>> Andrew Wheeler: Good afternoon, and thank you
all for joining us today, but before I begin I'd
like to take just a moment to recognize the passing
of Don Clay this weekend, former assistant
administrator here at the agency in two different stints.
He passed away this weekend, and our thoughts
and prayers, from the whole EPA family, go out to Don's family.
I'd also like to recognize the folks who are standing
up here with me: Bill Sullivan, the Executive
Vice President of Advocacy for the American Trucking
Association; Lewie Pugh, the Executive Vice
President of the Owner-Operator Independent
Drivers Association; our own Bill Wareham, the
Assistant Administrator of EPA's Office of Air and
Radiation; Becky Keogh, the President of the
Environmental Council of States; Wayne Nastri, the
Executive Officer of the South Coast Air Quality
Management district; Miles Keogh, the Executive
Director of the National Association of Clean Air
Agencies; and Ben Grumbles, the Decretary of
Maryland's Department of Environment.
This diverse group of leaders represents the
wide array of support we have for today's announcement.
We're here today to announce the launch of the
Cleaner Trucks Initiative, or CTI.
This initiative will help modernize heavy duty truck
engines, improving their efficiency and providing
cleaner air for all Americans.
We're under no regulatory or court ordered
requirement to launch this initiative.
We're doing it because it's good for the environment.
This rule making will establish updated
standards to address nitrogen-oxide emissions
from heavy duty trucks.
We will do this in a manner that improves air
quality and protects public health without
jeopardizing the historic economic growth we've
achieved under President Trump.
Thanks largely to innovation and technology,
the U.S. has made big reductions in NOx emissions over
the past several decades.
Since 2000, NOx emissions in the U.S.
have been reduced by 52 percent.
However, it is estimated that heavy duty trucks
will be responsible for one-third of NOx emissions
from transportation in 2025, and it's been nearly
20 years since EPA last set NOx emissions
standards for heavy duty trucks.
Part of this initiative will also be to cut
unnecessary red tape while simplifying certification
and compliance requirements for heavy duty vehicles.
For the past two decades, additional regulatory
requirements have been added to on-highway heavy
duty vehicles in a piecemeal fashion.
This has resulted in some overly complex and costly
requirements that do little to
actually improve the environment.
EPA will undertake a comprehensive review of
existing requirements to root out inefficiencies
and ensure our heavy duty trucks are clean and able
to remain a competitive method of transporting goods.
Areas of deregulatory focus will include, one,
onboard diagnostic requirements to ensure
they focus on the functionality of key
emission control system components; two, cost
effective means of assuring real world
compliance by using modern advanced technologies;
three, the deterioration factor testing process;
and four, concerns regarding annual
recertification of engine families where the
underlying technologies have not changed from one
model year to the next.
California has already begun work on a low NOx
standard, and EPA's effort will help provide a common
sense, 50 state approach.
This update to the standards will result in
significant mobile source NOx reductions, which help
areas come into attainment with ozone
and particulate matter standards.
This is especially true for cities and areas with
heavy stop-and-go traffic where small improvements
can make a big difference.
Private sector research and development efforts
have already spurred new technologies.
Our goal is to update our standards so that we can
help get these new technologies in use across the country.
Through the Cleaner Trucks Initiative, we want to
provide the trucking industry the regulatory
certainty they need to do what they do best,
which is innovate, create, and deliver.
This has been our approach across the board,
and it's working.
Under President Trump, we have finalized 28 major
deregulatory actions, saving the American public
over $1.6 billion.
Overall, we are currently developing an additional
49 deregulatory actions that are estimated to
provide up to $100 billion in savings.
Thanks to the President's regulatory reform agenda,
the economy is booming, and we're the number one
energy producer in the world.
At the same time, we are a global leader in clean air
progress and CO2 reductions.
From 1970 to 2017, U.S.
criteria air pollution fell by 73 percent while
the economy grew over 260 percent, and,
from 2005 to 2017, total U.S. energy related
CO2 emissions fell by 14 percent.
In contrast, global energy-related CO2
emissions increased over 20 percent, and we just
recently released a new report which found that
greenhouse gas emissions from major industrial
sources decreased by 2.7 percent from 2016 to 2017
during President Trump's first year in office.
The Trump administration has proven that burdensome
federal regulations are not necessary to drive
environmental progress.
By respecting the rule of law and working closely
with states and the regulated community, we
are improving both the environment and the economy.
