Thirteen states have joined forces with California to force diesel trucks and buses to meet tougher anti-pollution standards than those required by the federal government.
Air quality officials from those states announced that they will require heavy-duty diesel engines to meet stringent testing standards to cut nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from exhaust between 2004 and 2007. The states' proposal would slash emissions from diesel trucks by 27 tons daily in California and New York alone and will cover any heavy diesel engine manufactured during 2005 or later. Under the federal Clean Air Act, states are allowed to take such action as long as they proceed in step with California, which is the only state allowed to implement its own tougher air pollution requirements.
Connecticut is one of the 13 states that will impose the "California standards," along with New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and Nevada.