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British Columbia Mandates Diesel Retrofits in Older Trucks

British Columbia is mandating the retrofitting of diesel emissions control systems on 1989-1993 model year commercial transport trucks.

The new regulation will require the mandatory installation of Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) filters, or an equally effective technology, by 2009. In British Columbia, on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicle models 1989-1993 are responsible for 6.8% of overall particulate matter pollution, a high proportion given the relatively small number of vehicles.

Installation of the DOC units will cost approximately $1,200 to $2,500 each and will affect 7,500 vehicles.

A 1989-93 heavy duty diesel vehicle can emit up to 60 times the particulate matter of a newer model. DOC filters reduce emissions by 25 to 50 percent, depending on the type of diesel used and on the engine’s age and characteristics.

—Guff Muench, president of Cummins Western Canada

The new regulation will affect only heavy-duty diesel vehicles 5,000 kilograms or more, including on-road commercially licensed diesel vehicles and government-owned fleet vehicles. Recreational vehicles, motor coaches, pickup trucks, construction equipment and unlicensed non-road vehicles will not be affected.

British Columbia is the first jurisdiction in North America to make retrofit technology mandatory, although California is planning to make it mandatory by 2009 as well.

Comments

SeattleBioTDI

Good but are they cleaning up the diesel fuel? These trucker use the cheapest oil they can get. Don't they grow canola in BC?

meander

The Cummins representative quoted above and the a newspaper article both described the products as "diesel oxidation catalyst filters." If they are the devices I'm thinking of -- honeycomb monoliths with oxidation catalyst coating, i.e. a fully flow-through device -- they are NOT filters. They are catalytic converters or catalysts. There is a chance they are looking at another technology that is a filter, but at that price I doubt it.

Filters, like the wall-flow devices used in the 2007 trucks and classified as "Level 3" by CARB, have particulate control efficiencies of 85% or higher.

The world of diesel emissions is complicated enough without mistakes like "DOC filters."

Erick

Thank goodness something is being done about some of the old heavy duties... I see a lot of them moving gravel and spewing vile black smoke, and wonder why they aren't even required to have emissions testing when a light-duty vehicle driven for any reason has to be tested yearly or bi-yearly.

troilus19

I applaud the Provice of BC for being proactive on this! When are other provinces, particularly Ontario where I, and almost 1/3 of the Canadian population live, going to wake up and address the problem of dirty diesel engines.

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