A Pennsylvania bill introduced last month by Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, would create a Near-Zero-Emission Truck Incentive Program. Older models of large trucks sold in the early 2000s release about 10 times the amount of pollution than models sold today.
About 34% of trucks in Pennsylvania are pre-2010 models that release high amounts of pollution. Brown wrote in a memo to state senators, “The proposed grant program will lead to the replacement of these trucks with newer, much cleaner trucks, resulting in lower emissions from the trucking industry and cleaner air for all.”
In the bill, Brown specifies that the state Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection would apply for federal funds to reduce pollution. Pennsylvania would then use those funds to create a grant program to incentivize the purchase of model year 2010 or newer trucks to be titled and registered in the state with a trade-in of an older, pre-2010 model.
“No other single technology transfer can affect Pennsylvania’s air quality and provide immediate health benefits as much as replacing pre-2010 trucks with post-2010 models,” wrote Brown in the memo.
With the upgraded technology in post-2010 trucks that became equipped with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, a drastic reduction in pollutants from the vehicles followed. One 2022 study on the air quality and health impacts of diesel truck pollution found that “older diesel trucks are responsible for a large share of total emissions and resulting premature mortalities.”
Where pre-2007 engine model year trucks made up 6-10% of the testing fleet, they contributed to 64-83% of the truck tailpipe pollution. In 2022, cars and light trucks in the U.S. accounted for 16% of the country’s total planet-warming gas pollution.
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Pennsylvania’s incentive program, combined with the growing popularity of electric vehicles, is likely to change the state’s total planet-warming gas pollution from cars. Evergreen Action put it simply: “If you buy a newer car, it will be better for the environment because older cars, bound by older emission standards, were allowed to pollute more than newer ones.”
This bill comes at a time when the government is actively encouraging citizens to choose greener options. Tax break incentives for choosing greener options, such as installing solar panels, a heat pump, or switching to an electric vehicle, could total benefits from the IRA that exceed $20,000.
The Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association is in support. Rebecca Oyler, PMTA president, told the Land Line publication that “(P)roviding an incentive program at the state level helps offset this impediment and avoids costly mandates that would cripple the trucking industry.”
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