On December 15, AGC of America and its two California chapters formally petitioned the state of California to reconsider or repeal a new rule that would force construction companies across the state to retrofit or replace almost all of their heavy construction equipment. California's new standards are enormously complex and certain to cost California's contractors billions of dollars.
The nation's first-ever statewide rules on the exhaust from existing fleets of off-road diesel equipment would impose an excessive burden on the state's struggling construction industry. While sharing California's commitment to a cleaner environment, AGC maintains that the urgency behind the well-meaning rule is no longer necessary because the economic decline has led to a significant reduction in construction work and the industry's consumption of diesel fuel. AGC's petition also notes that the California Department of Industrial Relations has concluded that retrofitting existing construction equipment to meet the new standards may actually violate worker safety laws. As a result, builders will now have to spend much more than the rule originally estimated to throw out and replace, instead of retrofit, their fleets of diesel-powered construction equipment. This rule will needlessly force builders to throw away billions of dollars worth of equipment right when we need them to get to work on vital new infrastructure projects.
In its petition, AGC included strong evidence that both the economic costs and the environmental benefits of the state's standards are quite different from what the California Air Resources Board (CARB) expected at the time it adopted the standards. Please click here to read the rest of the article.
- Industry Priorities
- Education
- News
- Connect
- Benefits
- Events
- Shop