Obama to propose emissions rule for trucks

The Obama administration on Friday will propose a mandate to improve fuel efficiency for heavy trucks and buses as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel use.

President Obama’s energy adviser Brian Deese and economic adviser Jason Furman said late Thursday that the regulation would contribute to the United States’s ongoing reduction of its use of oil and benefit the economy and environment.

{mosads}“New policies the administration is announcing Friday to improve fuel efficiency for heavy-duty vehicles will help build on this trend,” Deese and Furman wrote in The Washington Post.

“Heavy-duty trucks are the fastest growing component of the transportation sector and are responsible for about one-fifth of its energy use and carbon emissions,” they said.

The rules from the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would apply to vehicles like 18-wheelers and intercity buses built between 2019 and 2027, The New York Times reported, citing someone familiar with the plan.

They’re expected to require an average efficiency improvement across the industry of about a third, which would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by one billion tons throughout the life of the vehicles covered, the Times said.

The regulations would follow up on a 2011 rule from the same agencies that set the first ever efficiency and greenhouse gas rules for heavy-duty vehicles. The second round of rules will mandate efficiency improvements for truck trailers for the first time.

The rules have divided vehicle manufacturers, with some like Cummins Inc. and Wabash National Corp. supporting it and others, like Volvo Group and Freightliner Trucks, in opposition.