News Room
Diesel-rules story bigger than told
Daniel Weintraub's report on one San Diego-area contractor's efforts to comply with the new off-road diesel regulation was compelling but didn't tell the complete story ("For builders, clean-air rules' timing is tough," Viewpoints, Aug. 20).
For every one of the machines Mike Shaw has been forced to sell out of state, one high-paying operating engineer's job goes with it. More than 150,000 construction industry jobs have gone since the California Air Resources Board rules were enacted last summer. Many jobs disappeared in the housing crunch, but an increasing number are going because of these regulations.
Daniel Weintraub: For builders, clean-air rules' timing is tough
Mike Shaw didn't want to be caught by surprise when the state starting cracking down on diesel engines. He owned more than 100 of them – powering the scrapers, graders and bulldozers that are the backbone of his San Diego construction business. So he paid close attention when the state's air pollution regulators wrote new rules requiring the owners of diesel-powered equipment to clean up their fleets. And as he thinned the oldest, dirtiest engines from his stock, Shaw thought he was well on his way to satisfying the state's requirements.
Then he ran the numbers. The state's calculator showed that he still was not even close.
"I'm overwhelmed," Shaw said recently. "I'm humbled by this."
The Downturn: Bidders from around the world crowd Yolo construction-equipment auction
The global economy rumbled through rural Yolo County on Wednesday as bidders from six continents snapped up California's dump trucks and front-loaders at the Ritchie Bros. auction house near Dunnigan.
With new home construction down more than 50 percent from last year, contractors and equipment brokers across the state are unloading idle machines that not long ago were moving earth for subdivisions and shopping centers.
Green Rules Force Small Truckers into the Red
In a move opposed by many small trucking businesses, the California Air Resources Board has proposed new regulations in an effort to curb diesel emissions from trucks.
The agency says it is taking the action to reduce the 9,000 annual deaths attributed to poor air quality in the state. But Indian American truck owners, who make up about one-third of the industry in California, say the regulations, which require costly upgrades and replacements, will force many smaller trucking companies to shut down.
Daljeet Singh, owner-operator of Khalsa Trucking in Bakersfield, Calif., told India-West he would be forced to shut his one-man operation down if forced to replace his 1992 truck.
Lean year continues for California home builders
Halfway through 2008, California home builders remain on track for one of their least productive years in decades, the California Building Industry said.
The builder trade group believes its members will start about 72,000 homes, condos and apartments this year. The California Construction Industry Research Board is only slightly more optimistic, forecasting about 77,600 residential starts.
Daniel Weintraub: Tiny businesses becoming engine for new economy
Claudia Viek thinks Servio Gomez is at the heart of the new economy.
A native of El Salvador who once sold oranges at the end of a Los Angeles freeway offramp, Gomez worked in a San Francisco frame shop and then, with dreams of being his own boss, opened a store of his own. It flopped, but that was just the start of his story.
Gomez didn't quit. He enrolled in a business-planning course given by a local nonprofit, pulled together a few bucks and started over on Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District. This time his store survived and grew. Gomez has opened a second frame shop that his brother runs and two coffeehouses, one in the Mission and another in Bayview.
Adding to burden
Dems' plans turning business climate darker
For years, state Democratic leaders have dismissed complaints about a hostile business climate. They point to the huge, long-term growth of California's economy since World War II and assert that this is such a great place to live with such a talented work force that businesses will put up with a lot to stay here.
This argument may be partly true with two of California's most successful industries – the movie-TV business in Hollywood and high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. But for the economy in general, any claim that the state is somehow immune to competition is ludicrous.
Air regulations, fuel, insurance all boost cost of business
Tom Brown, owner of the Sierra Pacific West engineering and contracting firm, says the California Air Resources Board regulations that will take effect next year may cost his business $55 million.
