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Large Trucks Must Reduce Emissions as Much as 20% (Update1)
2010-10-25 17:19:22.320 GMT
(Updates with comment from environmentalist, trade group
starting in third paragraph.)
By John Hughes
Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Large trucks in the U.S. must cut
emissions as much as 20 percent by 2018 under the first
standards proposed for work vehicles, the Obama administration
said today.
Tractor-trailer trucks have to meet the 20 percent target,
while heavy-duty pickups and vans must reduce emissions 10
percent for gas vehicles and 15 percent for diesel-powered
models, the Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement. Buses, motor
homes and garbage trucks must cut emissions 10 percent.
"These are historic standards because they're the first,"
Luke Tonachel, an analyst at the New York-based Natural
Resources Defense Council, said in an interview. "Heavy trucks
and buses are the energy hogs of America's roadways."
President Barack Obama's administration has been raising
fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles in the U.S. to curb
pollution and reduce oil imports. Obama has said he plans to
make the truck standards final by July 30, and they would take
effect starting with 2014 models.
The government has never set targets for the heavy-duty
trucks such as those that are used in construction and hauling
and made by companies including Isuzu Motors Ltd., Daimler AG,
Volvo AB, Hino Motors Ltd. and Paccar Inc. Light trucks such as
standard pickups, sport-utility vehicles and minivans are
covered by standards already set for automobiles.
Group Examines Rule
The American Trucking Associations, an Arlington, Virginia-
based trade group for 37,000 companies, backs a national fuel-
economy standard and plans to examine the rule before commenting
on the proposal, said Brandon Borgna, a spokesman, in an
interview.
The work trucks covered by the proposal make up 4 percent
of U.S. vehicles while accounting for 20 percent of the oil
consumed, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based environmental group. Long-haul
tractor-trailers get about 6.5 mpg, the group said.
Today's action follows an April 1 announcement setting
rules to boost U.S. automobile fuel-economy standards by about
30 percent over the next six years. Manufacturers must achieve
an average of 35.5 miles mpg for 2016 model-year cars and light
trucks, up from 27.3 mpg in 2011.
For Related News and Information:
Top energy news: <ETOP <GO>
Top Transportation Stories: TOP TRN <GO>
U.S. auto sales chart: SAARTOTL <INDEX> GP <GO>
Changes to U.S. mileage rules: NSE AUTO FUEL-ECONOMY <GO>
Stories on cars and gasoline: TNI AUTO GASOLINE <GO>
U.S. Auto Sales: SAARTOTL <INDEX> GP <GO>
--Editors: Larry Liebert, Steve Geimann
To contact the reporter on this story:
John Hughes in Washington at +1-202-624-1819 or
jhughes5@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
lliebert@bloomberg.net.
