EPA Aims to Cut Pollution From Equipment

[AP / H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency
announced regulations Monday aimed at cutting pollution from
diesel-powered farming and construction equipment and other off-road
machinery by more than 90 percent over the next six years.
The EPA regulation, which will be formally signed Tuesday,
requires refiners to nearly eliminate sulfur in diesel fuel used in
construction, farming and other off-road activities by 2010 and for
use in large ships and locomotives by 2012.
As a result of the cleaner fuel and the ability to build
cleaner engines the amount of smog-causing chemicals and fine soot
from such vehicles and machinery is expected to be reduced by more
than 90 percent, according to the EPA.
Off-road machinery and vehicles -- used in construction,
farming, industrial practices and at airports -- account for a
quarter of all the smog-causing nitrogen oxide and nearly half of
the fine soot from mobile sources.
Fine soot and smog are blamed for increases in respiratory
illnesses and thousands of premature deaths annually. Children, the
elderly and people suffering from asthma are especially vulnerable.
The EPA previously moved to reduce emission from large,
diesel-powered trucks.
Separately, on Tuesday the EPA also will propose sharp
reductions in pollution from large ships and locomotives by
requiring that diesel fuel used in those engines also be nearly
sulfur-free.
The tougher diesel requirements for off-road vehicles and
machinery were proposed a year ago.
EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt was scheduled to brief
President Bush on the new diesel requirement and other air pollution
control issues at a meeting Monday at the White House.
Under the final rule Leavitt will sign Tuesday, refiners
will have to cut sulfur in diesel to 500 parts per million within
the next three years and to 15 parts per million by 2012.
The amount of sulfur in diesel fuel used in construction,
farming and other off-road activities currently is unregulated and
can be found as high as 3,400 parts per million, according to
government and industry estimates.
The new diesel requirements will have "substantial air
quality and public health benefits" and "play a key role in helping
states and localities meet health-based air quality standards," said
Bill Becker, executive director of associations that represent state
and local air pollution control officials.
Environmentalists, otherwise sharply critical of the Bush
administration on air pollution issues, applauded the EPA's action
on diesel fuel.
"It's remarkable that these strong rules come from the same
administration that has otherwise turned back the clock on 30 years
of environmental progress," said Emily Figdor of the U.S. Public
Interest Research Group, a grass-roots environmental advocacy group.
There are more than six million pieces of off-road diesel
equipment in operation, from large earth movers and farm tractors to
small trucks and airport baggage carts. There are an estimated
650,000 such vehicles and equipment sold annually.
Sulfur-laden diesel causes air pollution control equipment
to malfunction. The new low-sulfur fuel requirements will make it
possible for manufacturers to build cleaner diesel engines and
comply with new EPA engine standards that will begin to be phased in
by 2008.

[AP / H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pollution should be sharply reduced from
off-road vehicles and equipment ranging from forklifts to farm
tractors to tugboats under regulations announced Monday by the Bush
administration.
The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a final rule
Tuesday that requires refiners to remove nearly all the sulfur in
diesel fuel used by these off-road engines. The rules are aimed at
cutting their tailpipe releases of smog-causing chemicals and fine
soot by more than 90 percent.
Off-road vehicles used in construction, farming, industrial
plants and airports account for a quarter of all the smog-causing
nitrogen oxide and nearly half of the fine soot from mobile sources,
according to the EPA.

Fine soot and smog are blamed for increases in respiratory
illnesses and thousands of premature deaths annually. Children, the
elderly and people suffering from asthma are especially vulnerable.

EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt briefed President Bush on the
new diesel regulations and other air quality issues at the White
House on Monday.
The EPA previously issued requirements for cleaner diesel
fuel for large tractor-trailer rigs, trucks and buses, and for
gasoline, requiring refiners to take most of the sulfur out of these
fuels. Engine makers have argued that the sulfur destroys pollution
control equipment.
The regulation, to be signed by Leavitt on Tuesday, extends
the tougher sulfur standard to diesel used in the off-road vehicles
and to tug boats, barges, ferries and other types of boats. The EPA
also will propose a separate rule Tuesday that will establish new
environmental standards for locomotive and marine engines.
Under the new regulation, refiners will have to cut sulfur
in diesel used in off-road engines to 500 parts per million within
the next three years and to 15 parts per million by 2012, compared
to a sulfur content of as much as 3,400 parts per million in some of
the fuel used today.

