The differences in the diesel retrofit programs that have been announced in Sacramento, Calif., and Washington, D.C., revolve around money. While the federal government is unable to say how many dollars will actually be available to clean up commercial fleets and municipal transportation, the California government has mandated millions of dollars to help trucking companies retrofit truck engines to meet air-quality standards.
The federal government announced its voluntary diesel engine retrofit program in March, but the initiative has not yet been formally adopted. In fact, so little progress has been made that the feds put up only an informational Web site in early December. Without final information, carriers are in the dark about whether they will be eligible for any tax breaks to help modify existing diesel engines so they run cleaner. As it stands now, carriers will have to pay the full price for any retrofit.
A similar voluntary program in Sacramento has already yielded obvious benefits — 50 dirty diesel engines have been replaced by cleaner-burning engines, with more anticipated to follow. A large part of the success of the California program is its funding.
The California Legislature has given the Sacramento Air Quality District $50 million to clean up the air in the metropolitan area. SAQD plans to use some of the money to replace between 3,000 and 6,000 dirty diesel engines, everything from light-duty to heavy-duty trucks, to eliminate the five tons of nitrogen oxides that trucks discharge daily into Sacramento’s air.
For the full story, see the Dec. 18 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
