Diesel Industry Comments on Major Clean
Diesel Initiatives Being Debated on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON, DC (July 12, 2005) -- Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, issued the following statement of support surrounding today's legislative hearing on the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2005 by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate Change and Nuclear Safety. The bill proposes establishing a national grant and loan program that will distribute $1 billion over the next five years to states and other organizations for programs aimed at improving air quality by funding voluntary incentive programs to upgrade and modernize diesel engines and equipment:

"Senator Voinovoch recognizes the value and progress of clean diesel technology and the opportunity to more widely expand its implementation. By forging an alliance of environmental and public interest groups and the diesel industry for support, he has shown how to get things done. Now we've got to make sure this success carries through to enactment of a final energy bill.

"The diesel industry is committed to being part of the clean air solution. In both the on-highway and off-road sectors, industry is well on its way to meeting the toughest emissions standards ever that will result in the virtual elimination of key emissions from new diesel engines. This clean diesel system of the future is made possible in part by emissions control devices such as particulate filters, oxidation catalysts and other advanced technologies. Many of these same technologies can also be applied to existing vehicles and equipment, helping reduce key emissions by 25% to 85% and resulting in significant air quality and performance benefits. The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2005 will play an important role in helping deploy more of these clean diesel retrofit technologies to thousands of small businesses and equipment owners who might otherwise not be able to afford to upgrade their equipment.

"This bill has already received overwhelming support by the full Senate, with a 92-1 vote in favor of including it as an amendment to the energy bill. Now, as the House and Senate Conference committee develops final energy legislation, we urge Congress to enact this much-needed national retrofit program to help assure this country's continued clean air progress.

"States and localities interested in learning more about how they can make use of this funding to implement a retrofit program in their community can log onto the Diesel Technology Forum's retrofit tool kit at www.dieselforum.org/retrofit . This kit serves as a comprehensive guide to designing a retrofit program – including an overview of available technologies certified by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, information about identifying equipment candidates, successful case studies from around the nation and links to additional resources.”

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The Diesel Technology Forum represents manufacturers of engines, fuel and emissions control systems. It brings together the diesel industry, the broad diesel user community, civic and public interest leaders, government regulators, academics, scientists, the petroleum industry and public health researchers to encourage the exchange of information, ideas, scientific findings and points-of-view to current and future uses of diesel power technology. For more information about the Forum, visit our web site at www.dieselforum.org.