Thank you all for joining us today, and I hope you
share today's announcement and progress we're making
with the American public.
It's now my pleasure to introduce Bill Sullivan,
the Executive Vice President of Advocacy for
the American Trucking Association.
Following Bill, Lewie Pugh, the Executive Vice
President of the Owner-Operator Independent
Drivers Association will share some remarks.
Welcome, Bill.
>> Bill Sullivan: Thank you.
[applause]
I'm cold and starting to shiver, so I'm going to
keep it short, but we appreciate what EPA and
the administrator are doing and very much that
they're focusing on working with business.
It is good business to produce and to own and to
drive cleaner, more fuel efficient trucks.
Today a truck -- a new truck purchased today -- emits
one-sixtieth, so 60 trucks today emit the same as one truck
bought in the '80s.
So, through the partnership that we've had
with EPA, through investment by private
companies in making better decisions, making better
equipment, we've made a lot of progress already.
Our members invest a lot of private dollars to do
this as do so many of the manufacturers
of engines and new trucks.
We operate in interstate commerce across all 50
states, and so we need to have a harmonized federal
standard, and so we appreciate what the
administrator is doing in bringing
all the people together.
This partnership has been a long one, and it is
wonderful to be able to work with the administration.
Also, coupled with the recent tax reform that's
bringing a lot of new equipment into the
industry, we can make progress.
So, thank you all very much.
[applause]
>> Lewie Pugh: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Lewie Pugh.
I am the Executive Vice President of the
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
I have over 26 years' experience in the trucking
industry, and 22 of those years as an owner-operator.
OOIDA represents over 160,000 small business
truckers and professional drivers across the
United States of America.
As the largest national association devoted
exclusively to promoting the interest of
owner-operators and professional drivers,
OOIDA advocates for policies to protect the
viability of the small business motor carriers,
which comprise roughly of 96 percent
of the trucking industry.
We appreciate the EPA inviting OOIDA to
participate in the roundtable to discuss the
changes of the NOx standards for heavy duty trucks.
We are hopeful the agency will understand the unique
perspective that we bring to the table in the
discussion -- that the policy makers will embrace
our concerns for the owner-operator as they
explore the updated NOx standards.
Clean air is a priority for everyone, but, with
technology used in heavy duty trucks, we need to
accomplish this to make sure that this is both
affordable and reliable for the small business trucker.
Thank you.
[applause]
>> Jed Mandel: Thank you, Administrator Wheeler and
Assistant Administrator Wareham.
The heavy duty truck industry greatly
appreciates being with you today as EPA announces the
agency's Cleaner Trucks Initiative.
I'm Jed Mandel.
I'm President of the
Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association.
For 50 years, the manufacturers of EMA have
been bringing cleaner power to the world through
heavy duty trucks and buses and the engines that
power them, and I'm pleased to be here today
with representatives of our customers where together
we truly are the backbone of this nation's economy.
Today we're both celebrating the past and
looking forward to the future.
We have accomplished incredible feats.
Just over the last 20 years, we've reduced NOx
emissions by over 90 percent, particulate
emissions by 98 percent.
We've achieved greater fuel efficiency and lower
greenhouse gases in line with standards that
continue to challenge us as they come into effect
over the next decade.
Reflecting on the progress we've made to date is
instructive as we think about the keys to the
success, keys which need to be carried forward.
The point is that we, EPA, and the manufacturers and
other stake holders represented here today
have done this before working together and we're
ready to step forward to do it again.
We ask the agency to follow the same road map
that has led to the past successes, leading a
cooperative open regulatory process that
would involve all stake holders, committing to a
data driven analysis to determine the feasibility
and cost effectiveness of standards, and adopting a
national program with sufficient regulatory lead
time, stability, and certainty.
Following this path, we are convinced that the
Cleaner Trucks Initiative is a tremendous opportunity.
It's been 20 years since EPA's last look at NOx emissions.
It's been almost 40 years since EPA last looked at
the overall architecture of the compliance program,
and we've learned a great deal over those past
decades and we know that we can do more going
forward in the future.
We believe we can make important changes that will
preserve the necessary diversity of the
commercial vehicle marketplace, and protect
the needs of customers for durable, reliable products.
We're committed to working collaboratively with EPA
and other stake holders to take this step going forward.
We want to build on our past successes
and do more in the future.
Thank you very much.
[applause]
[male speaker] We're going to take a quick photograph ...