Misrepresentation of the Health Effects of Diesel Exhaust in California

During the past two years the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has approved and implemented a “Goods Movement Emission Reduction Plan” (GMERP) to reduce the diesel exhaust emissions from diesel trucks and ships. This plan is the result of a determination by CARB that diesel exhaust has major negative impacts the health of Californians. This plan is described in the April 20, 2006 CARB Resolution 06-14 (http://www.arb.ca.gov/planning/gmerp/march21plan/docs/resolution_06-14.pdf) and on a CARB GMERP website (http://www.arb.ca.gov/planning/gmerp/gmerp.htm). GMERP has lead to the 2007 “Goods Movement Action Plan” (http://www.arb.ca.gov/gmp/gmp.htm). Also, GMERP has led to the 2008 “Strategic Plan for Enforcement of Diesel Emissions Control Regulations” (http://www.arb.ca.gov/enf/hhla/hhla.htm). Partial funding for GMERP comes from Proposition 1B, the transportation bond approved by California voters in 2006, which includes one billion dollars to reduce diesel exhaust emissions (http://www.aqmd.gov/tao/Implementation/Prop1B.htm). However, a large coalition of California businesses and organizations (http://drivecleanca.org/) estimated on May 1, 2008 that applying these new emissions regulations to the estimated 2.3 million diesel trucks that move goods throughout California could cost eight billion dollars or more and could have a profound, negative impact on the state’s economy (http://drivecleanca.org/news/27.html).