The California Air Resources Board has adopted a voluntary plan to upgrade pollution-control software on diesel trucks that operate in the state, the board said in a statement March 25.
Under the agreement with engine manufacturers, truck owners can bring their rigs into dealerships, who can perform the half-hour to hourlong installation of new software. The engine manufacturers have agreed to pay for the software and its installation, the board said.
In 2003, the Air Resources Board announced it would propose a regulation to require makers of heavy-duty diesel engines to upgrade the software in the chips for engines made from 1993 to 1998.
The regulations were rooted in a controversy that started in the 1990s. Officials claim that at that time, engine manufacturers used computers on diesel vehicles that allowed their engines to comply with emission limits. However, officials claim those same computer chips also allowed the engine to operate differently during highway driving, increasing NOx emissions.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Air Resources Board considered those chips to be “defeat devices,” or devices designed to help the vehicle avoid pollution restrictions.
In 1998, Caterpillar, Cummins, Detroit Diesel, Navistar, Mack/Renault and Volvo signed consent decrees with the EPA, the Department of Justice and the Air Resources Board. The Low NOx Rebuild Program, which was part of those consent decrees, called for the manufacturers to upgrade software to reduce NOx emissions.
“The ARB's new plan will result in low emission software installed much sooner than is occurring under the legal settlement,” the board statement said. “The goal of the voluntary plan is to increase the percentage of California vehicles using low emission software.”
Currently, the board said, 10 percent of the trucks use the upgraded software. The plan includes a goal of bringing that figure to 35 percent by November 2004, 60 percent by June 2005, 80 percent by February 2006 and 100 percent by 2008.
If those targets are not met, the board said, a regulation requiring the upgrades will be put in place.
--by Mark H. Reddig, associate editor
Mark Reddig can be reached at mark_reddig@landlinemag.com.
