SAN FRANCISCO – 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.
For more information on California’s Truck and Bus rule, please visit CARB Truck and Bus Regulation.
Learn more about the Clean Air Act.
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