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WASHINGTON - Senator Joe Lieberman has put the Bush Administration on notice that he will vigorously oppose any attempt to delay the effective date of the Environmental Protection Agency's regulation regarding on-road, heavy-duty diesel emission and fuel standards.
The rule, approved last December after years of negotiations, would dramatically reduce emissions from diesel engines, which contribute significantly to air pollution.
"This rule is sorely needed in order to protect the public's health and our fragile environment," Lieberman said. "It has been vetted up and down the line and I would be troubled if the administration modified or delayed the rule without the thoughtful consideration required by law. Legal requirements aside, the Administration must consider the public -- whose health and living environment are at stake --as well as the affected industry, before changing the effective date or instituting any other changes."
As ranking Democrat on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Lieberman has asked Office and Management and Budget Director Mitchell Daniels to send him information about any actions the Administration is taking that could delay, block, or even reverse regulations that have already been finalized. Daniels has not yet responded.
Heavy-duty vehicle emissions contribute to elevated levels of ozone, fine particulate matter (PM), and the primary emissions of several key toxic air pollutants, particularly in the Northeast. Together, highway and non-road heavy-duty engines are responsible for roughly 33% of all nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, 75% of motor vehicle related PM, and 60% of aldehyde emissions in the northeast corridor.
In addition to fouling the air, diesel exhaust has also been classified as a probable human carcinogen by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the International Agency for Research of Cancer and the US EPA.
The rule -- sometimes referred to as the diesel/sulphur rule -- will greatly reduce the health and environmental risks resulting from these pollutants, with a projected 90-percent reduction in particulate matter emissions, a 95-percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions and a 97-percent reduction in levels of sulfur in highway diesel fuel.
"This rule will bring badly needed relief to Connecticut, and to the Northeast in general, which drastically need to reduce both nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in order to fulfill the requirements of the Clean Air Act," Lieberman said.
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