbitrary limit at 15 parts per million, you will hamper state-of- the-art control technology that can achieve tremendous cuts in soot and smog-causing air pollution if industry is given time to experiment and develop the necessary technology and develop alternate means of transportation that will reduce the reliance on diesel power. All consumers will benefit from the difference. Again, conclusive scientific evidence does not support that these goals are achievable nor that they will achieve the desired health goals. They will have a significant economic impact on the consumer and their quality of life. Thank you for the opportunity to submit these thoughts and for giving them your most serious consideration. Sincerely,

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