Technology Briefs - July 19 - July 25
The Latest Headlines:
- California to Require Onboard Diagnostics Starting in 2010
- FedEx to Offer Advance-Notice Service
- Court Won’t Force EPA to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions
- FedEx to Offer Advance-Notice Service
California to Require Onboard Diagnostics Starting in 2010
The California Air Resources Board Thursday adopted a rule that requires engine manufacturers to install onboard diagnostic systems to monitor emissions of nitrogen dioxide from heavy trucks.Manufacturers will have to install the onboard systems on some engines starting in 2010 and by 2016 all truck engines operating in California must have detection systems installed, CARB said in a statement.
The board said onboard systems must feature sensors that monitor 120 locations in an engine that can leak nitrogen oxide when they age or break down. Transport Topics
FedEx to Offer Advance-Notice Service
The less-than-truckload unit of FedEx Corp. said Wednesday it was preparing to launch advance-notice software to automatically notify customers if their shipments are delayed.Douglas Duncan, FedEx Freight’s chief executive officer, told Transport Topics notices will begin Sept. 13.
“This is a menu-driven service in which the customer tells us who they want us to tell — [either] them, the consignee or whomever — when a shipment is going to be late,” Duncan said.
He said about 1% of the company’s 67,000 shipments each are delayed. Daniel W. Guido
Court Won’t Force EPA to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions
A federal appeals court has refused to require that the Environmental Protection Agency regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks.A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a July 15 decision, ruled against 12 states, three cities and numerous environmental organizations.
A lower court had agreed with the EPA’s claim that it lacked the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, and the appeals court did not overturn that ruling. The case was filed in 1999.
In a 2-1 ruling, the court said a 2003 memo from EPA General Counsel Robert Fabricant about regulating greenhouse emissions did not constitute a regulatory action.
The memo from Fabricant to former EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said the Clean Air Act “does not authorize regulation to address global climate change,” the court said in agreeing with EPA’s position.
Fabricant’s memo reversed a 1998 opinion by then Administrator Carol Browner, who said the Clinton administration had the legal authority to regulate greenhouse gases, the appeals court said. Tarun Reddy
