U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Conspiracy to disable truck emission controls nets guilty plea

In exchange for a fee of up to $4,500 per truck, a New Jersey man was able to remotely reconfigure heavy-duty diesel truck engines allowing company drivers to bypass federal pollution-control regulations.

He now faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Jonathan Achtemeier pled guilty in a Washington state federal court on Wednesday, admitting that between 2019 and 2022 he removed the pollution control software on hundreds of trucks from around the country.

Defeating emission controls...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/conspiracy-to-disable-truck-emission-controls-nets-guilty-plea

Top US container ports awarded $1.6B to electrify

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has released $3 billion in funding aimed at cutting pollution at U.S. ports, with roughly half of that going to electrify some of the country’s largest container operations.

Of the 55 grant applicants across 27 states that were awarded money from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program, the top five winners – the ports of Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, Virginia, Baltimore and Oakland, California – received $1.6 billion.

Biden speaking at...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/top-us-container-ports-awarded-1-6b-to-electrify

OOIDA sues EPA over zero-carbon regulation

WASHINGTON — Small-business truck owners have sued the Biden administration over its new zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicle standards, claiming the cost to comply would put them out of business.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association joined with the American Petroleum Institute (API) in a petition filed Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging a final rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in April

API and OOIDA, along with the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ooida-sues-epa-over-zero-carbon-regulation

Railroads fear losing out to trucks if California gets its way

WASHINGTON — Major freight railroads and their short-line counterparts raised red flags on Capitol Hill about supply chain consequences of a California regulation aimed at cutting air pollution from locomotives.

If the California Air Resources Board is successful in securing approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California’s In-Use Locomotive Regulation, adopted by the state last year, would require all locomotives manufactured after 2035 that travel though the state of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/railroads-fear-losing-out-to-trucks-if-california-gets-its-way

Biden administration acknowledges ‘challenge’ with new truck emissions rule

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration acknowledged that its aggressive push to decarbonize trucking will be costly — but that the federal government will be here to help.

“The overarching challenge is aligning the market-driven desire from fleets to adopt zero-emission freight vehicles with the resources required to make it successful, and right now, they cost more,” said Gabe Klein, executive director of the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.

Speaking to NPR before the release on...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/biden-administration-acknowledges-challenge-with-new-truck-emissions-rule

Industry study pegs electric truck grid buildout at $1 trillion

WASHINGTON — Companies representing all segments of the trucking industry are warning of a staggering $1 trillion price tag that they claim sets up a roadblock to the Biden administration’s push to decarbonize the industry.

A study released on Tuesday commissioned by the Clean Freight Coalition (CFC), whose members include the American Trucking Associations, LTL carriers, truck dealers and truck stop operators, concluded that commercial trucking would have to invest more than $620 billion in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/industry-study-pegs-electric-truck-grid-buildout-at-1-trillion

Cummins will pay California $175M over emission-rigged engines

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Cummins Inc. will pay $175 million to California over emissions-rigging of Ram truck diesel engines....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cummins-will-pay-california-175m-over-emission-rigged-engines

Labor, climate costs loom large for trucking in 2024

WASHINGTON — While election-year politics may gridlock Congress from passing meaningful truck-related legislation in 2024, the potential for a change in administrations could be a catalyst for finalizing two regulations that have major cost and operational implications for the industry.

Proposed rules to tighten standards for independent contractors and on carbon emissions from heavy trucks — both of which are undergoing final review at the White House — also fit squarely within the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/labor-climate-costs-loom-large-for-trucking-in-2024

Railroads take on EPA’s pollution-reporting proposal

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WASHINGTON — A Biden administration proposal to change how rail carriers report air emissions data...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/railroads-take-on-epas-pollution-reporting-proposal

Truck makers take on EPA’s zero-emissions carbon rule

WASHINGTON — Truck manufacturers are pushing back hard against the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to drastically cut carbon emissions from heavy trucks beginning in model year 2028.

While fully electric, zero-emission trucks are already on the roads, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) maintain that the biggest impediment to the EPA’s rule seeking aggressive adoption for the trucking industry is a lack of infrastructure to support it.

“We fully support that goal, demonstrated by...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-makers-take-on-epas-zero-emissions-carbon-rule

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