US: All long-haul trucks on California roads to be subject to SmartWay environmental laws
By: Glenn Brooks, Friday, May 30, 2008, AutomotiveWorld.com
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) says it has drafted new regulations that, if enforced, will require tractors and trailers to be fitted or retrofitted with aerodynamic devices and low rolling-resistance tyres, the eTrucker portal reports.
CARB's initiative is in keeping with the recommendations of the Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay certification standards. The Board is seeking ways to ensure compliance with a 2006 state law that mandates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
The new regulations would apply to all long-haul heavy-duty tractors and 53-foot vans operating in California, regardless of the state of their registration. New vehicles would have to be compliant as at the start of the 2011 model year, with 2014 the deadline for older tractors and trailers. In the case of the latter, retrofitting will apply under a phase-in schedule based on the size of each vehicle.
Enforcement would be carried out on the roadside and at loading docks, CARB says, though it adds that California shippers and receivers rather than the trucking industry would be its main area of focus so as not to provoke a backlash from the haulage industry.
The next step in the process is for CARB's board to consider the regulation at a scheduled meeting in October.
Published on Friday, May 30, 2008
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