OVERVIEW OF THE 2000, 2002, 2004, AND 2005
TRANSIT AGENCY AND UR BAN BUS RULEMAKINGS

A. The 2000 Rulemaking

The hearings in the first rulemaking were conducted on January 27 and February 24, 2000, following issuance of the public hearing not ice on December 10, 1999. At the February 24, 2000, hearing, t he Board adopted Resolution 00-2, in which it approved the adoption of sections 1956.1, 1956.2, 1956.3, and 1956.4 in the California Code of Regulations, title 13, relating to em ission standards for urban buses and fleet requirements for transit agencies using urban buses. 1 The Board also approved

amendments to the “California Exhaust Emission Standards and Test Procedures for 1985 and Subsequent Model Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines and Vehicles,” incorporated by sections 1956.1(b) and 1956. 8(b), and amendments to the “California Motor Vehicle Emission Control and Smog I ndex Label Specifications” (Label Specifications), incorporated by reference in section 1965. 2 After complying with the administrative rulemaking procedures set forth in Californi a law, the Executive Officer finalized the Board action and adopted the amendm ents and the new provisions on November 22, 2000, and May 29, 2001, by issuing Executive Orders G-00-060 and G-01-010, respectively.

The 2000 rulemaking consisted primarily of two complementary elements designed to reduce emissions from urban buses: (a) a multi-component urban bus fleet rule applicable to public transit agencies and (b ) more stringent emission standards for urban bus engines applicable to urban bus engine manufacturers.

The Board’s 2000 amendments to the urban bus emission standards made them increasingly more stringent in multiple stages depending on fuel type. First, the Board established a more stringent particulate matt er (PM) emission standard of 0.01 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr) fo r 2002 and later model-year diesel-fuel, dual-fuel, and bi-fuel urban bus engines pr oduced on or after October 1, 2002, representing an 80-perc ent reduction from the preexisti ng PM standard. Second, for the 2004 through 2006 model years (MY), th e amendments increased the stringency of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx), nonmethane hydrocarbon (NMHC), carbon monoxide (CO), and formaldehyde standards for all ur ban bus engines and provided optional

1 All section citations are to the California Code of Regulations, title 13, unless otherwise specified. Section numbers 1956.1-1956.4 were available to codify the new regulations because obsolete provisions

earlier codified under those section numbers had been r epealed by a previous rulemaking. In a later rulemaking in 2007, sections 1956.2, 1956.3, and 1 956.4 were reorganized and renumbered in section

2023 and sections 2023.1-2023.4. In the 2000 rulema king, section 1956.8, which had codified CARB’s urban bus standards along with other heavy-dut y engine and vehicle standards, was amended to

bifurcate the urban bus standards from the other heavy-duty standards and to amended the incorporated standards and test procedures.

2 In addition, the Board approved adopt ion of the “California Certificat ion Procedures for PM Retrofit Devices for On-Road Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines,” incorpor ated by reference in section 1956.2(f)(7). This document was repealed in the 2004 Urban Bus rulema king and was in any event not preempted by CAA section 209(a) because it pertained solely to retrofits for “non-new” engines. It accordingly is not covered by CARB’s waiver request.

1standards as well. For urban bus engines other than diesel-fuel, dual-fuel, and bi-fuel engines, the emissions standards for 2004 thr ough 2006 were set at 2.4 g/bhp-hr for NOx plus NMHC (NOx + NMHC), 15.5 g/bhp- hr for CO, and 0.05 g/bhp-hr for PM (0.07g/bhp-hr PM in-use). 3 For diesel-fueled, dual-fuel, and bi-fuel urban bus engines in the 2004-2006 model years, the standards were set at 0.5 g/bhp-hr NOx, representing a 75 percent reduc tion in the preexisting NOx standard; 0.01 g/bhp-hr PM (maintaining the October 2002 standards), 0.05 g/bhp-hr NMHC, 5. 0 g/bhp-hr CO, and 0.01 g/bhp-hr formaldehyde. Third, beginning with the 2007 model year, all urban engines (regardless of fuel type) had to m eet more stringent emission standards for NOx at 0.2 g/bhp-hr, NM HC at 0.05 g/bhp-hr, CO at 5. 0 g/bhp-hr, and formaldeh 0.01 g/bhp-hr. bus

yde at

As originally established in the 2000 rulemaki ng, the fleet rule for public transit agencies operating urban buses featured several com ponents, including (a) requiring the public transit agency to select one of two compliance paths – either the “a lternative-fuel path” or the “diesel path”; (b) an in-use NOx fleet average requirement of 4.8 g/bhp-hr applicable October 1, 2002, for public transit agencies; (c) requirements that public transit agencies retrofit progressively newer model-year in-use diesel-fuel, dual-fuel, bi-fuel and diesel fuel hybrid-electric urban buses with devices capable of reducing PM emissions by 85 percent, and (d) requirements that large public transit agencies on the diesel path establish zero-emission bus demons tration projects beginning in July 2003, and that all large public transit agencies make at least 15 percent of their new urban bus purchases qualify as zero-emi ssion buses starting in 2008-2010. 4