Brown, who took part in a recent roundtable discussion on the health of the real estate and construction industry along with other Daily Transcript Top Influentials, said as soon as April 2009, his and countless other firms will be required to make an emission accounting for every stationary piece of motorized equipment all the way down to a 25 horsepower generator.
"By 2010 we need to start retrofitting the entire fleet and we've got 145 pieces of equipment," said Brown.
Dan Walters: State risks its economy on global warming fight
Given California's infinite diversity and its maddeningly diffused governmental apparatus, it's rare for the state's politicians to undertake a comprehensive and expansive change of public policy.
The decades-long stalemate on water, the state's perpetual budget crisis and the failure of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care plan are merely three examples of the political system's chronic inability to act decisively and effectively.
Air board's ambitious plan to battle warming
Sacramento -- California's air board, for years an obscure state agency, will take center stage this week when it unveils a blueprint for the nation's most aggressive fight against global warming that is expected to affect every resident, industry and government agency in the state in the coming decade.
The far-reaching plan, which comes 18 months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed landmark legislation to curb greenhouse emissions by one-third by 2020, is likely to encourage consumers to use energy-efficient lightbulbs and replace gas-guzzling cars with fuel-sipping hybrids. It could require industry to reduce pollution or pay fees based on the amount of carbon they release.
DTCC Calls On Air Resources Board To Factor in Economic Environment, Record Gas Prices In Development Of Newest Trucking, Construction & Farming Regulation
Sacramento, CA – As gas prices continue to rise and following today’s announcement that California’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed up to 6.8 percent, the Driving Toward a Cleaner California Coalition called on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to consider the state’s faltering economic environment as it develops the newest in a long line of regulations impacting construction, trucking, farming and other economic sectors.
“Construction contractors, truck owners and farmers are among the first Californians who have been impacted by the downturn in our economy, the rise in fuel prices and increases in the cost of goods that we have all experienced over the past year. As the economy continues to falter and the jobless rate rises at near-record levels, regulators in Sacramento continue to put into place new and costly regulations on these very same sectors,” said Mike Lewis, Senior Vice President of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition (CIAQC), representing tens of thousands of contractors who employ 850,000 carpenters, cement masons, truck drivers, operating engineers and laborers in California.
State Republicans seek to roll back curbs on greenhouse gas emissions
They hope to use their leverage over the state budget to change policies implemented by Democrats and the governor.
By Evan Halper June 16, 2008, Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO — California has a huge deficit, a looming cash crisis, an angry public and pressure to raise taxes -- and in this dismal state of affairs, the state's minority Republicans see opportunity.
GOP lawmakers hope to use their leverage over the state budget, which cannot pass without some of their votes, to roll back landmark policies implemented by Democrats and the governor. Among them are curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, regulations banning the dirtiest diesel engines and rules dictating when employers must provide lunch breaks for workers.
None of those laws has any direct connection to the state budget; changing them will do nothing to close California's $15.2-billion deficit. And the Democrats who control the Legislature already have rejected Republican proposals to delay or eliminate the laws through the regular legislative process.
School districts tense over new ARB's diesel rules
For hundreds of California school districts already facing profound budget problems, the proposed diesel-soot regulations from the Air Resources Board couldn't come at a worse time: The ARB is pondering a new rule that would require schools to buy new buses-they average about $150,000 each--or retrofit older ones at $20,000 or more per vehicle.
The strapped districts also are crying foul over what they see as a betrayal by the ARB. The original diesel rule excluded school buses; the latest version of the rule includes them. The ARB, conducting hearings around the state, is expected to make a final decision in October in Fresno.
"We're in a crisis," said Stephen Rhoads of the School Transportation Coalition, which represents school districts. "The rule says if you can't put diesel traps on the buses, you've got to replace them. It says replace the engine, but you can't replace the engine on these old buses, you've got to replace the bus."
School buses may be parked
State air restrictions leave districts with few options
By Dylan Darling, Tuesday, June 3, 2008, Redding.com
A shrinking budget has meant teachers and aides have been laid off. Now some of the district's buses may be given a pink slip because of stricter air pollution restrictions by the state.
