First Name: | Aric |
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Last Name: | Anderson |
Email Address: | a2anderson@mcmconstructioninc.com |
Affiliation | MCM Construction Inc |
Subject | Cost of the on-road and off-road rules |
Comment |
This year MCM Construction is seeing a reduction in hours of operation for our off road fleet of 25% compared to last year. In addition we are expecting 4 of our 11 projects to be finished this December. 75% of our fleet contains tier 0 and tier 1 engines. This means that our only way to comply is through the BACT part of the rule. Foreseeing this rule, we got a head start and spent 1.5 million dollars repowering our large track cranes and loaders. With this early repower credit we are compliant with the Nox side of the rule for a couple years. However, with the recent requirements from CALOSHA requiring that installation of retrofits not inhibit operator visibility, we’ve decided, until CALOSHA comes up with a system for measuring what is an acceptable retrofit installation that doesn’t block visibility, to retrofit our track cranes. Currently there are only two retrofit technologies that are verified for use with our tracked cranes that we can meet the required retrofit operating temperatures for. One of those systems requires an electrical plug in to regenerate for 8 hours and the other is on a 6 week back order. We are required to Data log the temperature readings for any engine that we are going to install these retrofit devices on. Since its winter and we’re running out of work for our cranes to do we are having trouble getting all the temperature readings we need. Our cost to comply with the PM portion of BACT this year is 300 thousand dollars. With the first compliance date of the On-Road Diesel Regulation next year we expect to spend 600 thousand on retrofits for the off road rule and another 500 thousand on retrofits for the on-road rule. This is money we’re spending on devices that neither increases the life nor the productivity of our equipment. There is neither the money nor the technology to make these regulations work. With the reductions in work from the recession, CARB should be getting its emission reductions just from the fact that equipment isn’t operating. I suggest that we give the economy time to recover before putting even more of a monetary strain on an already suffering construction industry. |
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Original File Name:
Date and Time Comment Was Submitted: 2009-12-08 14:42:55 |
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