EPA Now Approves SCR, Official Says

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Truck and engine makers’ work on selective catalytic reduction technology has convinced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to abandon its “historical hesitancy” on that approach to emissions control.

Byron Bunker, a division director in EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said here his agency initially was concerned about SCR because the system requires substantial cooperation by the driver and widespread availability of diesel exhaust fluid, or liquid urea.

“We at EPA remain neutral on technology,” Bunker said, but he said at an event at the Mid-America Trucking Show on March 19 that “the industry has done a fantastic job in convincing us. This is an integrated, clean and straightforward solution.”