B. The 2002 Amendments

The second regulatory action occurred in 2002. In recognition of t he progressive nature of the fleet rule and emission standards, CARB staff worked with public transit agencies,

urban transit bus manufacture rs, and engine and drive system manufacturers to gather and evaluate implementation information. In response to direction from the Board during public meetings conducted in S eptember 2001 and March 2002, CARB staff proposed amendments to the pub lic transit agency fleet rule, deleting previously

3 These standards were set for urban buses in a 1998 CARB rulemaking for heavy heavy-duty diesel engines which established standards for the 2004 and late r model years. Urban buses were included in the waiver determination request CARB submitt ed to the Administrator on December 26, 2001.

4 Section 1956.3(b) required a demonstration project for zero-emission buses for which public transit agencies were to prepare and solicit bids. The dem onstration-project requirement is within the market-participant doctrine as it is an exercise of t he state’s proprietary function with respect to transit agency purchases and is accordingly not covered by the instant waiver request. See footnote 1. The 15-percent zero-emission bus purchase requirement fo r large public transit agencies (§ 1956.3(c)) was initially set to be implemented in MY 2008, but delayed to MY 2011 in a subsequent rulemaking in 2006. CARB will further delay the 15-percent purchase r equirement in a rulemaking anticipated in the last quarter of 2010 (see Enclosure 39). The need for a waiver, if any, for the 15-percent purchase requirement will be addressed with the future rulemaking. Section 1956.2(f)(5) prohibited, beginning July 1, 2002, most transit agencies from operating di esel buses on diesel fuel with a sulfur content exceeding 15 parts per million. Under CAA secti on 211(c)(4)(B), California is not preempted from administering this requirement, and the diesel fuel sulfur content requirement accordingly is not covered by the instant waiver request.

2adopted requirements requiring the use of PM retrofit devices, and adopted a new heavy-duty hybrid electric vehicle in terim certification procedure.

Following issuance of the public hearing notice on Septem ber 6, 2002, the Board approved the 2002 amendments and the new inte rim certification procedure at an October 24, 2002, hearing by adoption of Reso lution 02-30. After complying with the administrative rulemaking procedures, the Executive Officer on September 2, 2003, issued Executive Order G-03-023, in wh ich she formally adopted the amendments to sections 1956.1, 1956.2, 1956.4, 1956.8, and 2112 and adopted the “California Interim

Certification Procedures fo r 2004 and Subsequent Model Hybr id-Electric Vehicles, in the Urban Bus and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Classes, ” incorporated by reference in section 1956.1(c) and 1956.8(b). The amendments were filed with OAL on September 4, 2003, and approved by OAL on October 16, 2003.

Most of the 2002 amendments pertained to the fleet rule for public transit agencies, including the following: (a) replacing the PM emissions retrof it requirements with provisions requiring a public transit agency to reduce its overall diesel fleet PM emissions by percentages that increase in f our steps from 2004 to 2009; (b) allowing a public transit agency in the SCAQMD to change its fuel path selection from diesel to alternative fuel on a one-time basis by J anuary 31, 2004; (c) eliminating a restriction that prohibited a public transit agency on t he diesel path from purchasing model-year 2004-2006 alternative-fuel urban bus engines with NOx emissions in excess of 0.5 g/bhp-hr, and (d) authorizing the Executive Offi cer to delay implementation for a small public transit agency based on financial hardship. Of import to the emission standards, as noted above, CARB adopted heavy-duty hybrid-e lectric vehicle interim certification procedures. It also allowed the use of a sm all quantity of diesel as a pilot ignition source in alternate-fueled engines, which previously had been precluded. 5

C. The 2004 Amendments

The third set of amendments, adopted by the Board in Resolution 04-19 at its June 24, 2004, public hearing, m ade further adjustments to the fleet rule in response to the state of bus engine technology. These amendments relaxed the NOx exhaust emission standard for model years 2004-2006 from 0.5 g/bhp- hr to 1.8 g/bhp-hr for diesel fuel hybrid-electric buses sold to a transit agency on the diesel path that has

demonstrated to the Executive Officer that the agency will undertake measures that mitigate the excess NOx emissions. The amendments also adjusted the zero-emission bus demonstration requirements for public transit agencies in light of the high cost and late availability of fuel cells for urban bus applications. The regulatory sections amended were sections 1956.1, 1956.2, 1956.3, and 1956.4. On January 7, 2005, the amendments were submitted to OAL, which approved them on January 31, 2005.

