Comment Log Display

After reviewing the ARB’s latest proposed amendments to the In-Use
Off-Road Diesel-Fueled Fleets and Implementation Update, I would
agree that for the most part, the proposed changes are in the best
interests of employers that rely on their Off-Road Diesel-Fueled
equipment to provide services and construction related jobs to tens
of thousands of tax paying employees.
	Having said this, I would like to remind staff members and
lawmakers that those employers and employees can only pay taxes
when they are working or employed. These taxes are the states
income and in turn pay state employee wages. Just as employers
within the state must have an income to be able to pay employee
wages, so must the state.
	In the early stages of the regulations development, staff argued
that employers would cover the costs of compliance to the
regulation through increases in revenues from competitive bidding,
ongoing housing development, business growth and increased
infrastructure needs.
	As we enter 2009 these projections by staff have not come to
pass. In fact with construction and housing starts in a tremendous
downturn and banks unwilling or unable to extend credit, it becomes
increasingly more difficult for employers to meet payroll let alone
come up with the tens of thousands of dollars required to meet the
requirements set forth by the regulation. Most companies are in
survival mode as they down size and lay off employees just to keep
their balance sheets from going into the red. Staff must also
consider that this is not the only ARB regulation that employers
are required to comply with. Most of these employers also must
comply with the PERP, ATCM, and the upcoming On-Road Rule. This
overwhelming burden to repower, retrofit or replace equipment will
only further diminish those much needed tax revenues by the state
to meet budgetary requirements. 
	This state is in a financial crisis and needs to protect
potential revenues.  While it is an undeniable fact that the air
quality of California is a great concern for everyone, we must also
balance this concern with what is financially feasible at this time
of economic crisis. Cleaning the air and saving lives is the goal,
bankrupting the state and employers is not. If we are to survive
this economic downturn we must all make concessions and that
includes those at the regulatory level.
	Allowing the extension of the double credit for early PM
retrofits by 10 months will provide the additional time need for
device manufacturers to sort out the additional requirements put on
them by the ARB during the ever changing verification process.
However, it will not make cash available for of those employers
required to purchase and install those retrofit devices. Unlike our
State and Federal Governments, employers usually don’t spend cash
that they don’t have or foresee as income and therefore the
purchase of these devices will be delayed until such a time as the
work load will justify and pay for their purchase. Also, on pages
14 and 19 of the staff report, I believe that staff has once again
over stated their VDECS estimates. The burden of installing VDECS
to meet the staff projection of 30 percent by 2011 will fall
largely upon the shoulder of the large fleets to the tune of
approximately 59,500 units, as medium fleets first compliance is
2013 and small in 2015 and I would disagree that medium and small
fleets will find the double credit to be a large enough benefit to
retrofit early. Particularly when cash flow is low. 
On page 12 of the staff report it is stated that “some
manufacturers have limited the resources they have invested in
off-road verifications”. While it is true that manufactures have
had difficulty in meeting the needs for verified devices it is not
for a lack of persistence. The ARB must also shoulder some of the
responsibility for the low number of verified devices. The ARB must
establish a criteria threshold and maintain it. Changing the target
for meeting verification criteria is not a fair and reasonable
practice for manufactures to be held accountable for. Just as many
devices were de-verified in the early stages of the program, so to
have many devices by numerous manufacturers been put through
additional requirements after the fact because the ARB has changed
the verification criteria. This becomes an expensive and time
consuming endeavor for the manufacture and one that significantly
impacts the end user cost of the device. Let’s stop reinventing the
wheel and use those technologies that have already been developed
and proven in other countries. These manufactures have much to
offer in the way of saving lives and money now. I would ask that
the ARB consider expediting these products to market in an effort
to save lives and control end user costs. 
I would also ask that the ARB reconsider the time frames and the
impact of theses regulations with respect to our current financial
situation as a whole on the employer. Employers that have the
burden of meeting three or more regulation simultaneously will find
it difficult at best to become fully compliant. I believe we should
look at the bigger picture when considering the compliance strategy
for these employers. The goal is to reduce emissions and therefore
the overall reduction of the combined diesel fleet (PERP, ATCM,
Off-Road and On-Road) should be an additional path to compliance.
There must be a point to which everyone affected by the multitude
of regulations and the quality of our air can find acceptance and
practical applicability with all of our endeavors.
The proposed requirements for fleet size changes is a step in the
right direction. However, this change to the regulation should also
be afforded to the large fleets also. The large fleets will feel
the negative affects of these regulations years before the medium
and small fleets. These large fleets are also the large
contributors to the states income through taxes and allowing them
the ability to move from medium to large as their dormant fleets
become active again will further assist in them in this economic
downturn and will help to support that tax base.

					Thank You,
					Steve McDonald