New diesel pollution rules will save lives

The California Air Resources Board took a decisive step last week that will soon save lives throughout the state. It adopted a fair plan to begin distributing $1 billion in bond money to truckers and other freight haulers who are willing to help cut their toxic diesel air pollution.

This action couldn't come at a better time. In October, the Air Resources Board plans to adopt regulations that will require owners of older polluting trucks operating in the state to clean up their pollution. A similar rule already has been adopted for trucks that work at the ports.

As a group, trucks are the largest source of toxic diesel pollution in the state, and about three-quarters of the $1 billion is earmarked for truck cleanup. Air pollution experts agree that if the state's most polluted regions are ever going to achieve clean air, diesel trucks have to get cleaner faster than they would through natural turnover. The reason: Diesel engines are tough and last a long time.

Older trucks are essentially heart-and-lung killers on wheels. It isn't unusual for a truck that's 20 years old – and older – to still be hauling heavy loads. Yet a 20-year-old truck has no pollution controls. The Air Resources Board estimates that pollution from freight activities in the state causes 2,400 premature deaths annually and will cost more than $200 billion in lost days at work and school, health care, and deaths in the aggregate from 2005 to 2020. Everyday people who have nothing to do with the movement of freight end up bearing that cost through their health and happiness.

However, research shows that truckers are among the most vulnerable to their vehicles' pollution. The most recent study, conducted by Harvard University researchers and published in August, concluded that truckers have a much higher rate of lung and heart disease than most people because of truckers' increased exposure to diesel soot.

The proposed rule to clean up older diesel truck engines has met with early resistance. At public workshops held throughout the state, truckers, trucking company representatives, construction company representatives and agriculture lobbyists have claimed that the new rule is going to bankrupt them.

This kind of claim is not unusual. Air regulators hear it just about every time they propose a rule. What's different this time is that the state's residents are offering a helping hand to anyone who is willing to step up and do their part before the regulation passes.

The bond money, combined with about $140 million a year in clean-up incentives available through the Carl Moyer Program, offers an opportunity for truckers and other diesel engine owners to get help to do the right thing before regulations are adopted. Moreover, the state air agency is joining with other agencies to investigate the possibility of establishing a low-interest loan program to help truckers clean up their vehicles.

Who is the driving force behind all of this new money? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Legislature, air regulators and voters deserve most of the credit. Some credit also should go to environmentalists and health advocates, many of whom have worked side-by-side with industry and policymakers to identify incentives to step up the rate of cleanup for the state's air.

The ARB's vote last week means that by early spring about $250 million of the new bond money will be sitting at local agencies within the four largest trade corridors – Central Valley, Bay Area, South Coast and San Diego. That money should be accessible by late spring to truckers willing to invest in cleaner engines. Cleaning the air isn't free or easy, but these new incentives will help ease the transition.

About the writer:

• Kathryn Phillips works on transportation and air quality issues in the Sacramento office of Environmental Defense Fund, a national nonprofit environmental organization.