VICTORIA — B.C. will become the first province to make clean-air filters mandatory on older heavy-duty trucks.

Newer EPA-mandated trucks built in 2002 as well as this year virtually eliminate smog-inducing emissions like particulate matter and NOx, but the B.C. government prefers not to wait until they become the norm.

According to the Vancouver Province newspaper, nearly 8,000 trucks built between 1989 and 1993 must be retrofitted with special diesel filters by 2009.

The trucks, says Environment Minister Barry Penner, are among the worst culprits on the road for emitting a disproportionate amount of particulate matter (PM), which is said to cause respiratory diseases.

The government says one older diesel truck emits as much PM as 60 new trucks.

The refitted filters, which cost between $1,200 and $2,500 per truck, are expected to reduce total emissions of PM on these older models by up to 3.4 percent and total emissions by nearly half.

Buses and construction equipment are exempt from the requirement for now.
B.C. Trucking Association Paul Landry said his group supports the move, but suggested the government could consider making it easier for fleets to adopt a number of other environmentally-friendly truck technology like allowing longer combination trucks on B.C. highways, which cut fuel consumption by 30 percent.

— with files from the Vancouver Province