State of California

AIR RESOURCES BOARD

Resolution 00-2

February 24, 2000

Agenda Item No.: 00-1-2

WHEREAS, sections 39600 and 39601 of the Health and Safety Code authorize the Air

Resources Board (the Board) to adopt standards, rules, and regulations and to do such

acts as may be necessary for the proper execution of the powers and duties granted to

and imposed upon the Board by law;

WHEREAS, in section 43000 of the Health and Safety Code, the Legislature has

declared that the emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles is the primary cause of

air pollution in many parts of the state and, in sections 39002 and 39003 of the Health

and Safety Code, has charged the Board with the responsibility of systematically

addressing the serious air pollution problem caused by motor vehicles;

WHEREAS, sections 43013, 43101, and 43104 of the Health and Safety Code

authorize the Board to adopt motor vehicle emission standards, in-use performance

standards, and test procedures, which it finds to be necessary, cost-effective, and

technologically feasible;

WHEREAS, section 43018 of the Health and Safety Code directs the Board to endeavor

to achieve the maximum degree of emission reduction possible from vehicular sources

to accomplish the attainment of state ambient air quality standards by the earliest

practicable date;

WHEREAS, section 43806 of the Health and Safety Code directs the Board to adopt

emission standards and procedures applicable to new engines used in publicly owned

and privately owned public transit buses;

WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has promulgated

emission standards and programs to reduce emissions from urban transit buses, and

those standards and programs can be found in Title 40 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, Part 86;

WHEREAS, section 43701(b) of the Health and Safety Code requires the Board to

adopt regulations that require heavy-duty diesel vehicles to utilize emission control

equipment and alternative fuels to reduce emissions to the greatest extent feasible;
Resolution 00-2 2

WHEREAS, on August 27, 1998, following extensive scientific review and public

hearings, and consistent with the conclusions of the Scientific Review Panel and the

Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the Board formally identified

particulate emissions from diesel-fueled engines as a toxic air contaminant;

WHEREAS, the Board, through the adoption of Resolution 98-49 on

September 24, 1998, called on state, local, and federal agencies to join together to

“clean the fleet,” supported immediate and continuing efforts to replace diesel-fueled

school and public urban transit buses with low-emission alternative-fuel buses, including

the provision of necessary infrastructure and technical training, and directed the staff to

distribute this resolution to multiple affected parties;

WHEREAS, section 39667 of the Health and Safety Code directs the Board to achieve

the maximum possible reduction in public exposure to toxic air contaminants by

establishing emission standards for vehicular sources including new and in-use motor

vehicles and fuels;

WHEREAS, the California Environmental Quality Act and Board regulations require that

no project which may have significant adverse environmental impacts be adopted as

originally proposed if feasible alternatives or mitigation measures are available to

reduce or eliminate such impacts;

WHEREAS, the Board has considered the impact of this proposed regulatory action on

the economy of the state;

WHEREAS, the ARB staff conducted public workshops on October 18, 1999, and on

October 20, 1999, as well as numerous public outreach meetings, in order to include

affected stakeholders in the public process for regulatory development;

WHEREAS, a staff report and draft regulatory language were published and made

available to the public for 45 days prior to this Board hearing;

WHEREAS, a public hearing and other administrative proceedings have been held in

accordance with the provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with section 11340),

Part 1, Division 3, Title 2 of the Government Code;

WHEREAS, based on the information in the public record, including the staff report and

written and oral testimony, the Board finds that:

1. Diesel urban transit buses, on a per bus basis, contribute relatively high

emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter and operate in the

most heavily congested urban areas where air quality is critical and direct

exposure to diesel particulates occurs for large numbers of people.
Resolution 00-2 3

2. Diesel urban transit buses are ideally suited for improved controls to reduce

emissions because: 1) they are centrally-fueled, with known, fixed routes, which

allows for a low-emission, alternative fuel to be used more efficiently, 2) the

entire cost of a new bus is not borne by local transit agencies as the purchase

price of a new urban transit bus, including a low-emission, alternative-fuel bus, is

heavily subsidized by the federal government, and 3) cost-effective emission

reductions can be immediately achieved as low-emission, alternative-fuel engine

technology is already available.

3. Public transportation provides important societal benefits by providing access to

work and education, reducing traffic congestion, and meeting the mobility needs

of the public, including the elderly and disabled.

4. Significant improvements in heavy-duty vehicle technology and the availability of

cleaner alternative and conventional fuels allow the ARB and California’s transit

agencies to be partners in achieving new air quality benefits from public

transportation.

5. It is necessary and appropriate to encourage transit agencies to voluntarily

replace diesel-fueled urban transit buses with low-emission, alternative-fuel

urban transit buses as a clean air strategy to meet health-based air quality

standards for ozone and particulate matter, and as a way to reduce public

exposure to toxic diesel particulate emissions.

6. It is necessary and appropriate that, based on expected advances in engine

technology and new aftertreatment technologies, the proposed regulation

establish more stringent emission standards for engines used in urban transit

buses, applicable to heavy-duty engine manufacturers, beginning with the 2004

model year and again in the 2007 model year, in order to reduce emissions and

public exposure to toxic air contaminants.

7. It is necessary and appropriate that the proposed regulation provide transit

agencies the maximum flexibility commensurate with reducing emissions of

criteria and toxic pollutants in determining their optimal fleet mix by allowing such

agencies to choose between two compliance paths, either the diesel path or the

alternative-fuel path.

