E.P.A. to Tighten Tailpipe Rules for the Biggest Polluters on the Road

The first time in more than 20 years that tailpipe standards have been tightened for the biggest polluters on the road was proposed by the Biden administration on Monday.

The Environmental Protection Agency is working on a rule that would require heavy-duty trucks to reduce emissions of nitrogen dioxide by 90 percent by 2031. Nitrogen dioxide can cause lung cancer, heart disease and premature death.

The E.P.A. plans to slightly tighten truck emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is driving climate change. The carbon dioxide rules would apply to trucks starting with the model year 2024, while the nitrogen oxide rules would apply to trucks starting with the model year 2027.

President Biden is trying to reduce emissions that are dangerously warming the planet and rebuild environmental standards that have been weakened by President Donald J. Trump.

The proposal is part of a suite of federal clean transportation actions, including the expenditure of $5.5 billion to help states purchase low or zero-emission buses, and $17 million to replace diesel school buses with electric versions in underserved communities.

Methane, a climate-warming gas that leaks from oil and gas wells, was the subject of new rules by the E.P.A. last year. The agency is expected to impose new restrictions on greenhouse gases and industrial soot this year.

Many communities of color are located alongside highways and are subject to elevated levels of pollution, which is why the administration is portraying the truck rule as central to Mr. Biden's agenda of environmental justice.

The administrator of the E.P.A. said that people of color and those with lower incomes are more likely to live near truck freight routes. These new standards will drastically cut dangerous pollution by using recent advancements in vehicle technologies from across the trucking industry as it advances toward a zero-emissions transportation future.

The American Lung said that cleaning up trucks was a critical step to achieving the president's vision.

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Up to 2,100 premature deaths, 6,700 hospital admissions and emergency department visits, 18,000 cases of asthma in children, 78,000 lost days of work and 1.1 million lost days of school would be prevented by the new limits.

The agency estimates that the economic benefits of the rule could be up to $250 billion.

The rule is too strict and costly and could cause higher prices in the economy.

The president of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association said that the new standard may not be technologically feasible. There is a chance of adverse impacts on the economy. Nobody wants to see union jobs eliminated. Blue collar workers get a regular lunch.

The director of federal affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said that new restrictions would be particularly burdensome for small trucks.

The efforts of the truck drivers to keep the supply chain stable has been seen since the start of the Pandemic.

In 2001, the E.P.A. required commercial trucks to cut emissions by 95 percent over 10 years. The agency said that the drop in nitrogen dioxide emissions was due to that. The new rule will cause a 60 percent drop in emissions.

The new rule is the first step in a three-step plan to reduce pollution from trucks and buses.

After a first year in which President Biden tried to push ambitious climate legislation through Congress only to see it stall, the administration is using its regulatory machinery to try to curb pollution.

The E.P.A. is working on new limits for auto pollution, due out next year, which it hopes will accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.

Climate experts said that the new truck regulations won't do much to reduce emissions that warm the planet.

17 of the 33 categories of heavy-duty trucks will have to lower their carbon dioxide emissions under the proposed regulations. It is intended to increase the sales of all-electric trucks in the United States from less than 1,000 in 2020 to 1.5 percent of total truck sales by the year 2027.

In order to put the United States on a path toward a transition to all-electric trucks, the forthcoming truck rules would have to be far more stringent.

The rule is driving 90 percent reduction in air pollution in heavy-duty vehicles and at the same time opening the door to reducing greenhouse gas pollution. My biggest concern is that the proposal won't do that.

Many warehouse workers are exposed to diesel pollution and would like to see regulations that replace diesel- fueled trucks with electric or zero-emissions vehicles.

If you are thinking about a community that has tens of thousands of trucks a day, cutting emissions is a good idea. The rule doesn't address other industrial truck pollutants such as soot, and black and brown communities are facing cumulative burdens from these pollutants.

29 percent of the nation's total emissions come from transportation.

The E.P.A. plans to create a set of greenhouse gas rules for trucks that will be significantly stronger than the current standards and designed to speed the transition to all.

Waiting for the next set of greenhouse gas standards for trucks is wrong. "We don't have time, we just don't have time, and I hope we do," said Oge, who headed the E.P.A.'s Office of Transportation and Air Quality from 1994 to 2012.

The rule will be open for public comment for 46 days, and the E.P.A. is expected to finalize it by the end of the year.