Copyright 2000 The Kansas City Star Co.
THE KANSAS
CITY STAR
May 18, 2000, Thursday METROPOLITAN EDITION
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 1185 words
HEADLINE:
Rolling back pollutants;
EPA calls for dramatic reduction of truck, bus
emissions by 2010
BYLINE: MICHAEL MANSUR; The Kansas
City Star
BODY:
Federal regulators took aim
Wednesday at those sooty belches from
trucks and buses, proposing to
drastically cut harmful emissions by
2010.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency proposed new limits on
emissions from truck and bus
engines, both gasoline and diesel, and
new diesel fuel
limits that would reduce sulfur content by 97
percent.
"The dirty diesel buses and trucks of today will be history,"
said
Carol Browner, EPA administrator.
The EPA proposal was greeted with
cheers and jeers.
Environmentalists called it the most significant step to
clamp down
on truck and vehicle exhaust in nearly 30 years. Industry groups
criticized the proposal, saying it would dampen the U.S. economy and
hurt consumers by increasing the cost of shipping goods around the
nation.
"We are deeply concerned that EPA's proposal will seriously
harm
consumers," the American Petroleum Institute said in a joint
prepared statement with the trucking, gasoline marketing
and pipeline
industries.
The dark, black clouds that follow buses
and trucks, Browner
said, were more than annoying: She called them a health
threat and
said there was growing evidence linking such emissions to lung
cancer.
She said an estimated 15,000 deaths each year were
associated
with soot and smog pollution, along with millions of cases of
respiratory problems and 400,000 new cases of asthma.
Environmental
groups hailed the proposal, which still must
withstand months of public and
congressional hearings as well as a
lobbying effort from the oil, pipeline
and trucking industries.
"This is the biggest vehicle pollution news
since the removal of
lead from gasoline, and could lead to
the most significant national
public health advance in a generation," said
Richard Kassel, senior
attorney and head of the Natural Resources Defense
Council's Dump
Dirty Diesels Campaign.
Removing
sulfur from diesel fuel could reduce emissions of dozens
of
harmful pollutants, including known carcinogens and respiratory
irritants.
It also could reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, which
contribute to the
formation of ozone and urban smog.
Emissions from heavy trucks and buses
have been largely
unregulated, while most other pollution sources have faced
new limits
under the federal Clean Air Act, Kassel said.
"The whole
regulation of diesel emissions have been behind the
curve,"
he said.
What's more, the industry's estimates that compliance would
cost
$3 billion or more were probably inflated, Kassel
added.
Nonetheless, the oil and trucking industries have said that
reducing sulfur levels to 15 parts per million, a 97
percent
reduction from the current 500 parts per million, would require
expensive new production and distribution systems.
"Distributors may
find it impossible to employ the existing fuel
transportation system because
of problems with mixing fuels with
higher sulfur levels,"
the American Petroleum Institute said
Wednesday.
Walter B. McCormick
Jr., president and chief executive officer of
the American Trucking
Associations, said clean air initiatives must
be pursued without hurting
economic growth.
"To pile on a rule that could raise the cost of a
diesel truck
engine by thousands of dollars and drive up the price of diesel
fuel
by yet another 20 cents a gallon would force many in our industry off
the road," McCormick said. "The U.S. economy can't afford to pay
this
high a price."
Reducing sulfur levels less drastically
could provide significant
health benefits at a lower cost, the petroleum
institute said.
The impact of the proposed regulations
could be especially
harmful to independent truck operators that make up most
of the
industry, said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in Grain Valley.
"One
of the biggest problems small operators have is passing the
increased cost
of fuel to their customers," Spencer said. "They've
been struggling with
that issue since the beginning of this year and
not doing very well."
Spencer said he doubted the EPA's contention that the cleaner
fuel
would cost only 3 to 4 cents more a gallon.
"California has a different
quality fuel standard, and the cost
there is anywhere from 10 to 18 cents a
gallon more," he said. "I
think government estimates should be looked at
critically."
Peter Wunsch, from the cab of his blue semitrailer, said he
worried that the costs of the new rules would be borne unfairly by
independent truckers like him.
At a Pilot Truck stop off Interstate
70 at the Grain Valley exit,
Wunsch said Wednesday afternoon that higher
fuel prices had cut into
his paycheck by about $900 a month
this year. To defray those costs,
Wunsch has installed several expensive
devices, including several
$360 air-check valves that
monitor tire pressure.
So, in such a belt-tightening environment, the
news from
Washington hit hard.
"They will put this on us, the cost
of this, because we need new
engines, new fuels," Wunsch said. "It's already
bad."
Likewise, trucker Michael Browning said he was already trying
hard to cut his fuel bill. So increased costs won't be welcome.
"It's going to get tougher," Browning said. "I'm having to
spend
more of my money to haul people's freight."
But in her Washington news
conference Wednesday, Browner said the
agency had had numerous discussions
with various industry officials
and was not persuaded that the
sulfur-content restriction would be
too difficult or costly
to achieve.
"We don't see any reason why we shouldn't be able to deliver
clean diesel fuels and all the air pollution benefits that would come
with them," Browner said.
The EPA also was providing the industry
flexibility by giving it
several years to comply, she said.
It was
important to understand that sulfur content in diesel fuel
must be drastically cut in order to achieve health benefits, Browner
said. Otherwise, catalytic converters would be fouled by the
sulfur.
Older diesel vehicles, according to EPA
officials, can emit
almost 8 tons of pollutants per year.
Beginning
in 2004, light-duty trucks, minivans and sport utility
vehicles also must
meet stringent new limits. As part of those
limits, sulfur
content in gasoline must be reduced by 90 percent.
-
The Star's Randolph Heaster and Ruth E. Igoe contributed to
this article.
- To reach Michael Mansur, The Star's environment writer, call
(816)
234-4433 or send e-mail to mmansur@kcstar.com
@ART CAPTION:Clinton
administration proposals for stricter emission
limits will affect buses and
tractor-trailer trucks such as this one,
which was headed east along
Interstate 70 near Grain Valley on
Wednesday.
@ART:Photo (color)
@ART CREDIT:DAVID PULLIAM/The Kansas City Star
@ART CAPTION:What the
proposal would do
@ART CAPTION:How pollutants would be reduced under
proposed EPA rule
@ART:Graphics (2)
@ART CREDIT:Source: U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency; The Kansas
City Star
LOAD-DATE: May 18, 2000 
