Regulations

California diesel rules lower emissions

Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found that stringent diesel emissions regulations from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) appear to be having their desired effect. Berkeley Lab scientist Thomas Kirchstetter and collaborators Rob Harley, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California Berkeley, and Phil Martien of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), measured significant declines in harmful emissions between 2009 and 2013.

“At the Port of Oakland, we measured dramatic reductions of nitrogen oxides and black carbon particulate matter, indicating a large degree of success which should translate into local improvements in air quality, especially as more trucks on the road use these technologies,” Kirchstetter says.

He and his colleagues measured air quality in road tunnels in the San Francisco Bay area.

Between 2009 and 2013, the fraction of trucks at the Port of Oakland equipped with a diesel particle filter increased from 2% to 99%, and the median engine age fell from 11 years to 6 years. During the same period, the emission factor (or average emission rate) decreased by 76% for black carbon and by 53% for NOx.

The researchers monitored drayage (short distance) trucks at the Port of Oakland in 2009 before a new emissions rule was implemented, in 2011 during the rule’s phase-in, and in 2013 after the rule was implemented.

The technologies come with some trade-offs that the research team is investigating. Selective catalytic reduction can cause some trucks to have increased emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. With diesel particulate filters, the catalytic oxidation process leads to increased tailpipe emission of nitrogen dioxide, NO2, which is a toxic air contaminant and is involved in the formation of ozone. While these were known side effects, the research team is measuring the amounts of these increases. www.lbl.gov

New safety rules for off-road vehicles

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has begun the rulemaking process to place new safety requirements on recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs). The commission was scheduled to hear the first round of oral arguments on proposals in January.

The CSPC’s notice of proposed rulemaking suggests rules that:

• Set lateral stability and vehicle handling requirements that specify a minimum level of rollover resistance and require that ROVs exhibit sublimit understeer
• Include lateral stability information in the form of a hangtag
• Limit speed to 15mph, unless the seat belts of both the driver and front passengers, if any, are fastened. ROVs would also need a passive means, such as a barrier or structure, to limit further the ejection of a belted occupant in the event of a rollover

CPSC staff members said that the commission collected 550 reports of ROV accidents between 2003 and 2013, with 335 of those being fatal. Two-thirds of fatal ROV accidents involved rollovers, hence the focus on that type of accident in the proposed regulations. Officials from CPSC say 73% of ROV accident victims either did not have seatbelts in their vehicles or were not wearing them when injury or death occurred. Bombardier and Polaris have systems that limit ROV speeds if seat belts are not fastened, and the regulators say such systems show great promise in lessening the likelihood and lethality of rollover accidents. www.cpsc.gov

Rosekind confirmed to run NHTSA

In the last days of the 114th Congress, the Senate confirmed President Barack Obama’s choice of Dr. Mark R. Rosekind as the new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) within the Department of Transportation (DOT).

A longtime vehicle safety expert, Rosekind was a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), a position he had held since 2010. Prior to his service on the NTSB, he was president and chief scientist of Alertness Solutions from 1997 to 2010.

From 1996 to 1997, Rosekind was chief of the Aviation Operations Branch in the Flight Management and Human Factors Division with NASA Ames Research Center. Rosekind also served as a research scientist at Ames and team leader for the Fatigue Countermeasures Program in the Aviation Safety Research Branch of the Flight Management and Human Factors Division from 1990 to 1997.

From 1989 to 1990, he was a research associate in the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. From 1987 to 1989, Rosekind was a postdoctoral fellow in sleep and chronobiology at Brown University Medical School. www.nhtsa.gov