Legislative Bulletin - December 11, 2009

CARB to Consider Delaying Truck and Bus Rule, Amending Fleet Requirements

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced late yesterday, December 10, 2009 that the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved the On-Road Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles (In-Use) Regulation, also known as the Truck and Bus rule. CARB also says that their staff has been directed to propose amendments to the Truck and Bus rule that would provide additional flexibility for fleets adversely affected by the economy. Additionally, CARB notes that they have asked their staff to consider changing the March 31, 2009 reporting date that must be met by fleets with qualifying agricultural vehicles, fleets that wish to take advantage of the vehicle retirement credits, fleets that operate two engine sweepers, and fleets that have installed PM filters and want to claim early credits.

The OAL approved the Truck and Bus rule and directed the staff to propose amendments at their Board of Directors meeting on December 9, 2009. Any proposed amendments that would aim to help fleet owners affected by the downturn in the economy will be considered at the next Board meeting in April. TRALA has previously submitted comments to CARB in December of 2008 when this rule was still being proposed that warned about the effects the regulation would have on renting and leasing companies, as well as business in general.

The Truck and Bus rule applies to vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 14,000 pounds or more and applies to California based vehicles, as well as vehicles that operate in California, regardless of where they are domiciled. It will require a phase-in of performance requirements aimed at reducing particulate matter (PM) and NOx emissions from diesel engines. The phase-in will happen between 2011 and 2013 that will ultimately force fleets to be operating model year 2010 or newer trucks by 2023.

Please click here to see a summary of CARB’s compliance options for the Truck and Bus rule in its current form. A summary of provisions for small fleet owners to meet the rule in its current form can be seen here. The Truck and Bus rule, and these fleet compliance options still apply. They are subject to change if any amendments are approved by CARB at the Board meeting in April. TRALA will notify our membership if there are any changes to the rule or the fleet requirements.

For more information, please contact TRALA’s Joe Sculley at jsculley@trala.org or by calling (703) 299-9120.