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United States 

Environmental Protection 

Agency 

Air and Radiation EPA420-F-00-057 

December 2000 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality 

Regulatory 

Announcement

Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle 

Standards and Highway Diesel Fuel 

Sulfur Control Requirements 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is establishing a 

comprehensive national control program that will regulate the heavyduty vehicle and its fuel as a single system. As part of this program, 

new emission standards will begin to take effect in model year 2007 and 

will apply to heavy-duty highway engines and vehicles. These standards 

are based on the use of high-efficiency catalytic exhaust emission 

control devices or comparably effective advanced technologies. 

Because these devices are damaged by sulfur, we are also reducing 

the level of sulfur in highway diesel fuel by 97 percent by mid-2006. The 

program provides substantial flexibility for refiners, especially small 

refiners, and for manufacturers of engines and vehicles, to aid them in 

implementing the new requirements in the most cost-efficient manner. 

Background 

The pollution emitted by diesel engines contributes greatly to our 

nation’s continuing air quality problems. Even with more stringent 

heavy-duty highway engine standards set to take effect in 2004, these 

engines will continue to emit large amounts of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) 

and particulate matter (PM), both of which contribute to serious public 

health problems in the United States. Exposure is widespread, particularly in urban areas. 

Printed on Recycled Paper 
Diesel exhaust or diesel particulate matter 

(soot) is likely to cause lung cancer in 

humans. Other health effects include 

aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, aggravation of existing asthma, 

acute respiratory symptoms, chronic 

bronchitis and decreased lung function. 

Heavy-duty trucks 

and buses today 

account for about 

one-third of NOx 

emissions and onequarter of PM 

emissions from 

mobile sources. In 

some urban areas, 

the contribution is 

even greater. EPA’s 

new program will result in PM and NOx 

emission levels that are 90 percent and 95 

percent below today’s levels, respectively. 

The results of this historic program are 

comparable to the advent of the catalytic 

converter on cars, as the standards will for 

the first time result in the widespread 

introduction of exhaust emission control 

devices on diesel engines. And, just as 

removing lead from gasoline enables the 

use of catalytic converters, this program 

removes sulfur from diesel fuel to enable 

the use of these advanced emission controls 

on diesel vehicles. 

New Standards for Heavy-Duty 

Highway Engines and Vehicles 

We are finalizing a PM emissions standard 

for new heavy-duty engines of 0.01 grams 

per brake-horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr), to 

take full effect for diesels in the 2007 

model year. We are also finalizing standards for NOx and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) of 0.20 g/bhp-hr and 0.14 g/ 

bhp-hr, respectively. These NOx and 

NMHC standards will be phased in together between 2007 and 2010, for diesel 

engines. The phase-in will be on a percentof-sales basis: 50 

percent from 2007 

to 2009 and 100 

percent in 2010. 

Gasoline engines 

will be subject to 

these standards 

based on a phasein requiring 50 

percent compliance in the 2008 

model year and 100 percent compliance in 

the 2009 model year. 

The program includes flexibility provisions 

to facilitate the transition to the new standards and to encourage the early introduction of clean technologies, and adjustments 

to various testing and compliance requirements to address differences between the 

new technologies and existing enginebased technologies. 

New Standards for Diesel Fuel 

Refiners will be required to start producing 

diesel fuel for use in highway vehicles with 

a sulfur content of no more than 15 parts 

per million (ppm), beginning June 1, 2006. 

At the terminal level, highway diesel fuel 

sold as low sulfur fuel will be required to 

meet the 15 ppm sulfur standard as of July 

15, 2006. For retail stations and fleets, 

highway diesel fuel sold as low sulfur fuel 

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must meet the 15 ppm sulfur standard by 

September 1, 2006. 

This program includes a combination of 

flexibilities available to refiners to ensure a 

smooth transition to low sulfur highway 

diesel fuel. Refiners can take advantage of 

a temporary compliance option, including 

an averaging, banking and trading component, beginning in June 2006 and lasting 

through 2009, with credit given for early 

compliance before June 2006. Under this 

option, up to 20 percent of highway diesel 

fuel may continue to be produced at the 

existing 500 ppm sulfur maximum standard, though it must be segregated from 15 

ppm fuel in the distribution system, and 

may only be used in pre-2007 model year 

heavy-duty vehicles. 

We are providing additional hardship 

provisions for small refiners to minimize 

their economic burden in complying with 

the 15 ppm sulfur standard and giving 

additional flexibility to refiners subject to 

the Geographic Phase-in Area (GPA) 

provisions of the Tier 2 gasoline sulfur 

program, which will allow them the option 

of staggering their gasoline and diesel 

investments. We are also adopting a general 

hardship provision for which any refiner 

may apply on a case-by-case basis under 

certain conditions. 

Health and Environmental 

Benefits 

Without significant new controls on motor 

vehicle emissions, millions of Americans 

will continue to breathe unhealthy air. The 

new standards will result in substantial 

benefits to the public health and welfare 

through significant annual reductions in 

emissions of NOx, PM, NMHC, carbon 

monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and air toxics. 

The clean air impact of this program will 

be dramatic when fully implemented. 

These emission reductions will prevent 

8,300 premature deaths, more than 9,500 

hospitalizations, and 1.5 million work days lost. 

As a result of this program, 

each new truck and bus will be 

more than 90 percent cleaner 

than current models. The clean 

air impact of this program will 

be dramatic when fully implemented. This program will 

provide annual emission reductions equivalent to removing 

the pollution from more than 90 percent of 

today’s trucks and buses, or about 13 

million trucks and buses. 

We project a 2.6 million ton reduction of 

NOx emissions in 2030 when the current 

heavy-duty vehicle fleet is completely 

replaced with newer heavy-duty vehicles 

that comply with these emission standards. 

By 2030, this program will reduce annual 

emissions of NMHC by 115,000 tons and 

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PM by 109,000 tons. These emissions 

reductions are on par with those for passenger vehicles and low sulfur gasoline under 

the Tier 2 program. 

Ozone causes a range of health problems 

related to breathing, including chest pain, 

coughing, and shortness of breath. PM is 

deposited deep in the lungs and causes 

premature death, increased emergency 

room visits, and increased respiratory 

symptoms and disease. With both ozone 

and PM, children and the elderly are most 

at risk. In addition, ozone, NOx, and PM 

adversely affect the environment in various 

ways, including crop damage, acid rain, 

and visibility impairment. 

Costs of the Program 

We project that the emission reductions and 

the resulting significant public health and 

environmental benefits of this program will 

come at an average cost increase of about 

$1,200 to $1,900 per new vehicle, depending on the vehicle size. To put this in 

perspective, new vehicle prices today can 

range from as much as $150,000 for a new 

heavy-duty truck to $250,000 for a new 

bus. We estimate that when fully implemented, the sulfur reduction requirement 

will increase the cost of producing and 

distributing diesel fuel by about 4-1/2 to 5 

cents per gallon. 

For More Information 

You can access the final rule and related 

documents electronically on the Office of 

Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) 

Web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/diesel.htm 

You can also contact the OTAQ Library for 

document information at: 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

OTAQ Library 

2000 Traverwood Drive 

Ann Arbor, MI 48105 

(734) 214-4311 

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