By Todd Dillis, Overdriveonline.com, April 26, 2018
The California Trucking Association with California General Assembly legislators has put forward a bill establishing new civil penalties specifically aimed at glider kit trucks operating within the state and judged noncompliant with the California Air Resources Board’s strict regulation of in-use diesel vehicles, which currently ban trucks powered by 2006 and older engines if not retrofitted with diesel particulate filters.
The bill, numbered AB 2364 in the assembly, moved out of the Committee on Transportation with no dissenting votes on Monday, April 23, with a “do pass” recommendation, and it would establish on Jan. 1 next year if passed a $25,000 civil penalty for operating a noncompliant glider.
“While the $25,000 penalty for violation of this bill seems high,” the committee considering the bill commented in analysis about the bill’s background, the CTA argued the high penalty was reasonable as a deterrent to operators who would consider “implementing glider vehicles in the state” that contravene air-quality rules. “Supporters argue that the threat needs to be significant enough or scofflaws may believe it is worth the risk to try and operate gliders.”
Secondly, bill supporters, including CTA and the UPS company, as noted in the bill’s analysis, “believe the amount is justified because it is relatively equivalent to the price differential between a new truck with the state-mandated clean air components and that of a fully-operable glider vehicle.”
After moving out of the transportation committee, the bill was referred to General Assembly’s appropriations committee Tuesday.
CARB’s Statewide Truck and Bus Regulation phases in further compliance requirements with deadlines beginning at the end of 2019 to upgrade to 2010 or later emissions-spec engines for in-use diesels weighing more than 26,000 pounds and between 14,000 and 26,000 pounds.
