Proposed diesel emissions regulations expected to hit small business hard

Photo by Photo courtesy of TRG Equipment

OUTDATED DOZER: The proposed regulation from the Air Resource Board would cost businesses to operate pre-1997 models, like this 1990’s Case 850D Dozer.

The California Air Resource Board (ARB) will hold a public meeting May 24 in San Diego to consider adopting a regulation to reduce diesel emissions including particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from off-road diesel vehicles in California.

If the regulation is adopted, it would cost California businesses over $3 billion and 1,400 jobs. Construction businesses would bear half the cost. Over 71 percent of the affected diesels are owned by small businesses.

Owners in Shasta County would be required to modernize their diesel fleets by buying new, cleaner engines or retrofitting their engines with PM exhaust filters.

ARB approximates that “a typical small business with 1,000 horsepower could expect the total cost of the regulation over its lifetime to be $48,000 (2006 dollars), with annual costs of $2,000 per year during that period.” Diesels from the mid-‘90s and older would be targeted because they produce higher levels of emissions.

A phone poll of South County excavators to be affected by the regulation found a range of reactions to the proposed regulation.

“The regulation is too aggressive. It needs to be done, but it needs to be done logically” said Stephanie Gregory, co-owner of TRG Equipment, a general engineering contractor in Cottonwood. “They’re telling us we can’t use our tools. I’ll be down to two pieces of equipment if this goes through.”

“It’ll cost us some money, but it’s not going to run us out of business,” said Alex Gabel, owner of Gabel’s Hauling.

“We’re going to wait to see how it will be enforced,” said Tonia Trisdale of TNT Grading and Excavating.

Small businesses would have to begin reporting their equipment in 2009, and would have to begin compliance in 2015. Territory manager of Western Power and Equipment Jerry Cloke said that large businesses already have plans to phase out their older equipment, since larger businesses must begin compliance in 2010.

Businesses not meeting the yearly target PM emission standard would be required to retrofit 20 percent of their diesel engines with the highest level of VDECS (verified diesel emission control systems).

Since Shasta County is currently meeting its NOx standard, operators of diesel engines in the county do not have to comply with NOx emission standards.

“People who don’t have a clue about this are going to get hit broadside,” said Cloke. “Have a plan. Get somebody to explain this to you, and make a plan. For God’s sake, Don’t wait until 2014 to do this.”

The ARB has established a help-line, 1-866-6DIESEL, where business owners can receive personalized information about the complex regulation.

Because larger businesses are forced to comply sooner, Cloke said that those businesses would get the best possible market value for their machines. Businesses that wait to sell their equipment, on the other hand, would get much less value for their machines.

Despite the ARB enforcing an expensive equipment turnover, Cloke expects that the effect of the regulation will not affect growth in California that much.

“There will be a dip, and it will all come back,” he said.

Government funding to help businesses comply with the regulation is available through Carl Moyer grants distributed through local Air Quality Management Districts. Manager of Shasta County Air Quality District Ross Bell said that $27,000 of $200,000 remains for funding this year. Next year’s pool of funding has $74,000 of the initial $350,000. For information about the program, call 225-5674.

Since determining the toxicity of diesel PM in 1998, the ARB has passed regulations on diesel fuels, busses, portable engines and cargo handling equipment.

ARB staff expects the regulation to achieve the goal of reducing diesel emission PM by 85 percent in 2020.

The reduction of toxic diesel PM would prevent approximately 4,000 premature deaths over the course of the regulation, according to the ARB. The ARB associates PM with asthma attacks, cardiovascular disease and reduced lung function.