EPA Seeks New Truck NOx Rules

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), as the next step in its Cleaner Trucks Initiative (CTI). Speaking in Virginia, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the CTI rulemaking will establish new, more stringent emission standards for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other pollutants for highway heavy-duty engines. Through the ANPRM, the agency is seeking input from the public and interested stakeholders.

“The trucking industry touches nearly every part of our economy,” Wheeler said. “A strong and resilient trucking industry is imperative to maintaining a strong and resilient economy. Through this initiative, we will modernize heavy-duty truck engines, improving their efficiency and reducing their emissions, which will lead to a healthier environment.

“The U.S. has made major reductions in NOx emissions, but through this initiative we will continue to reduce emissions, while spurring innovative new technologies, ensuring heavy-duty trucks are clean and remain a competitive method of transportation.”

From 2007 to 2017, U.S. NOx emissions dropped by more than 40%, but EPA said heavy-duty vehicles continue to be one of the largest contributors to NOx emissions — a precursor of ozone and PM formation — from the transportation sector.  Updating the standards as part of what the agency called a “holistic rethinking of emission standards and compliance,” 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.

EPA last revised NOx standards for on-highway heavy-duty trucks and engines in January 2001. Pursuant to the Clean Air Act, EPA said the CTI will provide manufacturers sufficient time to comply with new standards and ensure that updated standards consider feasible emissions control technologies. EPA aims to publish a proposed rule in early 2020, with an eye toward establishing a final rule as early as 2021.

Formore information on the CTI, go here.

Comments on the proposal, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ OAR-2019-0055, can be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov. The public comment period will last 30 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register.