A bill now under consideration in California may make life a little easier on owner-operators who work on their own rigs.

Philip Vermeulen, a legislative advocate for the Independent Waste Oil Collectors and Transporters, said that under current law in California, oil filters are considered a household hazardous waste. That means, he said, that they can either be recycled or placed in a landfill.

However, diesel fuel filters, which Vermeulen contends contain far fewer harmful substances than oil filters, are considered a hazardous waste and must be disposed of in a far more expensive manner.

“There’s no logic to it at all,” he said. “It costs $260 a barrel to dispose of diesel fuel filters vs. I think it’s $40 on average for a barrel of oil filters. It’s stupid.”

AB2254, introduced by Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton, would change that by declaring diesel fuel filters to be a household hazardous waste.

A spokeswoman for Aghazarian said the omission of the diesel filters seemed “almost like an oversight in the health and safety code.”

“I called a lot of landfills around and found that they don’t have a problem taking them; they can recycle them, no problem,” she said. “It sounded like a good idea rather than have them go in the garbage can.”

Vermeulen said he had also talked to the state officials who regulate the filters and their disposal, and those officials told him they would not oppose adding diesel filters to the household waste list.

“This should make it a lot easier for anybody who’s got a diesel truck that has to dispose of fuel filters and separate them out vs. oil filters,” Vermeulen said.

Vermeulen said any owner-operators or other trucker who had questions could call him at (916) 784-7055 or e-mail him at pvermeulen@surewest.net.

--by Mark H. Reddig, associate editor

Mark Reddig can be reached at mark_reddig@landlinemag.com.