By Mike Larson, ENR.com
The next phase of U.S. regulations aimed at cleaning up airborne emissions from off-road diesel engines will start taking effect in just nine months. The rule, called Tier 4, will all but eliminate the amount of diesel particulate matter (soot) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that new construction equipment will put into the atmosphere.
Split into two subrules, the Tier 4 standard begins phasing in with an interim rule in January 2011 for engines from 175 horsepower to 750 hp and, in 2012, for engines from 75 hp to 175 hp. The Tier 4 rule cuts down the soot an engine may emit by 90% compared to the current Tier 3 standard, and it cuts the amount of NOx an engine is allowed to put out by 45%. What will follow in 2014 is an even tougher Tier 4 Final standard, which will cut NOx output by another 45%. Then, new construction equipment will emit virtually no NOx or soot.
Cleaning up the air will have a powerful effect on the health of millions of Americans. The EPA says diesel-powered off-road equipment now puts out 47% of the soot and 25% of the NOx spewed into the air by mobile sources nationwide. How much will the clean-air standards improve health? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which drafted the rules, by 2030, when the country’s fleet of older, non-road diesel engines has turned over, the cleaner air will eliminate 12,000 premature deaths, 15,000 heart attacks, 200,000 cases of asthma symptoms in children and one million lost work days each year.
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