"It's shameful that they would come to the schools at this time," said Jill Loftus, the district's director of transportation.
Along with companies that use big rigs -- such as concrete mixers, dump trucks and tractor-trailers -- to drive their business, school districts could have to replace or retrofit their diesel-burning buses over the next five years depending on how old they are.
Clean air isn’t cheap, but it’s worth the cost
Our view: It’s strange to see school officials complaining about a push to improve kids’ health.
School budgets are tight, and costly mandates from Sacramento are about as welcome as a staph outbreak in the boys locker room.
But it's strange to see school officials grousing about rules aimed at improving students' health.
Transportation managers from north state districts did just that Monday at a meeting in Redding of the California Air Resources Board, complaining that required retrofits of diesel buses will further drain school budgets. A $20,000 overhaul, one pointed out, equals half a teacher's salary.
There's no free lunch, to be sure, but clean air is as good an investment as you can find -- especially when it comes to school buses.
Tighter diesel emission plan concerns truckers
Commercial trucker Tito Mena drives a rig that’ll probably be illegal to operate within a few years.
If California Air Resource Board officials in October vote to adopt stricter emission rules for most heavy-duty diesel-fueled trucks and buses, Mena will be forced to comply.
That probably means buying a new rig, which could cost him $150,000. Worse, if the truck he owns now is illegal to run in California, will anybody want to buy it?
CARB diesel emission rule too costly
As a Californian, the second-generation owner of a trucking company in the East Bay with more than 60 employees, and as a parent, I, too, want to do my part to help clean the air that all our families breathe. For the past several years, California's trucking industry has worked closely with the state Legislature and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to find practical, realistic ways to clean up diesel trucks, and to accomplish that goal without putting an undue burden on California's businesses and consumers.
Associated Press: Housing Bust Takes Toll On Contractors, Economy
Robert Lindsey was not surprised by new data last week that showed new home sales have fallen more than 40 percent from their peak almost three years ago. He can tell from his company's bank account.
"We're literally losing money every month," said Lindsey, general manager of Signature Drywall Inc., in Sacramento, which installs drywall in new homes and apartments in the Sacramento and San Francisco areas.
In 2005, the firm raked in some $30 million in sales. Last year, sales were less than half that, and this year Lindsey hopes he can make $8 million.
"It's kind of like bleeding to death," he said.
Washington Times: Diesel Risks Mostly Hot Air?
If you were strapped for cash and lived in North Dakota, would you spend money on hurricane insurance? That would be as foolish as the recent actions of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), part of the California Environmental Protection Agency. As part of its mandate to ensure good air quality in the state — a laudable goal — CARB has begun a program to reduce diesel exhaust emissions from freight moving along California's trade corridors, including its seaports (which require huge amounts of truck traffic to transport arriving and departing containers).
New York Times: Soaring Fuel Prices Take a Withering Toll on Truckers
As his logging business expanded in the pine and hardwood forests of eastern Georgia, Jesse Hendley got into trucking. He scraped together the cash gradually to acquire seven tractor-trailers so that he could not only sell timber to mills in the south, but also charge the mills for delivery.
Today, though, all seven rigs are parked. The soaring price of diesel fuel — over $4.50 a gallon from $2.50 a year ago — has stripped the profit from hauling.
If diesel prices do not decline and make that side of the business viable, Mr. Hendley says, he will have to sell his trucks, or try to sell them. That is just what thousands of other truckers are doing as they shed used rigs in what appears to be the biggest shakeout since trucking was deregulated in 1980.
AGC Of America Continues to Oppose California Effort to Change Standards for Existing Fleets of Diesel Equipment
Cost of compliance expected to reach $13 billion
Washington, D.C.—Today, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC of America)
announced that it will continue to oppose California’s effort to set new standards for the exhaust from existing fleets of off-road diesel equipment, persisting in its effort to bring reason to the long-running debate over this equipment.
