EPA to write tougher emission limits for trucks

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it will draft rules that will reduce ozone-forming pollution from semi-trailer trucks while cutting out "inefficiencies" with existing standards.

Those trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles account for a growing percentage of emissions of nitrogen oxides, as other major sources of the pollutant such as coal plants close or install scrubbers. EPA says its new "cleaner trucks initiative" will help states address a sector that is set to generate a third of the ozone-forming pollutant by 2025.

"We are under no regulatory or court ordered requirement to launch this initiative," Wheeler said today during the launch of the initiative. "We are doing this because it is good for the environment."

Ground-level ozone, or smog, can aggravate asthma and other respiratory ailments and can decrease lung function, according to the EPA.

The agency last revised its emission standards for heavy-duty trucks in 2001 in conjunction with requirements to reduce sulfur content in diesel. Nitrogen oxide limits in that rule were about 95pc more stringent but gave truck manufacturers nearly a decade come into compliance. The new initiative seeks to mirror that approach by working with industry and states.

"We asked the agency to follow the same roadmap that has led to the past successes," said Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association president Jed Mandel, who is supporting the initiative.

EPA is still in the early stages of the regulatory changes and has yet to propose where to set the emission targets. But Wheeler said the initiative would make the truck emission limits more stringent while including a comprehensive review of existing requirements to "root out inefficiencies" such as those related to compliance, testing and re-certification.

Environmentalists support tightening the standards, but some groups are skeptical with the initiative because of the administration's focus on deregulatory actions and reducing costs for industry. They worry that relaxing testing standards could make it easier for companies to cheat and that the upcoming rules will be weaker than existing technology can achieve.

"It is hard to believe this administration's claims about safeguarding our air and communities from heavy duty trucks," Sierra Club deputy advocacy director Andrew Linhardt said.

EPA has yet to provide a timeline for proposing and finalizing the rule.