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EPA Chief Hails Clean Diesel Progress at 2007 Trucks and Buses Showcase

Release Date: 05/08/2006
Contact Information: John Millett, (202) 564-4355 / millett.john@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. - May 8, 2006) EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson reviewed vehicles that meet the agency's stringent 2007 standards for trucks and buses, which cut emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxides by half and lower emissions of particulate matter by more than 90 percent.

"Together with the Diesel Technology Forum, EPA is meeting the president's call to get our nation off the treadmill of foreign oil dependency by advancing the technologies that are good for the environment, good for our economy, and good for our energy security," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "For the past century, diesel engines have been America's economic workhorse – reliable, fuel efficient, and long lasting. Through innovations in technology, this economic workhorse is expanding into an environmental workhorse."

Administrator Johnson discussed the science behind clean diesel technology with the many executives on hand from the fuels, trucking, engine, and environmental communities. Johnson also witnessed a "white handkerchief test" on the exhaust as a demonstration of the remarkable improvement in diesel's environmental performance.

EPA's clean diesel program uses a "systems approach," in which cleaner fuels help enable cleaner engine technologies. The program is nearing a key milestone. On June 1, 2006, refiners and importers must ensure that the sulfur content of at least 80 percent of the volume of the highway diesel fuel they produce drops from the current level of 500ppm to 15ppm. Lowering the sulfur content will enable modern pollution-control technology to be effective on the 2007 trucks and buses.

Once these fuel and engine regulations are fully implemented, 2.6 million tons of smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced each year. Soot or particulate matter will be reduced by 110,000 tons a year. An estimated 8,300 premature deaths, 5,500 cases of chronic bronchitis and 17,600 cases of acute bronchitis in children will also be prevented annually.

Today's event was hosted by the Diesel Technology Forum. More information about the Forum:
http://www.dieselforum.org/news-center/the-forum-in-action/epa-2007-event/

More information on EPA's clean diesel regulations: epa.gov/cleandiesel/index.htm

At the event, Administrator Johnson also touted the launch of a new web site from the Clean Diesel Fuel Alliance, of which EPA is a member. This site, which was designed by more than 20 key stakeholders to educate the public about changes to diesel fuel and diesel-powered vehicles: http://www.clean-diesel.org