The California Air Resources Board March 6 announced proposals to change elements of its Truck and Bus Rule emissions regulations that would mostly impact contractors with low-milage work trucks, very small fleets and owner-operators, though some elements could impact fleets.
CARB’s rule required that all truck owners running in the state with pre-2007 model engines either by Jan. 1 replace their equipment with a 2007 or later model engine or install a particulate matter filter.
Changes to the regulations that will directly affect contractors are a redefinition of “low-mileage construction trucks” and extended compliance dates for those trucks.
Under the proposed update, low-mileage construction trucks are now referred to as “work trucks.” These trucks travel less than 20,000 miles per year and owners were tasked with a compliance deadline schedule that required fleets with work trucks to have 33 percent of their fleet in compliance by January 1 2014, 66 percent by January 1 2015 and 100 percent by January 1, 2016.
The new schedule has been extended over the next four years and the full-compliance date is now 2018 as is shown below.
According to CARB, if the fleet owner meets the compliance schedule above for the entire fleet of heavier or lighter vehicles, except vehicles that are using the Low-Use Exemption, the remaining heavier or lighter low mileage work trucks in the fleet may be exempt from meeting compliance for that year. And any vehicle that meets compliance may be counted towards the schedule even if it is not a low mileage work truck.
