CARB Continues Work on Agricultural Equipment Regulation

Given that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is in the early stages of developing strategies to further reduce emissions from mobile agricultural equipment, CARB staff held a set of public workshops to discuss strategies for reducing emissions from in-use off-road diesel mobile agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines and harvesters with engines greater than 25 horsepower in the San Joaquin Valley.

Despite the workshops, there won’t be a farm equipment regulation promulgated this year, mainly because valley farmers and processors have met the emissions reductions goals of 5-10 tons per day of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in the San Joaquin Valley well before the 2017 deadline provided under the 2007 San Joaquin Valley 8-Hour Ozone State Implementation Plan (SIP). The quickness in achieving the reductions has been attributed to the participation in incentive funding programs designed to accelerate the use of the cleanest available technology equipment (primarily Tier 3 off-road engines in mobile agricultural equipment) in the San Joaquin Valley.

CARB and other organizations, including the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service, and US EPA, have signed a Statement of Principles that allows for a mechanism to be developed that will provide industry with credit for the investments already made to clean up mobile agricultural equipment.

The first rulemaking, which CARB staff will submit to the Board in late 2013, will focus on accounting for the previously mentioned emission reductions. CARB is concentrating on making sure that valley farmers and processors receive full credit for the voluntary reductions that beat progress the region towards meeting the attainment deadline set by US EPA.

CARB staff will take the first rule before the Board this fall for approval to make formal the written agreement already reached among the agencies.

However, because the SIP still requires CARB staff to put forward a planned proposal for regulation in 2013, staff is working on a plan designed to move California toward meeting ambient air quality standards for the San Joaquin Valley by utilizing the cleanest available technologies in order to accelerate progress toward the ozone standard attainment deadline of 2023.

This second rulemaking will be incorporated into a SIP to be developed in 2014 for presentation to the U.S. EPA in 2015. This SIP will address additional reductions needed to attain the new 2015 8-hour ozone standard by the 2032 deadline. This SIP, in addition to requiring even further emission reductions necessary to achieve a lower ozone standard, will apply only to the San Joaquin Valley.

Finally, in conjunction with the 2015 8-hour ozone SIP, staff indicated that development of a long-term strategy to promote the use of Tier 4 final engines, as they become available, will include examination and possible updating of existing incentive programs and regulations to help meet the 75 ppb (parts per billion) ozone standard by 2032.