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Loren Faulkner

California Off-Road Diesel Rules Become Law June 15, 2008
May 18, 2008

It’s a done deal. Friday, California’s Office of Administrative Law approved California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) controversial off-road diesel regulations. The rules were sent to the Secretary of State to be written into California Law within 30 days. Unless the combined wisdom and experience of multiple contractors, engineers, and construction industry experts such as AGC of California, EUCA, SCCA, and CIAQC are totally wrong, new CARB regs will wreak havoc on California’s construction industry shortly.

As noted many times before in California Builder and Engineer magazine articles and editorials, everyone wants to see an improvement in the air we breathe. But CARB staff spurned the request for a more reasoned, and realistic time-scheduled approach to reaching clean air goals. Already, contractors are selling perfectly good off-road heavy equipment at auction. Some are already calling it quits.

It is not only the prohibitive costs involved, and the lack of viable retrofitting equipment and/or Tier 4 level new engines causing the problem. It is also the beaureaucratic nightmare and expense it will cause contracting business owners who must now keep detailed records on each engine in its fleet and submit to Sacramento each year. View the entire set of regs at :  http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2007/ordiesl07/ordiesl07.htm

CARB administrators have said non-compliance may cost $10,000 per day, per violation, but would probably start at only $500 per day per violation.

But hold on, other states are expected to follow in the footsteps of California. According to the EPA Green Book, these states are similar in air pollution problems. They may adopt California’s regs, soon:

Alabama,Connecticut,Delaware,Georgia,Illinois,Indiana,Kentucky,Maryland,Missouri,Montana,New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia.

Let us see what the aggressive California Air Resources Board agenda will now produce. I hope the construction industry testimonials were overstated.

Posted by Loren Faulkner on May 18, 2008 | Comments (3)