HEAVY-DUTY STANDARDS/HIGHWAY DIESEL RULE

Heavy-Duty Engine  & Vehicle Standards
&  Highway Diesel Fuel Sulfur Control
Requirements  Summary
     General Background

          THE U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) new emission standards, taking
          effect  in model year 2007, apply to heavy-duty highway engines and vehicles. EPA's
          Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards and Highway Diesel Fuel Sulfur Control
     Requirements require stringent pollution controls on diesel engines used in trucks and
     buses. The requirements will be a major step toward reaching our nation's clean air and
     public health goals. Because emission control devices are damaged by sulfur, EPA is also
     reducing the level of sulfur in highway diesel fuel by 97 percent by mid-2006.
        Heavy-duty engines emit large amounts of nitrogen oxide (NOx), which contributes to
     ozone, and particulate matter (PM). The PM emitted by heavy-duty engines contributes to
     serious public health problems, such as lung cancer, aggravation of respiratory and cardio-
     vascular disease and asthma, acute respiratory symptoms, chronic bronchitis, and
     decreased lung function. Exposure is widespread, particularly in urban areas.
        Heavy-duty trucks and buses account for about one-third of NOx emissions and one-
     quarter of PM emissions from mobile sources. In some urban areas, the contribution is
     even greater. EPA's program will result in PM and NOx emission levels that are 90 percent
     below the levels of today's cleanest engines.
        EPA's program includes provisions to facilitate the transition
     to the new standards and to encourage the early introduction of clean tech-
     nologies. It provides flexibility in various testing and compliance require-
     ments and addresses differences between the new technologies
     and existing  engine-based technologies.
        Refiners will be required to produce diesel fuel for
     use in highway vehicles with a sulfur content of no
     more than 15 parts per million (ppm), beginning
     June 1, 2006. This fuel will be available across the
     country by Fall 2006.                                    /

                                                             Strategies for

                                                                Cleaner Air
 United States
 Environmental Protection
 Agency
www.epa.gov/cleandiesel

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    The overall benefits of the Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards and Highway
    Diesel Fuel Sulfur Control Requirements significantly outweigh the cost by a ratio of
    approximately 20 to 1.


    Environmental and Health Benefits
        When the program is fully implemented, annual emission reductions will prevent
    8,300 premature deaths, more than 9,500 hospitalizations, and 1.5 million lost work
    days. The program will provide annual emission reductions equivalent to removing the
    pollution from more than 90 percent of today's trucks and buses, or about 13 million
    trucks and buses.


    Estimated Costs
        Emission reductions and the resulting significant public health and environmental
    benefits of the program will come at an average cost increase of about $1,200 to
    $1,900 per new vehicle, depending on the vehicle size. When fully implemented, the
    sulfur reduction requirement will increase the cost of producing and distributing diesel
    fuel by about 41/2 to 5 cents per gallon.


    For More Information
        For more information on the Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards and Highway
    Diesel Fuel Sulfur Control Requirements, please visit www.epa.gov/otaq/diesel.htm.
        Recycled/Recyclable—Printed with vegetable oil based inks
        on 100% postconsumer, process chlorine free recycled paper.
                                                         November 2005
                                                         EPA-420-F-05-044
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
www.epa.gov/cleandiesel

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