Press Release

CaliFornia Air Resources Board Announces Agreement on Heavy Equipment Emissions

09/23/96

Air Resources Board Announces National Heavy Equipment Accord

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 19 -- The California Air
Resources Board (ARB) today announced that it has agreed to a
Statement of Principles (SOP) with the USEPA and a dozen major
manufacturers of diesel-powered farm and construction engines and
equipment to adopt national emission standards for smog-forming
nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons.

Air Resources Board Chairman John Dunlap said, "For the second time in
two years California has been instrumental in bringing industry
together with the federal government to forge an agreement that not
only benefits our state but the rest of the nation, as well. This
nationwide program will benefit manufacturers and purchasers of farm
and construction equipment by keeping California's lower-polluting
industries on a level playing field."

To allow for the most cost-effective implementation, the standards
vary in the amount of emission reduction according to engine
sizes. Some of the new standards for equipment such as tractors,
bulldozers and cranes, and marine engines with less than 50hp, could
be adopted as early as 1999. The new standards will be adopted in two
phases for many engine types, with each phasedown resulting in
smog-forming emissions being reduced by about one-third. Upon full
implementation, the new standards are expected to cut smog-forming
emissions by up to 66 percent from many engines, compared to today's
emission levels. In addition, the new emission limits will help
control particulate matter, and are expected to result in equipment
powered by these engines being nearly smoke-free.

While some of these engines are already controlled, ARB analysis shows
that without further emission limits they will contribute about one
quarter of Southern California's total smog-forming emissions from
motor vehicles in 2010. California's 1994 State Implementation Plan
(SIP), the state's blueprint for attaining and maintaining healthy air
quality, includes provisions for cuts from off-road diesels that the,
SOP now covers.

"The ARB has long sought to reduce emissions from off-road heavy-duty
equipment in California. Off-road heavy-duty equipment is a serious
source of air pollution that becomes an ever larger concern in our
state as we reduce pollution from other sources," said Dunlap.

Many of the Most common types of heavy-duty farm and construction
equipment use engines with horsepower levels that range between 50hp
and 175hp. The SOP includes emission controls for that equipment which
is preempted from state control and can only be regulated by USEPA.

In 1995 the ARB, in conjunction with USEPA and engine manufacturers,
signed an SOP for heavy-duty on-road vehicles, such as long-haul
trucks and interstate buses. This standard cut on-road emissions from
those vehicles by more than half. With both the on-road and off-road
SOP's signed, emissions will be cut significantly from both in-state
emission sources and out-of-state vehicles and equipment that make
their way to California.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution
control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air
quality standards.