DTCC Calls On Air Resources Board To Factor in Economic Environment, Record Gas Prices In Development Of Newest Trucking, Construction & Farming Regulation
Sacramento, CA – As gas prices continue to rise and following today’s announcement that California’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed up to 6.8 percent, the Driving Toward a Cleaner California Coalition called on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to consider the state’s faltering economic environment as it develops the newest in a long line of regulations impacting construction, trucking, farming and other economic sectors.
“Construction contractors, truck owners and farmers are among the first Californians who have been impacted by the downturn in our economy, the rise in fuel prices and increases in the cost of goods that we have all experienced over the past year. As the economy continues to falter and the jobless rate rises at near-record levels, regulators in Sacramento continue to put into place new and costly regulations on these very same sectors,” said Mike Lewis, Senior Vice President of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition (CIAQC), representing tens of thousands of contractors who employ 850,000 carpenters, cement masons, truck drivers, operating engineers and laborers in California.
“We are willing to do our part to help clean up the air and our environment, but these are also tough economic times. We ask the members of the California Air Resources Board to work with us to develop an on-road truck and bus replacement rule that both cleans the air and keeps us in business so we can build California’s infrastructure, grow the world’s food and deliver people and goods to all corners of this state,” Lewis added.
In 2008, CARB is working to pass the on-road truck and bus replacement rule, the latest in the growing list of rules that impact the many small and medium-sized truck owners, construction contractors and farmers in California. Over the past several years, the State of California has put into place many costly regulations governing trucks and construction equipment – each of which is estimated to cost in the billions of dollars to implement.
The cumulative effect of these rules and the current economic environment is causing many companies to downsize, lay off employees or go out of business all together. Specifically, these sectors are facing either the implementation or pending approval/implementation of the following regulations:
Construction:
Portable Equipment Rule (Amended in 2006)
Off-Road Equipment Rule (Approved in July 2007)
On-Road Private Fleet Rule (Pending, Expected Vote In October 2008)
Statewide Construction Permit (pending, Expected in 2008)
Local NPDES Permit to ban construction 5 ½ months every year (Ventura County, Pending 2008)
Trucking:
On-Road Private Fleet Rule (Pending, Expected Vote In October 2008)
Transportation Refrigerated Unit Regulation (Approved February 2004)
Idling Rule (Approved October 2005)
Port Rule (approved December 2007)
Heavy Duty Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Rule (Pending, October 2008)
Farming:
Implementation of SB 700 (2006)
Stationary & Portable Diesel Agricultural Engine Rule (October 2007)
On-Road Private Fleet Rule (Pending, Expected Vote In October 2008)
Off-Road Agricultural Equipment Rule (Expected in 2009)
About DTCC
Driving Toward a Cleaner California” (DTCC), is a growing coalition of truck owners, farmers, construction contractors and other business and community leaders committed to working with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to craft a sensible truck and bus replacement rule that both cleans the air and keeps California’s economy moving forward.
The recently proposed on-road diesel truck and bus replacement rule – set to be voted upon by CARB this October – would impact the more than 1.5 million trucks and buses used to transport goods and people on California’s roads, highways and farms. Starting in 2010, this proposal would require every diesel truck and bus operating in California today – including “those transiting California roadways from other states and countries,” according to CARB – to be replaced or retrofitted. Given the millions of consumer and industrial goods and products delivered via truck each day in the state, these regulations could have a profound, negative impact on state’s economy and competitiveness.
Given the multi-billion dollar cost of this regulation – and the current volatile economic environment – DTCC believes the affected industries and other sectors should be given the opportunity to comply in the most reasonable timeframe and flexible manner possible.
For more information, please visit the DTCC website at www.drivecleanca.org.
