EPA Settles with Three Transportation
Companies Over Violation Claims of California’s Truck and Bus Rules
Media Contact:
Michael Brogan, 415-295-9314, brogan.michael@epa.gov
SAN FRANCISCO
(June 12, 2023) – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
announced settlements with three interstate trucking companies totaling
$262,500 in penalties for claims of violating the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) Truck and Bus Regulation and Transport Refrigeration Unit
Regulation. The companies, Bowen Transportation Inc., URS Midwest Inc., and
West Wind Logistics Inc., operate diesel-fueled heavy trucks in California,
among other states, and failed to install controls to reduce pollution and
verify that the trucks complied with the state rules.
“National truck fleets operating within California need to comply with the
state’s Truck and Bus rule,” said
EPA Pacific Southwest Administrator Martha Guzman. “Holding
companies accountable protects public health and the environment and is
critical to progress in the transition toward zero-emission trucks.”
Diesel emissions from trucks are one of California’s largest sources of fine
particle pollution, or soot, which is linked to a variety of health issues
including asthma, impaired lung development in children, and cardiovascular
effects in adults. About 625,000 trucks are registered outside of the state but
operate in California and are subject to the rule. Many of these vehicles are
older models and emit high amounts of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, a
precursor to ozone, which is another air pollutant that is responsible for poor
air quality in California.
Bowen Transportation paid $79,500 to resolve rule violation claims that
included: operating four trucks that had not been equipped with updated 2010
model year engines; not equipping seven diesel-fueled vehicles with a Diesel
Particulate Filter; and operating two Transport Refrigeration Units or related
generator sets without meeting the applicable emission standards by the
compliance deadlines.
URS Midwest’s settlement of $120,000 resolved claims that included not
equipping eight diesel-fueled vehicles with Diesel Particulate Filters and
failing to verify that 268 vehicles it hired or dispatched complied with the
rule.
West Wind Logistics settled for $63,000 resolving violation claims that
included failing to verify that two vehicles it hired or dispatched from two
fleets between 2017 and 2021 complied with the rule. In addition, West Wind
Logistics operated 18 Transport Refrigeration Units or related generator sets
in California without meeting the applicable emission standards by the
compliance deadlines.
The California Truck and Bus Regulation has been an essential part of the
state’s federally enforceable plan to attain cleaner air since 2012. The rule
requires trucking companies to upgrade vehicles they own to meet specific
performance standards for emissions of oxides of nitrogen and particulate
matter and to verify compliance of vehicles they hire or dispatch. Heavy-duty
diesel trucks in California must meet 2010 engine emissions standards or use
diesel particulate filters that can reduce the emissions of diesel particulates
into the atmosphere by 85% or more. By January 1, 2023, all vehicles subject to
the rule that travel in California were required to have 2010 model year
engines or equivalent emissions.
In April 2023, the California Air Resources Board approved a rule that
requires a phased-in transition toward zero-emission medium-and-heavy duty
vehicles. Known as Advanced Clean Fleets, the new rule helps put California on
a path towards fully transitioning the trucks that travel across the state to
zero-emissions technology by 2045. The new rule is expected to generate $26.6
billion in health savings from reduced asthma attacks, emergency room visits
and respiratory illnesses. In addition, CARB believes that fleet owners will
save an estimated $48 billion in their total operating costs from the
transition through 2050.
For more information on reporting possible violations of environmental laws
and regulations visit EPA’s enforcement
reporting website.
Learn more about the Clean Air Act.
Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.
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