CARB Drops Plans to Approve
South Coast Clean Fleet Rules

By Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. - Operators concerned at the prospect of being forced to purchase new alternative fuel school buses, and implement costly new infrastructure in the process, can breathe a sigh of relief - for now.

The California Air Resources Board decided on Sept. 15 to scuttle plans to approve the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) Clean Fleet Rules for yellow buses - Rule 1195 - on the state level. Adoption would have ensured that Los Angeles-area school bus operators could add only new alternative fuel buses to their fleet cycles. More importantly for the school bus industry, it could have also opened the door for other air districts residing in non-attainment regions for federal ozone standards to mandate that only new alternative fuel buses could be purchased or leased.

While foregoing a state clean fleet rule for school buses, CARB adopted the language for transit buses. The rules for school buses and garbage trucks, as well, remain enforceable only in the Los Angeles area.

The little guy finally won," said Kirk Hunter, director of the Southwest Transportation Agency, an educational services co-op in Fresno that runs 100 buses each day transporting 3,500 students in five districts. "You get a check mark for the 'A' team in my opinion."

CARB jettisoned a similar rule for garbage trucks but approved it for transit buses.

Hunter, a meeting attendee and outspoken critic of the rule, said about 25 to 30 school district representatives spoke before the governing board in opposition to SCAQMD. He explained that operators are concerned the rule would create the additional burden on districts of implementing new, costly alternative fuel infrastructures to run and maintain the newly purchased or leased buses, in addition to diesel buses already in use.

Barbara Riordan, acting CARB chair, ultimately decided in favor of the school bus industry after the eight-member board expressed concern with the waiver process necessary to implement the rules statewide.

"I just think the board itself didn't see the wisdom in moving forward with a statewide rule," Hunter added. "There was a lot of concern with the waiver process. I think that was what tipped it into our favor."

Disappointment was tempered with hopeful optimism at SCAQMD headquarters in Diamond Bar, as the air district said it will continue to enforce the rules in the Los Angeles area, absent a court ruling that would strip its authority to do so. A spokesperson said spirits were raised by a CARB resolution to recognize "the authority of (SCAQMD) to adopt rules affecting fleet purchases as provided in state law."

"Should we lose our (enforcement) authority, it directs CARB staff to give options for fleet rules to the board," said Tina Cherry, a senior public information specialist for South Coast. "Maybe they would do it in the form of rulemaking. We just felt it would give us more ground to stand on if the state adopted them (to begin with)."

Cost a Key Issue

Specifically at issue was a federal Clean Air Act requirement for a four-year lead time on implementation of the new emission standard and an additional three-year period of production stability extended to engine manufacturers. The board realized it could be well into the next decade before benefits from a statewide rule could be realized. At that time, new 2007 and 2010 diesel engines that must adhere to stricter federal emissions guidelines under the Clean Air Act would already be in circulation.

Supply and demand appeared to have as much to do with CARB's decision as did federal waivers, infrastructure costs and SCAQMD's enforcement authority.

"Once a standard is in place, there is a period of time allowed for manufacturers to recoup their costs from R&D and production," explained Joe Suchecki, a spokesperson for the Engine Manufacturers Association. "Every year you'd never be able to make enough of engines to keep costs down. Because of those requirements, CARB has to comply as well."

For the past several years, the EMA and the Western States Petroleum Association have fought the rules from federal district court in Los Angeles to the 9 th Circuit Court of Appeals and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The latter found that the rules superseded EPA regulations from the Clean Air Act.

The Justices ruled in the April 2004 that SCAQMD needed a federal waiver to enforce the rules or for the state to adopt them. It remanded the case to the local level, where it directed the lower court to determine whether some of the fleet rules could be characterized as internal state purchasing decisions and, if so, whether they were pre-empted under the Clean Air Act. In May 2005 the district court ruled that the fleet rules, as they applied to state and local governments, are valid procurement requirements and are not preempted under federal regulations.

Suchecki said motions continue to be heard.

Citing possible further legal challenges to the fleet rules, SCAQMD requested CARB develop and adopt the three fleet rules for school bus, waste hauling and urban transit fleets, setting the scene for the mid-September decision.

Source: School Transportation News, November 2005. All rights reserved.