Harbor Truckers Seek Standard Delay

California motor carriers are asking the state air quality board to slow down adoption of its proposed low-carbon fuel standard that the industry says could cause the cost of diesel fuel to double.

The California Air Resources Board on April 23 will consider, and likely approve, the fuel standard that is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline as well as diesel fuel. CARB intends that the rule will take effect in 2010.

"This new standard will push California back to a single-state fuel and raise fuel prices to $5 per gallon," Harbor Truckers for a Sustainable Future, a coalition of harbor trucking companies in Southern California, stated in a press release.

Although harbor truckers are behind the initiative, the proposed low-carbon fuel standard will affect all truckers in the state.

California motor carriers have been through this routine before. The air resources board in the early 1990s adopted a low-emission fuel standard to reduce nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and other pollutants that present a health risk.

California truckers operated under a single-state fuel requirement for more than a decade. As a result, diesel prices in California were higher than in other states until the federal Environmental Protection Agency two years ago required the use of low-sulfur diesel fuel nationwide.

Motor carriers are especially concerned about the low-carbon fuel standard because CARB intends to mandate use of an additive that is yet to be determined, said Patty Senecal, director of California government affairs for the International Warehouse and Logistics Association.

"CARB needs to test the fuel to make sure it doesn't damage engines," Senecal said. She noted that harbor truckers in Southern California this past year have purchased more than 3,000 clean diesel trucks to comply with the Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-trucks program.

Truckers can't run the risk that the engines on their new $100,000 rigs could be damaged by an untested fuel, Senecal said. Also, California must be prepared to reimburse truckers in case engine damage does occur, similar to what the state did in the early 1990s when the California clean-diesel fuel was rolled out, she said.

CARB has already held public hearings on the proposed low-carbon fuel standard. Since the proposal has proceeded through the public hearing process and the staff recommends approval, it is likely that CARB will adopt the standard when the board meets on April 23, Senecal said.