Over the past few years, the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has been working on some new standards for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from heavy-duty trucks – a key ingredient of the brownish haze that blankets California.
The administration of President Biden will soon propose a regulation to address these emissions, and this is exciting news because we haven’t had a regulation like this ever since 2001.
The Clean Trucks Plan by EPA includes exhaust standards on smog-forming particulate matter (PM) and NOx greenhouse gas standards improvements in order to incorporate the growing availability of zero-emission vehicle technology.
In an email that the EPA spokesman Rick Conger send to FreightWaves, he stated that the EPA is currently working on a planned rule to decrease pollution produced by heavy-duty engines and vehicles that would sustainably reduce NOx emissions and update standards for other categories.
After a public comment period, the agency will complete the rule before 2022 ends, and it will put it into operation for 2027 models and beyond. When diesel combustion happens, it creates a toxic plume that contains NOx, as well as over 40 carcinogenic compounds.
Will Berrett, the director of clean air advocacy for the American Lung Association, stated that diesel exhaust is one of the worst things out there as far as what it can do to your health.
Exposure to ozone and particle pollution can harm our cardiovascular and respiratory systems, causing a greater risk of heart disease, strokes, heart attacks, asthma attacks, and even premature death. Both are particularly harmful to children.
Environmental advocates hope that EPA will adopt a standard as strict as the one California finalized in 2020, and there are indicators that they have good reason to be optimistic. It was reported that the upcoming federal rule will be developed on California’s, but that some technical details might be different. The California rule requires engine manufacturers to ultimately decrease NOx emissions by at least 90%.
This is a pressing public health crisis across the country, especially for communities near ports, warehouses, and highways. This is a key chance for the Biden administration to get rid of diesel pollution for trucks, something environmental justice communities have been requesting for decades. The EPA has a remarkable opportunity to reduce air pollution, and address the climate crisis.
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