Keep on truckin'? Long haulers yield to diesel prices
Their massive vehicles' low mpg weighs down the bottom line, spurring cultural and technological shifts.
If you think gas is expensive, be thankful you're not a trucker. Filling up their 18-wheel, 80,000-pound leviathans can cost more than $1,300 these days.
Because of short supply, the price of diesel has gone up more than twice as much as gasoline in the last year, reaching a U.S. all-time high this week of an average of $4.33 a gallon. With little hope of a near-term decline -- oil futures rose $2.17 to settle at a record $126.29 a barrel Friday -- the run-up is causing panic and prompting radical cultural and technological shifts in the struggling trucking industry.
State air board takes aim at diesel pollution
State air pollution regulators Monday proposed rules that would require the owners of some 300,000 trucks to install soot filters or replace dirty engines.
The rules would cost the trucking industry billions of dollars but save thousands of lives, the California Air Resources Board says.
Capitol Weekly: A reminder to all: Truckers want clean air, too
Over the past several years the California trucking industry has worked closely with both the Legislature and the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to find practical and realistic ways to clean up diesel trucks without putting an undue burden on the businesses in this state.
For example, in 2006 the trucking industry transitioned to a new ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and has worked with the ARB on rules to curb truck idling. In addition, we supported legislation that would have banned the registration of any truck equipped with a partially or fully mechanical engine made before 1994, in order to remove some of the dirtiest and most polluting engines from the road.
Pain beyond the pump: Gas near $4 a gallon raises costs for businesses
OWNERS PASS ON THEIR ADDED EXPENSES
If the cost of a fill-up at the gas station makes you gasp, you ain't seen nothing yet. High pump prices are just the beginning of the four-dollar-gas fallout.
In Silicon Valley, flowers, pizzas and taxi rides to the airport are going to cost more. So will hay for horses and limousines to the prom.
Never has so much depended on the price of gasoline as the effects of four-dollar gas trickle down.
Capitol Weekly: New clean-air rules for trucks set off battle between enviros, industry
As the nation focuses on greenhouse gas regulations set into motion by landmark legislation in 2006, state regulators are set to pass a less-publicized, wide-reaching rule on emissions from diesel busses and trucks that business groups say could cost billions of dollars to implement.
Environmentalists hailed the state Air Resources Board after its staff released a draft of the new regulations earlier this year—the first such rules in the nation.
But following a public hearing last Friday, the regulations were modified in the wake of howls of protest from business groups—a move that immediately kindled environmentalists' suspicions.
Fresno Bee: Fresno doctor on state air board
Cardiologist John Telles replaces Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Schwarzenegger on Wednesday named Fresno cardiologist John Telles to represent the Valley on the California Air Resources Board, an influential agency that sets statewide pollution and greenhouse gas regulations.
Telles, a 59-year-old Democrat, replaces Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case. Case, a Republican, was ousted earlier this year by the Democratic-controlled state Senate over accusations by environmentalists that she catered to agriculture interests.
Associated Press: Food Costs Rising Fastest In 17 Years
Food Costs Rising At Fast Clip, Squeezing Poor, Forcing Food Vendors To Explain Higher Prices
NEW YORK -- Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics.
He recently wrote a letter to his customers and posted it near the cash register listing the factors -- dairy prices driven higher by conglomerates buying up milk supplies, heat waves in Europe and California, demand from emerging markets and the weak dollar.
Los Angeles Times: Key Air Board Member Linked To Car, Oil Firms
Daniel Sperling is an arbiter of auto emissions, and his institute got millions from such companies.
When the state Air Resources Board met two weeks ago for an important vote, one member -- Daniel Sperling -- took center stage.
At issue was whether the board would revise a mandate requiring automakers to produce 25,000 emission-free vehicles from 2012 through 2014.
