EPA will enforce pollution limits for glider trucks
WASHINGTON >> The Environmental Protection Agency reversed course late Thursday and announced it would enforce stricter pollution controls on freight trucks known as “gliders,” which emit dozens of times more soot and contaminants compared to those with new diesel engines.
In a three-page memo to his deputies, acting administrator Andrew Wheeler said he would withdraw the “no action assurance” the agency had given the manufacturers of glider trucks on the last day that his predecessor, Scott Pruitt, headed the EPA. That letter assured firms that they would not have to limit their annual production to 300 vehicles through the end of 2019.
The EPA initially proposed a rule last November to repeal tighter emissions standards for glider trucks, which had been set to take effect in January. An Obama-era regulation aimed at controlling soot and other pollutants, as well as greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change, the rule had the support of both public health advocates and some major trucking groups and engine manufacturers.
But it faced fervent opposition from a handful of companies that manufacture truck components called gliders and trailers. A glider, or body, is the front of a truck, including the cab, which fits over the engine. Trailers are the storage components that make up most of the length of a truck.
Environmental groups challenged the EPA’s “no action assurance” letter on July 17 in the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, asking for an administrative stay as the court considered their emergency motion. A day later, the court granted the stay.
Legal experts said that the risk of losing in court played a key role in Wheeler’s decision.