Cummins Announces Support of EPA Cleaner Truck Initiative to Reduce NOx
Cummins Inc. has announced its support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to develop a national low NOx (nitrogen oxides) rule for on-highway heavy-duty engines.
“Cummins has a long history of working with regulators to help develop tough, clear and enforceable standards that lead to a cleaner, healthier and safer environment,” said Jennifer Rumsey, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at Cummins Inc. “We can and should do more to reduce NOx. This is an important step forward because a streamlined, national regulatory program brings consistency across the country allowing manufacturers to develop cleaner, more cost-effective solutions for our customers.”
The new Cleaner Trucks Initiative notice of proposed rulemaking is slated to be released in 2020. A number of state and local air agencies have petitioned for a new rulemaking, and the initiative enjoys widespread support from truck and engine makers. These standards were last revised in 2001 with full implementation by 2010.
Industry advocates have hailed the opportunity for regulations that are more effective and efficient and are urging regulations focused on achieving further real-world emission reductions. With appropriate lead time to refine and validate new technologies and ensure adoption, a new rulemaking will allow for significant improvements in NOx emissions.
The global environment and economy depend on diesel technology, which is the primary power source for many commercial vehicle applications. Cummins has an established commitment to continue to innovate diesel technologies. From 1990 to 2010, diesel emissions standards, primarily NOx and particulate matter, were reduced by more than 90 and 98 percent, respectively.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.