After hours of public comments, a board member proposed cutting that number to 10,000. Sperling went further, calling for 7,500. His plan, projected on a screen, indicated that it would save carmakers more than $1 billion a year compared with current rules.
California emissions grants deadline is April 1
Applications must be submitted to the California Air Resources Board by April 11 to qualify for the latest round of funding to retrofit or replace trucks to reduce emissions.
Grants also are available to reduce idling and emissions from refrigerated trailers.
Hydrogen Car Prospects Sputter
Even California, which wants to lead the U.S. in green technology, can't seem to will technology to evolve fast enough. At least, that was the conclusion last week when California regulators confronted the stark reality that the state won't be able to strong arm manufacturers into making as many hydrogen-fueled cars by 2014 as regulators had once hoped.
Associated Press: Calif. regulators may change direction on zero-emission vehicles
SACRAMENTO—Vehicles that run on batteries or hydrogen could take even longer to show up in America's showrooms under changes being considered by the state Air Resources Board.
California air regulators on Thursday are scheduled to vote on a proposal that would reduce the number of zero-emission vehicles automakers must produce in California and 10 other states by 2014.
Diesel regulations put pinch on businesses
LANCASTER - State regulators' efforts to cut diesel emissions, a major contributor of health and smog problems, is also putting the squeeze on businesses who say new regulations will cost them billions and drive many of them to either stop operating or to leave California.
Forbes: Solutions
For 40 years, the California Air Resources Board has instituted precedent-setting air pollution regulations and programs that have been adopted by other agencies across the country and the world. One of the unsung heroes in helping us achieve our clean goals while promoting economic development has been California's business community.
CARB asks public for input on diesel enforcement regs
Uniformed enforcement officers from the California Air Resources Board and the California Highway Patrol inspected 151,586 heavy-duty diesel vehicles from 1998 to 2006, writing citations for nearly $2.5 million in fines.
California proposes a global-warming fee on businesses
In the first such program in California, and perhaps the United States, Bay Area air pollution regulators are proposing to charge an annual fee to thousands of businesses based on the amount of greenhouse gases they emit.
Clean-Air Plan Gains Favor
Port Panel Onboard, But Questions Remain
The Unified Port of San Diego has made its boldest moves yet to cut air pollution from ships, trucks and other machines, but its plan lacks several elements that supporters said are critical to success.
Environmental groups threaten to sue Port of Long Beach over air pollution
They want the facility to reduce its diesel soot and smog within 90 days.
Two environmental groups on Wednesday gave the Port of Long Beach 90 days to reduce diesel soot and smog or face a lawsuit in federal court.
San Francisco Chronicle: State Joins Petition To Cut Nonroad Emissions
California is continuing to pressure the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to limit greenhouse gases, this time with a petition asking the agency's chief to clamp down on carbon dioxide emissions from construction and farm machinery, mining equipment and recreational vehicles.
Brown targets off-road vehicles
SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Jerry Brown will petition federal regulators today to set stricter emission standards on off-road toys such as snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and personal watercraft - an idea that manufacturers insist would trigger higher prices, lower performance and possibly even be the demise of some off-road vehicles.
Senate committee rejects air board nominee
SACRAMENTO—A Senate committee recommended Wednesday that one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointees to the state air board be replaced because of her record on public health issues.
Florez wants to keep Case off air board
Senator opposes Fresno County supervisor's selection to state panel.
SACRAMENTO -- Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case is facing a fight over her appointment to a powerful state board that sets air pollution regulations.
San Francisco Chronicle: Air board sets target to reduce emissions nearly 30 percent by 2020
California's ambitious goal to fight global warming now has a specific target that will allow officials to measure the success of efforts to reduce greenhouse gases in the coming years.
San Francisco Chronicle: Air board sets target to reduce emissions nearly 30 percent by 2020
Fresno Bee: Doctor in Fresno asthma study tapped for California air board
John Balmes, a medical doctor and University of California professor involved in a Fresno asthma study, has been named to the governing board of the California Air Resources Board, the state's air-quality watchdog.
