Group Opposes Construction Industry Request to Delay California Rule to Reduce Deadly Emissions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Kathryn Phillips 916-492-7072-w, 916-893-8494-c, kphillips@environmentaldefense.org
Meg Little 202-572-3387-w, (802) 598-6462-c, mlittle@environmentaldefense.org

(California – May 4, 2007) – Citing public health concerns, a leading environmental group today urged state officials to reject a request by a California construction industry coalition, the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition, to delay a long-overdue decision on a proposed rule that would reduce deadly emissions from construction equipment in California. Emissions from California construction equipment are estimated to cause 1,100 premature deaths a year, more than a thousand hospitalizations for heart and lung disease, and tens of thousands of asthma attacks.

“The public’s health can’t afford to go without this proposed rule any longer and the construction industry can afford to pay for it because it gets billions of dollars in public contracts in California,” said Kathryn Phillips, manager of the California Clean Air for Life Campaign at Environmental Defense. “Everyone has been sensitive to balancing the industry’s ability to clean up with the public health demands, yet this proposed rule has been delayed too many times because the industry keeps demanding more analysis. Clearly, their goal is paralysis by analysis. Enough is enough.”

The Proposed Regulation for In-Use Off-Road Diesel Vehicles would dramatically improve California air quality and public health by enforcing the use of cleaner diesel equipment. It was crafted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) with input from the construction industry to minimize the cost of implementation. The proposed rule would phase in over 15 years, ensuring a steady decline in pollution from construction equipment at an annual cost of less than one half of one percent of construction value in the state. CARB estimates that the entire industry will have to spend only 4 billion dollars over the full 15 year period to comply with the proposed rule – a fair and cost-efficient price compared to the 9 billion dollars in annual public health costs caused by construction emissions.

The construction industry’s arguments that the proposed rule will be too expensive and detract from production quality are unfounded. CARB has already implemented similar requirements for transit buses and garbage trucks, among others with great success. These cleaner requirements have proven to effectively reduce pollution without being financially or logistically crippling.