STATE CAPITOL 

P.O. BOX 942849 

SACRAMENTO, CA 94249-0070 

(916) 319-2070 

DISTRICT OFFICE 

JAMBOREE CENTER 

3 PARK PLAZA, SUITE 275 

IRVINE, CA 92614 

(949)663-7070 

' E-MAIL 

assemblymember.devore@assembly.ca.gov 

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CHUCK DEVORE 

REPUBLICAN WHIP 

ASSEMBLYMAN, SEVENTIETH DISTRICT 

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COMMITTEES 

VICE CHAIR, REVENUE AND TAXATION 

BUDGET 

VETERANS AFFAIRS 

February 17, 2009 

California Air Resources Board 

1001 I Street 

P.O. Box 2815 

Sacramento, California 95812 

Re: Temporary Suspension of CARB On-Road and Off-Road Diesel Truck Regulations 

Dear Board Members: 

As members of the California State Legislature, we are requesting that you temporarily suspend 

the On-Road Diesel Vehicle Regulations that you approved on December 12, 2008 

(http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2008/trackbusO8/trackbusO8.hlLn) and the Off-Road Diesel 

Vehicle Regulations that went into effect on June 15, 2008 

(htip://www.arb.ca .,gov/m§progLordiesel/ordiesel.htm). T'here are strong scientific, legal, and 

economic justifications for requesting this suspension, which we summarize below. 

1) Scientific Justification for Suspension 

There are several reasons to question the CARB claim that diesel particulate matter (PM) 

causes about 4,000 premature deaths per year in California, which is the primary scientific 

justification for CAR$ diesel emissions regulations. There is substantial epidemiologic 

evidence from six independent sources that there is no current relationship between fine 

particulate matter (PM2.5) and premature deaths in California. The evidence that CARB 

relies upon is not sufficient to establish a true causal relationship in California. Also, serious 

doubts have been raised about the professional qualifications of the CARB staff inembers 

who prepared the key report on PM2.5 and premature deaths. Further, the final version of this 

report and relevant public comments were never shown to outside peer reviewers as required 

by state law. Diesel toxicity and PM pollution in California are at record low levels. 

California has the fourth lowest total age-adjusted death rate among US states and few 

"premature" deaths, Modifying diesel engines in the way proposed by CARB may be of 

little value because of the "particulate mass fallacy" and the chemical composition of PM in 

California vs. other states. These scientific issues should be fully addressed by CARB before 

enacting regulations which will cost upwards of $10 billion to implement. 

2) Legal Justification for Suspension 

On August 27, 1998 the CARB declared diesel PM to be a toxic air contaminant (TAC) and 

this has subsequently led to the diesel vehicle regulations cited above. This controversial 

declaration was the direct result of the highly contested Apri122, 1998 declaration by the 

Piinted cn Flecyc%d Paper 
CARB Scientific Review Panel (SRP) on Toxic Air Contaminants. After historical review, 

there is substantial evidence that the appointments of the nine members of the SRP as of 

1998 were not made in accord with all relevant provisions in Sections 39670-39671 of the 

California Health and Safety Code and with the intent of the original legislative bills that 

created the SRP: AB1807 (Tanner, 1983) and AB3792 (La Follette, 1986). There are 

legitimate questions regarding the precise appointment and reappointrnent procedure that was 

followed for specific panel members, their length of service, and the proper public disclosure 

of their potential conflicts of interest. These legal issues should be fully addressed by CARB 

before implementing costly regulations on the people of the State of California. 

3) Economic Justification for Suspension 

The CARB on-road and off-road diesel regulations have been estirriated to cost up to 10 

billion dollars to implement. Furthermore, these regulations have been approved at a time 

when the California economy is in a recession, unemployment is pushing 10%, and truckingrelated businesses are struggling to stay viable. In passing its December 12, 2008 

regulations, CARB effectively ignored the economic arguments and pleas presented in about 

500 written and/or verbal public comments. One California contractor gave particularly 

telling comments: "The affect on my company is 100 percent of my portable equipment will 

be illegal to use or sell in the state of California: 100 percent of my trucks, 90 percent of my 

off-highway. Three regulations all at once. This is a destruction of my capital. I have spent 

44 years in this business gaining this equity, and these regulations have destroyed it all at 

once. Destroys a business model of the entrepreneur who saves money and invests it and 

provides employment and a tax base for the economy." The economic concerns of individual 

Californians and of large coalitions, like "Driving Toward A Cleaner Califomia" 

(http://www.drivecleanca.org ), should be fully addressed by CARB. 

Detailed documentation for these scientific, legal, and economic justifications are available 

in posted CARB public comments. These are the written comments submitted as of 

December 10, 2008: 

(http://www.arb.ca . og v/lispub/comm/bccommprt.php?listname=truckbus08) and verbal 

testimony delivered directly to the Board on December 11, 2008 

(http://www.arb.ca.g_ov/board/mt/2008/mt121108.udf) and on December 12, 2008 

(http://www.arb.ca.gov/board/mt/2008/mt121208.pdf) . New CARB diesel vehicle 

regulations should not be implemented until the issues raised in these comrnents have been 

fully addressed. 

Thank you very much for your prompt attention to this important matter. 

lD

yours, 

eVore 

Assemblyman, 70tbDistrict 

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Mike Villines 

Assembly Republican Leader 

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~ 

i Correa 

ator, 34thDistrict