Fresno Bee: Doctor in Fresno asthma study tapped for California air board
Union-Tribune Blog: Air Board Soft On Business? Not Even Close
So the California Air Resources Board is going to be business-friendly now that the governor has sacked UC Berkeley green firebrand Robert Sawyer as its leader? Yeah, right.
Orange County Register: A Regulatory Bulldozer
Editorial
With scant public attention, state bureaucrats have imposed what amounts to a new tax of $3 billion to $13 billion on a California industry, depending on whose estimate you believe.
Coalition to Build a Cleaner California Disappointed With CARB’s Vote To Adopt Unworkable Off-Road Diesel Construction Equipment Rule
Sacramento, CA –Mike Lewis, chair of the Coalition to Build a Cleaner California and Executive Vice President of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition made the following statement regarding the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) adoption of its off-road diesel equipment rule.
SHOWDOWN: Industry claims cutbacks would hurt construction companies.
This Thursday a showdown looms in Sacramento over one of the most sweeping environmental regulations in years: capping diesel emissions from more than 180,000 off-road commercial vehicle engines. If enacted, the regulation would cost the state’s construction industry billions of dollars over the next 12 years.
Firms fume over proposed diesel rules
Fight over emissions restrictions is first test of Schwarzenegger's new appointee on air quality board
SACRAMENTO -- The new chairwoman of the state Air Resources Board faces her first test this week as the construction industry attempts to weaken proposed requirements to reduce diesel emissions from its equipment.
Coalition to Build a Cleaner California Unveils Proposal to Make State Construction Fleet the Cleanest in the World
SACRAMENTO – The Coalition to Build a Cleaner California today publicly announced a new approach to the California Air Resources Board’s proposed off-road (construction equipment) diesel engine regulations that would meet the CARB’s clean air goals and result in the cleanest construction fleet in the world.
Daniel Weintraub: Science alone can't guide air pollution decisions
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent sacking of Robert Sawyer, the state's top air pollution regulator, has prompted critics to demand that the governor defer to scientists to make decisions about mitigating the effect of human industrial activity on the air we breathe. Sawyer is a respected UC Berkeley professor of environmental and energy science who did not want to take direction from the governor or his staff.
Chairman of state air resources board fired
Robert Sawyer says he was asked to retire; he refused and was told his job had been rescinded.
The chairman of the California Air Resources Board, Robert F. Sawyer, was fired by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week amid mounting criticism of the agency's leadership on global warming and air pollution policies.
San Diego Area Contractors, Construction Workers Warn Proposed Air Rules Could Result in Loss of Jobs, Jeopardize Crucial Highway Improvement Projects
San Diego, CA – Members of the Coalition to Build a Cleaner California today warned that the new California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations set for hearing on Friday in San Diego would have a devastating impact on the San Diego area’s construction industry, labor workforce, and on future highway improvement projects. The CARB staff proposal imposes new regulations for off-road (construction equipment) diesel engines, and is designed to reduce the amount of Particulate Matter (PM) and NOx emissions from off-road diesel equipment such as bulldozers, backhoes, and scrapers.
Editorial: Time to clear our air, use cleaner diesel engines
State Board Targets Smoke-Belching Construction Equipment
When it comes to air pollution from vehicles, it doesn't get more noxious than the soot from diesel engines. The black particles accumulate in people's lungs, contributing to asthma, heart problems and thousands of deaths in California every year.
Because of this, regulators with the California Air Resources Board have set out to dramatically reduce emissions of soot and another pollutant, oxides of nitrogen, from diesel-burning vehicles. The air board's latest proposal, which will be discussed at a meeting Friday, targets smoke-belching construction equipment - bulldozers, graders and the like - along with other "off-road" vehicles used at airports, ski resorts and warehouses.