The new diesel requirements will have "substantial air

quality and public health benefits," said Bill Becker, executive
director of associations representing state and local air pollution
control officials. "This rule will play a key role in helping states
and localities .... meet health-based air quality standards."
Becker said state officials and environmentalists had wanted
a quicker phase in, requiring the low-sulfur fuel as early as 2007.
But he said refiners said they couldn't meet the deadline, so they
were given until 2010. In return, the EPA agreed to expand the rule
to cover marine vessels and locomotives, which environmentalists
called for.
The Bush administration and the EPA in particular have been
under sharp attack from environmentalists over air quality issues,
including actions that give industry more flexibility in dealing
with pollution from power plants and in reducing mercury emissions.
But environmentalists on Monday applauded the EPA's diesel
fuel requirements.
Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, called the
new requirements for off-road vehicles "a breath of fresh air" and
said they will "help protect millions of Americans suffering from
asthma and all Americans that are hard hit by pollution from diesel
exhaust."

"It's remarkable that these strong rules come from the same
administration that has otherwise turned back the clock on 30 years
of environmental progress," said Emily Figdor of the U.S. Public
Interest Research Group, a grass-roots environmental advocacy group.

Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the
industry-sponsored Diesel Technology Forum, said the tougher fuel
requirements will usher in "a new era of off-road diesel engines and
equipment."
------
On the Net
Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov
Diesel Technology Forum www.dieselforum.org

[AP / H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pollution is expected to be sharply

reduced from off-road vehicles and equipment ranging from forklifts
to farm tractors to tugboats under regulations announced Monday by
the Bush administration.
The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a final rule
Tuesday that requires refiners to remove nearly all the sulfur in
diesel fuel used by these off-road engines. The rules are aimed at
cutting their tailpipe releases of smog-causing chemicals and fine
soot by more than 90 percent.
Off-road vehicles used in construction, farming, industrial
plants and airports account for a quarter of all the smog-causing
nitrogen oxide and nearly half of the fine soot from mobile sources,
according to the EPA.
Fine soot and smog are blamed for increases in respiratory
illnesses and thousands of premature deaths annually. Children, the
elderly and people suffering from asthma are especially vulnerable.

EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt, after briefing President
Bush at the White House, compared the regulation to the government
years ago removing lead from gasoline.
"We're now going to take sulfur out of diesel, and add
catalytic converters to diesel engines," Leavitt told reporters.
"The result will be that that black puff of diesel smoke that we've
become accustomed to seeing on big trucks and on construction
equipment and on buses will be a thing of the past."

The EPA previously issued requirements for cleaner diesel
fuel for large tractor-trailer rigs, trucks and buses, and for
gasoline, requiring refiners to take most of the sulfur out of these
fuels. Engine makers have argued that the sulfur destroys pollution
control equipment.
The regulation, to be signed by Leavitt on Tuesday, extends
the tougher sulfur standard to diesel used in the off-road vehicles
and to tug boats, barges, ferries and other types of boats. The EPA
also will propose a separate rule Tuesday that will establish new
environmental standards for locomotive and marine engines.
Under the new regulation, refiners will have to cut sulfur
in diesel used in off-road engines to 500 parts per million within
the next three years and to 15 parts per million by 2012, compared
to a sulfur content of as much as 3,400 parts per million in some of
the fuel used today.
The new diesel requirements will have "substantial air
quality and public health benefits," said Bill Becker, executive
director of associations representing state and local air pollution
control officials. "This rule will play a key role in helping states

and localities ... meet health-based air quality standards."

Becker said state officials and environmentalists had wanted
a quicker phase in, requiring the low-sulfur fuel as early as 2007.
But he said refiners said they couldn't meet the deadline, so they
were given until 2010. In return, the EPA agreed to expand the rule
to cover marine vessels and locomotives, which environmentalists
called for.

The administration and the EPA in particular have been
criticized by environmentalists on air quality issues, including