The California Air Resources Board on Friday, July 1, announced that trailer fleet owners now have an extra 30 days – until Aug. 1 – to register their fleets if they want to take advantage of a flexible phase-in option for a new California regulation designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Tractor-Trailer Greenhouse Gas regulation requires tractors with 53-foot or longer trailers that travel in California to be equipped with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay-verified aerodynamic technologies, including low rolling-resistance tires, skirts and fairings.
“CARB has designed this regulation so that flexible options are available to businesses for planning purposes,” says Mary Nichols, CARB chairman. “This way, businesses can add this equipment and start saving money on fuel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Fleets with 21 or more trailers may take advantage of a flexible option that allows fleet compliance to be phased in over five years, from 2011 through 2015. In order to take advantage of this phase-in option, owners must submit a compliance plan to CARB that includes a list of trailers in the fleet and the scheduled percentage of trailers to be brought into compliance each year. Fleets with 21 or more trailers that do not choose this option must bring all of their pre-2011 model year trailers into compliance by Jan. 1, 2013.
CARB estimates that from 2010 to 2020, tractors and trailers with fuel-efficient aerodynamic technologies will save about 3 billion gallons of diesel fuel from nationwide operations, and that fleet owners can expect to see a return on their investment for skirts, tires and fairings within 2.3 years if they travel 100,000 miles per year.
Fleet owners can register by creating an account and entering their plan for their trailers online at:https://secure.arb.ca.gov/ssltrucrs/trucrs_reporting/reporting.php. Instructions on how to prepare and submit a plan can be found in the Large Fleet Compliance fact sheet at http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/hdghg/fact_sheets/hdghg_large_fleets.pdf. Owners without computer access can submit their plan via regular mail to California Air Resources Board, Attn: ORHDD Section, 9480 Telstar Ave. Suite 4, El Monte, CA 91731.
For more information on the Tractor-Trailer Greenhouse Gas regulation , go to www.arb.ca.gov/cc/hdghg/hdghg.htm or call 1-866-6-DIESEL.
