Diesel pollution rules are upheld

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court Friday unanimously upheld a Clinton administration regulation requiring a speedy and dramatic reduction in pollution from large trucks and buses, whose emissions have been implicated in thousands of premature deaths and illnesses annually.

The Bush administration strongly supported the toughened rules, and environmental organizations Friday credited Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman for fighting for what they described as crucial clean-air action.

The regulations will require refiners to produce virtually sulfur-free diesel fuel beginning in 2006. In 2007, half of new trucks will have to meet stricter emission control standards. All new diesel engines will be covered by 2010.

"The court has sent a clear message to industry that it’s time to clean up their products rather than keep fighting," said Richard Kassel, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. He said the action set the stage for the most sweeping air quality improvements since lead was removed from gasoline.

The Bush administration’s role in the decision may help burnish its environmental image, tarnished by pro-industry positions it has taken on such issues as global warming, oil and gas drilling in Alaska and the Rocky Mountains, and the cleanup of aging power plants.

The ruling is good news for urban areas facing federal deadlines for reducing harmful ozone, or smog. The regulations will sharply curb tailpipe emissions of nitrogen oxide, which mixes with other volatile compounds to produce ozone. Many communities have argued they cannot meet the EPA ozone standards unless heavy trucks and coal-burning utilities clean up their pollution.

Officials said it was unclear what, if any, impact the standards would have on diesel fuel mileage.

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