CARB Proposes New SIP Measures in Strategy Workshop

At its Sept. 1 Proposed 2016 State Strategy workshop for the State Implementation Plan, CARB presented potential new SIP measures to reduce mobile source emissions and meet ozone standards, noting that existing programs achieve only two-thirds of the mandated greenhouse gas reductions in the South Coast air basin.

The staff proposal calls for incentive funding to accelerate the use of zero- and near-zero-NOx on-road heavy-duty vehicles from 2016 through 2023. It also suggests developing a heavy-duty low-NOx engine standard that would include a low-load certification cycle. Staff anticipates also working with the EPA to establish a new national low-NOx engine standard.

To further reduce NOx and particulate matter pollutants, CARB’s Proposed 2016 State Strategy for the SIP also takes aim at diesel. The proposal suggests adopting a diesel standard that would replace 50 percent of conventional diesel with low-emission diesel, such as renewable diesel, by 2031. Implementation of the standard would begin in the South Coast region, targeting off-road and legacy vehicles first. Noting that this is a far-ranging proposal, staff said that the first board hearing on the standard would not be held until 2020.

Additionally, CARB plans to establish next-generation greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty trucks in California, building on the EPA’s Phase 1 standards. The state’s Phase 2 standards are expected to require a 34 percent reduction in carbon dioxide from tractor-trailers compared to Phase 1 standards. The federal Phase 2 standards were finalized in August, and California’s Phase 2 standards are scheduled for adoption next summer, with implementation following in 2018.

Finally, to support commercialization of new heavy-duty low-NOx technologies, hybrid engines, and medium- and heavy-duty hybrid conversions, CARB is proposing a more flexible certification process for advanced truck and bus technologies, starting in 2017.

The board will consider these proposals at its Sept. 22 meeting. The second hearing will be held at the Dec. 8 CARB meeting.