CARB to discuss equipment regulations in Del Mar
After more than a year and a half of crafting the language that will constitute the new off-road diesel equipment regulations, the California Air Resources Board will meet in Del Mar on May 25 to decide whether to adopt this language.
Diesel exhaust plan hits a snag
Construction industry representatives and environmental activists are clashing over proposed tougher air pollution standards seeking to cut diesel fuel emissions from earthmovers, bulldozers, backhoes and other heavy equipment.
The California Air Resources Board on May 25 is scheduled to consider new requirements seeking an 85 percent cut in emissions and "associated cancer risks" from diesel exhaust by 2020 from offroad vehicles used in construction, mining and other industries.
Judge strikes down tough rules on diesel
Southern California air regulators cannot require railroads to shut down idling locomotives or obey other local laws designed to clean up deadly diesel pollution, a federal judge ruled this week.
The decision invalidates action taken last year by the South Coast Air Quality Management District to reduce a major source of air pollution in the Southland. Locomotives are responsible for more than 32 tons per day of pollutants, an amount equal to that produced by 1.4 million cars, according to figures compiled by state and regional agencies.
Daniel Weintraub: State's global warming fight is about to get real
California's landmark law to combat global warming by limiting greenhouse gas emissions is about to go from theory to practice, testing the political viability of regulations that could crimp the state's car-happy lifestyle and drive up costs for consumers.
The new rules could increase the cost of gasoline, add another step to annual smog-check inspections and make automobile air conditioning more expensive to repair. They might also force farms to change the way they manage everything from engines on equipment to manure piles from livestock.
New regulations target construction equipment
It may be the most important action taken by state pollution regulators all year--as important as the implementation of last year's landmark greenhouse-gas legislation. The vote carries a potential price tag being measured in billions, and yet the state Air Resources Board's upcoming vote has gone virtually unnoticed by all but industry insiders.
CIAQC thanks the more than 1,500 contractors who attended the CARB workshops — next steps
We thank the more than 300 contractors and other equipment owners who attended the California Air Resources Board (CARB) workshops this week in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Fresno—it was a worthwhile effort and your participation was critically important.
CIAQC Responds to Union of Concerned Scientists' Digging up Trouble
The Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition represents thousands of construction companies and hundreds of thousands of construction workers in the state of California.
We are surprised and disappointed at the report entitled “Digging Up Trouble” recently released by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The document was clearly designed solely to grab media headlines and it will not withstand the close scrutiny of any objective review.
$12 million in new Carl Moyer funds available for construction equipment owners in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties as of November 3, 2006
Qualifying projects will be funded on a first-come, first-served basis until all allocated funds (up to $12 million) are expended, or until the closing date (February 15, 2007), whichever comes first.
CIAQC issues response to CARB proposed off-road diesel regulations
After considerable discussion with CIAQC members and the Executive Director of the Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association (MECA), CIAQC has reached a consensus on a proposed alternative Off-Road Diesel ATCM for ARB staff consideration. We believe that it will be protective of human health and air quality while allowing regulated businesses to continue to grow, build California’s infrastructure and create jobs.
Pending California Air Resources Board off-road diesel regulation
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has proposed off-road diesel regulations that will cost you millions of dollars and require you to retrofit, repower or replace your bulldozers, backhoes and other heavy-duty off-road equipment over a very short period of time with newer engines -- some that aren’t even available today.
Proposed CARB on-road private fleet regulations scheduled for summer 2007
The California Air Resources Board is planning a private fleet on-road diesel emission regulation for the summer of 2007.
Newly amended Portable Equipment Registration Program
The California Air Resources Board has reopened the statewide portable Engine Registration Program to some older engines by passing an emergency regulation at its meeting Dec. 7th in Bakersfield.
Portable equipment includes some cranes, trailer or skid mounted concrete pumps, screening and crushing operations, grinders, tree trimmers, generators, pumps, welders, etc.