WASHINGTON, D.C. — It appears the U.S. Army has no plans to join the war on engine emissions.

It already has in place National Security Exemption waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the diesel engines in its fleets of AM General Humvees and Oshkosh heavy trucks and is pursuing additional waivers, according to Eric Emerton, a spokesman for the service’s Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM).

TACOM is seeking waivers from the EPA as a result of new emissions standards that stem from the 1998 consent decree between the Department of Justice and seven diesel engine manufacturers, including Caterpillar, Cummins and Detroit Diesel.

According to Emerton, TACOM has a longstanding agreement with EPA to meet engine emissions standards that are in effect on the date of contract awards for the acquisition of new vehicles for production contracts lasting up to five years.

For production contracts of more than five years, the two sides would examine the implementation of another engine with enhanced emissions performance that would have the least impact.

“Subsequent investigation, including the installation of the Series 60 engine in a test bed vehicle, concluded that both complying engines would necessitate a major redesign of each HTV platform,” he says. “The estimated cost of the engineering/logistics development, as well as production, fielding and support activities needed to integrate an emissions compliant engine would cost the Army over $82 million.”

As a result, the EPA granted a waiver covering 2,093 8V92TA new production engines through December 2005, 1,465 replacement engines through September 2006, and 742 additional engines.