Mail-Out MSC 03-05

State of California

AIR RESOURCES BOARD

Notice of Public Availability of Modified Text

PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC TRANSIT BUS

FLEET RULE AND EMISSION STANDARDS FOR NEW URBAN BUSES

First Public Hearing Date: October 24, 2002

Public Availability Date: March 28, 2003

Deadline for Public Comment: April 14, 2003

The Board’s Action

At its October 24, 2002 public hearing, the Air Resources Board (Board or ARB)

considered amendments to the public transit bus fleet regulations sections 1956.1,

1956.2, 1956.4, 1956.8, and 2112, title 13, California Code of Regulations (CCR). The

Board adopted Resolution 02-30 (appended to this notice as Attachment I) approving

amendments modifying the current, model year based and PM retrofit requirements to

establish a total PM reduction requirement (Table 1); allowing transit agencies in the

South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) that have elected to follow the

“diesel” path a one time option of changing to the “alternative fuel” path; modifying the

alternative fuel provision for transit agencies on the diesel fuel path; authorizing the

Executive Officer to grant small transit agencies a delay in implementation of the

regulation; modifying and including additional definitions for clarification of the urban

transit bus fleet rule; repealing the current certification procedure for particulate matter

(PM) retrofit devices adopted November 2000 and substituting the Board adopted

“Verification Procedures, Warranty, and In-Use Compliance Requirements for In-Use

Strategies to Control Emissions from Diesel Engines,” and providing interim procedures

for certification of hybrid-electric urban transit buses.

Table 1

Proposed Compliance Schedule for Total Diesel PM Emissions

Compliance Year

(as of January 1st)

Diesel Fuel Path

Percent Reduction

Alternative Fuel Path

Percent Reduction

2004 40 20

2005 60 40

2007 85 60

2009 85 85
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At the hearing, the Board also directed the Executive Officer to incorporate the

approved modifications into the regulatory text, along with such conforming

modifications as may be appropriate, and to make such modifications available for a

supplemental comment period of at least 15 days.

Summary of Proposed Modifications

The Board approved the staff proposal with the modifications presented at the October

hearing, with minor changes. These changes were made in response to comments

received subsequent to the publication of the staff report. The following text describes

the modifications approved by the Board at the October hearing.

Title 13, California Code of Regulations

Section 1956.1(b) Certification Requirements for Heavy-duty Pilot Ignition Engine

The Board agreed that transit buses using Heavy-duty Pilot Ignition (HDPI) Engines

should be treated as alternate fuel engines. To allow for HDPI use as an alternative fuel

engine, staff added certification requirements for HDPI engines in section 1956.1(b) as

follows:

A bi-fuel engine meeting the definition of a heavy-duty pilot ignition engine set

forth in section 1956.2(b)(4) may be certified to the standards in section

1956.1(a)(8) and (a)(10), provided that the engine is certified to an optional PM

standard of 0.03, 0.02, or 0.01 g/bhp-hr.

Section 1956.2(b)(1): Definition of Alternative Fuel

Commentors requested that the alternative fuel definition in section 1956.2(b)(1) not be

modified to allow use of HDPI. The language modifying the definition has been

removed.

In addition, the comments received requested clarification on the use of hydrogen and

gasoline as used in hybrid electric buses as alternative fuels. Text was added to

section 1956.2(b)(1) to include the use of these fuels. Alternative fuel is now defined

as:

“Alternative fuel” means natural gas, propane, ethanol, methanol, gasoline (when

used in hybrid electric buses only), hydrogen, electricity, fuel cells, or advanced

technologies that do not rely on diesel fuel. Alternative fuel also means any of

these fuels used in combination with each other or in combination with other nondiesel fuels.
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Section 1956.2(b)(4): Definition of Heavy-duty Pilot Ignition Engine

As previously stated, as the result of public comments, the original text including HDPI

in the alternative fuel definition has been removed. To allow for HDPI use as an

alternative fuel engine, staff added the following definition to section 1956.2(b)(4):

“Heavy-duty pilot ignition engine” means an engine designed to operate using an

alternative fuel, except that diesel fuel is used for pilot ignition at an average ratio

of no more than 1 part diesel fuel to 10 parts total fuel on an energy equivalent

basis. An engine that can operate or idle solely on diesel fuel at any time does

not meet this definition.

Section 1956.2(c)(1): HDPI Purchase by Transit Agencies on Alternative-fuel Path

Staff added the following language to section 1956.2(c)(1) to allow transit agencies to

include buses using HDPI engines in the alternative-fuel bus purchase calculation.

