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Air Pollution Compliance Deadlines for Heavy Trucks
General Requirements for Heavier Trucks Heavier trucks (GVWR greater than 26,000 lbs.) must comply by engine model year as shown: Engine Model Year Schedule for Heavier Trucks and Buses Replacement of older models with a 2010 MY or newer engine meets the final requirements. However, fleets could also replace older trucks with used trucks that have a future compliance date on the schedule. For example, a replacement truck with a 2007 MY engine complies until Jan. 1, 2023 as shown in the table above. There are no reporting requirements if fleets are complying with the engine MY schedule as shown above. Small Fleet Option for Heavier Trucks A small fleet is defined as having one to three diesel trucks or buses with a GVWR greater than 14,000 lbs. Small fleets can delay compliance for heavier trucks until 2014. Small fleet owners with 1996 to 1999 MY engines must report by Jan. 31, 2012, and those with 2000-2004 MY engines must report by Jan. 1, 2013, to delay compliance. All small fleet owners must report by Jan. 31, 2014, to show that one vehicle has a PM filter and can delay the 2010 MY engine requirement until 2020 or later. Fleet owners with two or three trucks must report that the second and third trucks have PM filters by 2015 and 2016, respectively. Starting Jan. 1, 2020, small fleet owners must upgrade to 2010 MY engines according to the engine model year schedule. PM Filter Phase-In Option for Heavier Trucks Fleet owners can also comply by phasing in PM filters for a percentage of their trucks from 2012 to 2016 by the dates shown on the table below. Starting Jan. 1, 2020, fleet owners must upgrade to 2010 MY engines according to the engine model year schedule. Fleets owners need to report to ARB by Jan. 31, 2012, to take advantage of the PM filter phase-in option. Fleet owners need to report which vehicles are retrofitted with PM filters and which vehicles have original equipment PM filters (2007 model year or newer engines), because both count toward compliance. Fleet owners that report can still demonstrate compliance with the engine model year schedule in any year. PM Filter Phase-In Option for Heavier Trucks For example, consider a fleet with 10 trucks, where six have 1996 to 1999 MY engines and four have 2007 to 2009 MY engines (with original equipment PM filters). The fleet already has PM filters on four out of 10 trucks or 40 percent of the fleet. Therefore, the owner already complies in 2012. By 2013, the owner needs to add two PM filters to the fleet to show that 60 percent of the fleet has PM filters. By 2014, the fleet owner needs to have PM filters on 90 percent of the trucks and can meet the requirement by retrofitting three existing trucks. One truck can operate without a PM filter until 2016. This option allows the fleet owner to use existing trucks originally equipped with PM filters to delay compliance and spreads out compliance over several years, where the model year schedule would require six trucks to be retrofit by January 1, 2012. Starting Jan. 1, 2020, the fleet owner must upgrade to 2010 MY engines according to the engine model year schedule. Fleet owners that report and use the PM filter phase-in option for heavier trucks can delay compliance for part of the fleet until 2016 if the company has downsized compared to Oct. 1, 2006. Fleets can also take advantage of credits to delay compliance for part of the fleet until 2017 for the following: Additional Options The regulation also has special provisions that delay some or all of the compliance requirements for certain situations or truck types. For example, owners of heavier construction trucks that operate below certain mileage thresholds can take advantage of an extension until 2016 for a limited number of trucks in the fleet. Log-trucks can opt to upgrade to 2010 MY engines at a rate of 10 percent per year, starting Jan. 1, 2014, and no retrofits are required. To take advantage of these options, fleet owners must report and opt-in by Jan. 31, 2012. Other provisions require reporting, but only when vehicles in the fleet do not comply with the engine model year schedule. Vehicles that operate exclusively in parts of the state with less polluted air can delay PM filter requirements for heavier trucks and both lighter and heavier trucks can be exempt from the requirements to upgrade to 2010 MY engines if already equipped with PM filters. Also, if any truck is driven less than 1000 miles per year in California, it can be exempt from the emission reduction requirements. For more information on the requirements for heavier trucks and the Truck and Bus regulation, go to www.arb.ca.gov/truckstop or call 1-866-6DIESEL. |
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