5 These engines are referred to as heavy-duty pilot ignition engines.

3D. The February 2005 Amendments

The fourth set of amendm ents, adopted by the Board in Resolution 05-15 at its February 24, 2005, public hearing, largely es tablished additional or modified fleet requirements for public transit agencies. Mo st significantly, the rulemaking established requirements for public transit agencies oper ating vehicles defined as transit fleet vehicles. Under these provisions, public transit agencies must meet additional fleet requirements for on-road vehicles in their fleet, other than urban buses, that have a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of great er than 8,500 pounds t hat are powered by heavy-duty diesel fueled or diesel-cycle alte rnative fueled engines, including vehicles

defined as commuter service buses. The fl eet regulations established increasingly more stringent fleet average NOx and PM emission requirement s to be phased in between 2007 and 2010. In establishing the fleet average require ments, the Board

relied on emission reductions that would be achieved from use of new engines used in new transit fleet vehicles or in repowering ex isting transit fleet vehicles with engines that meet previously adopted cleaner heavy-duty diesel engine em ission standards and on

the use of retrofit devices that reduce em issions of older engines used in transit fleet

vehicles. 6

The other amendments to the public transit agency fleet rules included (a) an added option for transit agencies to meet the urban bus PM fleet average requirement in a way that would allow for fleet growth; (b) gui dance for newly formed public transit agencies formed after the adoption of the fleet rules fo r public transit agencies; and (c) recodifying the public transit agency fleet requirements in sections 1956. 2-1956.4 to section 2023 et seq. so that they are included within Arti cle 4 and CARB’s other in-use on-road fleet

rules.

The February 2005 amendments also corr ected the 2004-2006 mode l-year emission standards for diesel hybrid-electric engines used in urban buses. When the standards were amended in the 2004 rulemaking, they inadvertently omitted the then existing standards for NMHC and carbon monoxide (CO) . The 2005 amendments reinserted the engine exhaust emission standards of 0.5 g/ bhp-hr for NMHC and 15.5 g/bhp-hr for CO;

the amendments also removed the fo rmaldehyde standard. The new and amended regulations were submitted to OAL on December 19, 2005, and were approved on January 31, 2006.

E. The September and October 2005 Amendments

The final set of amendments covered by this request was considered by the Board during three public hearings

− September 15, 2005, October 20, 2005, and October 27, 2005. At the September 15 public hearing, the Board approved in

Resolution 05-47 amendments to section 2023.1 t hat require all public transit agencies in the South Coast Air Quality Management Dis trict (SCAQMD) to follow the alternative-

6 Under CAA section 209(a), retrofit requirements are not preempted because they are required on used engines and vehicles and are therefore not par t of this waiver determination request.

45 fuel path in complying with the Fl eet Rule for Transit Agencies

− Urban Bus Requirements.

At the October 20 and 27 hearings, the Boar d considered amendment s to the urban bus

exhaust emission standards and to the fleet rule for public transit agencies statewide.

At the conclusion of the Oc tober 20 hearing, the Board a dopted Resolution 05-53, in which it approved amendments to the urban bus exhaust em ission standards to align them with California’s existing exhaust emission standards for heavy-duty diesel-cycle engines 7 and deferred final approval of amendm ents to the Fleet Rule for Transit Agencies

− Urban Bus Requirements to October 27, when CARB staff reported on the likely effect that the fleet requirements w ould have on public transit agencies. At the October 27 hearing, the Board adopted Reso lution 05-61, which approved and required diesel path public transit agencies with more than 30 urban buses in their fleets to

retrofit additional diesel fleet urban buses and ot her public transit agency vehicles if they purchase 2007 through 2009 diesel fuel urban bus es whose engines were not certified at or below 0.2 g/bhp-hr for NOx. After complying with California rulemaking law, the

Executive Officer finalized the Boar d action and adopted the amendments on July 28, 2006, by issuing Executive Order R-050-07. The Office of Administrative Law approved the regulations for filing and fil ed them with the Secr etary of State on September 7, 2006.

7 See the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notice of its decision to grant a waiver of preemption for these standards in 70 Fed.Reg. 50322 (Aug. 26, 2005).