Upon approval of the regulation, and through Model Year 2015, at least 85

percent of all urban buses purchased or leased each year must be alternativefuel buses or buses with engines purchased under section 1956.2(c)(9).

Section 1956.2(c)(9): HDPI Purchase by Transit Agencies on Alternative-fuel Path

Staff added the following language to section 1956.2(c)(9) to allow transit agencies on

the alternative-fuel path to purchase buses with HDPI engines:

A transit agency on the alternative-fuel path may purchase a bus operated with a

heavy-duty pilot ignition engine provided the engine meets the standards set

forth in subdivision (b) of section 1956.1.

Section 1956.2(d)(8): HDPI Purchase by Transit Agencies on Diesel-fuel Path

Staff added the following language to section 1956.2(d)(8) to allow transit agencies on

the diesel-fuel path to purchase buses with HDPI engines:

A transit agency on the diesel-fuel path may purchase a bus operated with a

heavy-duty pilot ignition engine provided the engine meets the standards set

forth in subdivision (b) of section 1956.1.

In addition, staff made minor modifications to the text of sections 1956.1(a)(7-9),

1956.1(a)(11), 1956.2(c)(5), 1956.2(d)(4), 1956.2(f), and 1956.4(d)(1)(A) to exclude

HDPI from diesel fueled engine and PM reporting requirements along with minor text

changes to correct references throughout sections 1956.1 and 1956.2 of title 13.
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Availability of Modified Text

Attachment 1 (Board Resolution 02-30) and Attachment 2 (text of the modified

language) are available on line at the ARB’s Internet site for regulatory documents in

this rulemaking:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/bus02/bus02.htm

Attachment 2 contains the text of the regulations affected by the modifications being

proposed with this notice. Paragraphs within these sections that are not proposed

for amendment in this rulemaking are indicated by "[No Change]". The proposed

regulatory amendments adopted by the Board on October 24, 2002 are shown in

underline to indicate additions to the text and strikethrough to indicate deletions. The

modifications to the original proposal are shown in double underline to indicate

additions and double strikethrough to indicate deletions. Adopted amendments in a

separate rulemaking, “Public Hearing to Adopt the Incorporation of Federal Exhaust

Emission Standards for 2008 and Later Model-Year Heavy-Duty Gasoline Engines

and the Adoption of Minor Amendments to the Low-Emission Vehicle Regulations”

considered by the Board at the December 12, 2002 hearing, are shown in dotted

underline and bold italic strikethrough to indicate additions and deletions,

respectively and are included for information only.

Printed copies may be obtained by contacting Neidy Pinuelas, Heavy-Duty Diesel InUse Strategies Branch secretary at 626-350-6454 or by e-mail at

npinuela@arb.ca.gov, or by faxing or mailing the request form attached to the end of

the notice to the address or number detailed on the form.

Comments and Subsequent Action

In accordance with section 11346.8(c) of the Government Code, the Board directed the

Executive Officer to make the modified amendments and any conforming modifications

to the public transit bus fleet regulations sections 1956.1, 1956.2, 1956.4, 1956.8, and

2112, title 13, CCR and make them available to the public for comment for a period of

15 days. The Board further provided that the Executive Officer shall consider such

written comments as may be submitted during this period, shall make such

modifications as may be appropriate in light of the comments received, and shall

present the regulations to the Board for further consideration if warranted.
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Written comments on the proposed modifications may be submitted by postal mail,

electronic mail, or facsimile as follows:

Postal mail is to be sent to:

Clerk of the Board

Air Resources Board

1001 “I” Street, 23rd Floor

Sacramento, California 95814

Electronic mail must be sent to: bus02@listserv.arb.ca.gov

Facsimile submissions must be transmitted to the Clerk of the Board at:

(916) 322-3928

In order to be considered by the Executive Officer, comments must be directed to the

ARB in one of the three forms described above and received by the ARB by 5:00 p.m.

on the last day for supplemental comment listed at the beginning of this notice. Only

comments relating to the modifications to the text of the regulations shall be considered

by the Executive Officer.

If you have special accommodation or language needs, please contact Neidy Pinuelas,

Heavy-Duty Diesel In-Use Strategies Branch secretary at 626-350-6454 or by e-mail at

npinuela@arb.ca.gov as soon as possible. TTY/TDD/Speech-to-Speech users may dial

7-1-1 for the California Relay Service.

Robert H. Cross, Chief

Mobile Source Control Division

Attachments