EPA publishes Advance Notice of Proposed Rule for heavy-duty engine emission standards
Following its November 2018 announcement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on 6 January 2020, an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule (ANPR) for heavy-duty engine emission standards. The EPA intends to publish a proposed rule in early 2020 and is now soliciting inputs from the public and interested stakeholders.
The rulemaking effort is known as the Cleaner Trucks Initiative (CTI). The purpose of the CTI is to update EPA emissions standards for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and potentially other criteria pollutants from highway heavy-duty vehicles and engines. According to the EPA, this action follows on the petitions from more than 20 organizations, including state and local air agencies, to revise and promulgate more stringent NOx standards.
In this ANPR, EPA provides stakeholders with EPA’s early thinking on CTI principles and program elements and solicits stakeholder input on preliminary plans for analyses and data to inform the upcoming notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
It also describes opportunities to streamline and improve certification procedures to reduce costs for engine manufacturers, according to the EPA.
“EMA looks forward to working with EPA on potential improvements to the heavy-duty on-highway engine regulations that can reduce the overall costs of compliance, preserve the necessary diversity of the commercial vehicle marketplace, and protect our customers’ need for fuel-efficient, durable and reliable trucks,” said Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) President Jed Mandel.
“As an organization representing members of the emissions control technology industry, we applaud EPA’s announcement today to begin the process for developing regulations to tighten emissions controls on heavy-duty diesel vehicles and engines and congratulate Administrator Wheeler for his leadership on this important issue,” said Emissions Control Technology Association President Tim Regan.
“AESI is encouraged that the agency is moving forward with this next step to update the 20-year old NOx standards for heavy-duty vehicles. A strong new national standard has the potential to create significant investment in American jobs and manufacturing, cost-effectively reduce harmful emissions in the nation’s most populated areas in a timely fashion, and help deploy American-developed advanced control technologies here and around the world,” said Advanced Engine Systems Institute (AESI) Executive Director Chris Miller.
The EPA last revised NOx standards for on-highway heavy-duty trucks and engines in January 2001. Pursuant to the Clean Air Act, the CTI will provide manufacturers sufficient time to comply with new standards and ensure that updated standards consider feasible emissions control technologies.
From 2007 to 2017, U.S. NOx emissions dropped by more than 40%. Today, more than 100 million people live in areas of nonattainment for ozone and particulate matter (PM), and according to EPA estimates, heavy-duty vehicles will continue to be one of the largest contributors to NOx emissions — a precursor of ozone and PM formation — from the transportation sector in 2025. Updating these standards will result in significant mobile source NOx reductions, which will aid communities across the country in achieving ozone and particulate matter attainment with EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards program.
To view this ANPR, click to download.
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