EPA'S DEAL WILL REDUCE DIESEL FUMES INDUSTRY TO HELP CLEAR AIR.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

SAN DIEGO - Environmental officials launched a partnership with industry Wednesday to curb cancer-causing diesel emissions spewing into the West Coast's skies.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $6 million worth of voluntary projects in California, Oregon and Washington, with most of the money coming from the federal government. The EPA said it hoped to ultimately secure $100 million over five years for future projects.

``The goal is to replace the older engines with newer equipment, newer fuels and get that done as soon as possible,'' said Wayne Nastri, the EPA's administrator for the Pacific region. ``It benefits all of us, those at the border and up and down the state.''

The initiative targets sources of diesel pollution bombarding the West Coast, from long-haul trucks to cargo ships pulling into port, not to mention locomotives, farm equipment and earth-moving construction equipment.

Air quality regulators said Wednesday that they plan to spend $200,000 to install 20 electrical sockets at Castaic and Interstate 5 truck stops so truckers won't have to idle their pollution-spewing diesel engines on breaks.

``We have a tremendous amount of diesel traffic and a tremendous amount of older equipment. The goal is to replace older engines with newer engines,'' said Wayne Nastri, EPA administrator for the Pacific Southwest region.

The initial projects include plans to cut emissions by replacing aging diesel locomotives in the San Joaquin Valley and a $1.8 million plan to plug two Princess Cruises ships into Seattle's electric grid when in port.

In addition, nearly $1.7 million will be spent to clean up emissions from idling long-haul trucks along the Interstate 5 corridor in Oregon and California.

When fully funded at the goal of $100 million, EPA officials estimated that the program could remove roughly 8,000 tons of particulate pollutants and save more than $2 billion in associated health care costs.

Tiny soot particles found in diesel exhaust have been linked to lung and other types of cancer and account for thousands of premature deaths in the United States each year as well as increased cases of asthma and other respiratory ailments, according to the American Lung Association of California.

``We're very mindful of the fact that thousands of people die from diesel pollution each year,'' said Terry Tamminen, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

New regulations are aimed at cutting diesel pollution nationwide, beginning in 2007, and the U.S. EPA said it hoped the voluntary program would speed up progress toward those goals.

Bonnie Holmes-Gen, a lobbyist for the American Lung Association in California, said the money was helpful but fell far short of what is needed.

``They should set the bar a lot higher,'' Holmes-Gen said. ``We have a need for $2 (billion) to $3 billion over the next five to 10 years in California alone.''

California has earmarked up to $140 million this year to cut diesel emissions through similar voluntary programs, but the federal program can address pollution sources that the state can't - namely, construction and farm equipment, said Gennet Paauwe, a spokeswoman for the California Air Resources Board.

Diesel-powered vehicles, from huge earth movers to harvesting combines used in agriculture, account for more pollution, especially microscopic soot linked to respiratory problems, than the trucks and buses on the nation's highways.

None of the products announced Wednesday, however, addressed farm or construction equipment. Nastri said the initial round of programs focused on regional, multistate efforts and did not signal a problem in bringing farm and construction equipment users to the table.

The program included a $150,000 grant to study the impact of Mexican trucks, which are expected to be a significant new source of diesel pollution when they are granted broad access to U.S. roads beginning next year. The grant will examine the costs and effectiveness of diesel retrofit technologies on vehicles crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

``There isn't a lot of information known about the emissions that come from trucks and other diesel sources in Mexico,'' said the EPA's Amy Zimpfer.

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Trucks back up at the Castaic truck stop, which air quality regulators have targeted for improvements so rig drivers don't need to keep their engines idling.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer