The Biden administration is proposing stronger pollution regulations for new tractor-trailer rigs that would clean up smoky diesel engines and encourage new technologies during the next two decades.
EPA rule would make heavy trucks cut smog, soot pollution In this Feb. 11, 2014, file photo, truck drivers stop at a gas station in Emerson, Ga., north of metro Atlanta, to fill up their tractor trailer rigs. The proposal released Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency would require the industry to cut smog-and-soot-forming nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90% per truck over current standards by 2031. Credit: AP Photo/David Tulis, File The Biden administration is proposing stronger pollution regulations for new tractor-trailer rigs that would clean up smoky diesel engines and encourage new technologies during the next two decades. The proposal released Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency would require the industry to cut smog-and-soot-forming nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90% per truck over current standards by 2031. The emissions can cause respiratory problems in humans. New rules would start in 2027 to limit the emissions from nearly 27 million heavy trucks and buses nationwide. Although truck manufacturers are working on battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell powertrains, the EPA says the proposal is not a zero-emissions truck requirement. Rather, the agency says there are pollution control devices in development that can keep diesels in use and still clean the air. The EPA also is drawing up stronger limits for heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. Current standards would be updated starting in 2027 and stronger new standards would begin in 2030. Requirements were last updated in 2001, with the next big step coming in 2024. The stronger new standards would not apply to old trucks, limiting the impact of the new rules. Environmental groups praised the EPA's action, but many urged the administration to move quickly on the proposal and then go farther toward requiring zero-emissions trucks. "We really need to be doing both of these things simultaneously," said Patricio Portillo, senior advocate for clean vehicles at the Natural…