8. It is necessary and appropriate that the proposed urban transit bus fleet rule use

a combination of strategies to reduce emissions from both new urban buses and

in-use urban buses in order to ensure low-emission public transportation in

California in the most cost-effective manner feasible.
Resolution 00-2 4

9. It is necessary and appropriate in order to reduce emissions, based on currently

available engine and aftertreatment technologies and expected advancements in

these technologies, that the proposed urban transit bus fleet rule include: 1) an

in-use NOx fleet average requirement to encourage the retirement of 1987 and

earlier model year diesel urban buses; 2) retrofit requirements to reduce public

exposure to toxic diesel particulate emissions; 3) a low-sulfur diesel fuel

requirement; 4) more stringent emission standards affecting new urban transit

bus purchases beginning with the 2004 model year and again in the 2007 model

year; 5) a zero-emission bus demonstration project, beginning in 2003, for large

transit agencies on the diesel path; and 6) zero-emission bus purchase

requirements for large transit agencies on both the diesel and alternative-fuel

paths.

10. It is appropriate to provide for alternative strategies for achieving greater

emission reductions than those to be achieved by the 2004 emissions standards

for diesel and dual-fuel bus engines, and that prior to approval of the first

exemption for a transit agency on the diesel path from the requirements of

section 1956.2(c)(4) of title 13, California Code of Regulations, the Executive

Officer shall bring the application to the Board for consideration.

11. The regulation adopted herein will not cause California motor vehicle emission

standards, in the aggregate, to be less protective of public health and welfare

than applicable federal standards.

12. Separate California emission standards and test procedures are necessary to

meet compelling and extraordinary conditions.

13. The California emission standards and test procedures as adopted herein will not

cause the California requirements to be inconsistent with section 202(a) of the

Clean Air Act and raise no new issues affecting previous waiver determinations

of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to

section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act.

WHEREAS, the Board finds that the adoption of the regulation approved herein will not

have a significant adverse environmental impact and that the regulation is projected to

have a positive air quality impact; and

WHEREAS, the Board further finds that no alternative considered by the Board would

be more effective in carrying out the purpose for which the regulation is proposed or

would be as effective and less burdensome to affected private persons.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board approves new sections 1956.1,

1956.2, 1956.3, and 1956.4 in title 13, California Code of Regulations, and approves

amendments to section 1956.8 and to the heavy-duty test procedures incorporated by

reference in section 1956.8, as set forth in Attachment A hereto.
Resolution 00-2 5

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to adopt the

amendments, with the modifications approved by the Board as set forth in Attachment A

hereto and such other conforming modifications as may be appropriate, after making

the modified regulatory language available for public comment for a period of 15 days,

provided that the Executive Officer shall consider such written comments as may be

submitted during this period, shall make further modifications as may be appropriate in

light of the comments received or as necessary to ensure consistency with the

modifications approved by the Board, and shall present the regulation to the Board for

further consideration if he determines that this is warranted.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to work with

transit agencies during implementation of the regulations, including the provisions of the

fleet rule, and to report back to the Board regularly on transit agencies’ progress in

implementing the regulations.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board hereby directs the Executive Officer to

encourage transportation planning agencies to provide more funding for transit agencies

to fund the retrofit costs, infrastructure costs, and the portion of new bus purchase costs

not covered by federal funds or incentive funds.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to work with

transit agencies to identify potential sources of funding for the capital costs and

infrastructure for future lower-emission bus technology.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to report back

to the Board no later than January 2006 on the status of zero emission bus technology

and the feasibility of implementing the zero-emission bus purchase requirement.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to report back

to the Board on implementation of emission reduction strategies as an alternative to

compliance with the 2004 standards, and the demonstration of advanced aftertreatment

systems.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to evaluate

the viability of test procedures to determine in-use emission compliance of urban transit

buses.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to develop a

test procedure for the evaluation of hybrid electric bus emissions and to report back to

the Board by mid-2001.
Resolution 00-2 6

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to work with

school districts, the Department of Education, engine manufacturers and bus

manufacturers, the environmental community, and the public to further evaluate the

potential health risk to school children exposed to particulate matter from diesel-fueled

school buses, and also directs staff to report back to the Board on possible measures to

reduce that exposure.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Executive Officer shall, upon adoption, forward

the regulation to the Environmental Protection Agency with a request for a waiver or

confirmation that the regulations are within the scope of an existing waiver of federal

preemption pursuant to section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act, as appropriate.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to work

closely with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in their

development of a new national diesel fuel specification. It is this Board’s intent that

there be a national low sulfur diesel fuel standard in order to minimize price and supply

disruptions in California. The Executive Officer shall revisit the low sulfur diesel fuel

purchase requirement in this regulation as quickly as possible after the U.S. EPA adopts

a new fuel specification. The Executive Officer shall return to the Board with a

recommendation on whether harmonization with federal diesel fuel sulfur requirement is

appropriate.

I hereby certify that the above is a true and

correct copy of Resolution 00-2, as adopted by

the Air Resources Board

____________________________________

Pat Hutchens, Clerk of the Board
Resolution 00-2

February 24, 2000

Identification of Attachments to the Resolution

Attachment A: Proposed Regulation for a Public Transit Bus Fleet Rule and

Emission Standards for New Urban Buses, as set forth in Appendix

A to the Staff Report (released December 10, 1999), and including

modifications as suggested by the staff and as directed by the

Board at the February 24, 2000, public hearing.