Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/1004801
16 commercial carrier journal | july 2018 JOURNAL NEWS Lawmakers write OMB requesting quick clearance of glider kit rollback T wo dozen members of Congress penned a letter in late May to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney asking his OMB to hasten approval of a rule to repeal Obama-era emissions regula- tions placed on glider kit trucks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a pro- posed rule in November to rescind regulations placed on glider kit trucks by the 2016-finalized Phase II emissions regulations, which call for a decade-long implementa- tion of new emissions hurdles for tractor-trailers. For the first time, the Phase II regulations brought emissions standards to the glider kit indus- try, requiring glider kit builders to restrict emissions of green- house gases and particulate mat- ter. Glider vehicles are new truck bodies and chasses equipped with older engines and transmissions. EPA last year sought to unwind the glider-specific Phase II regulations and exempt glider kit builders, such as Fitzgerald Glider Kits and Harrison's Truck Centers, from compliance with the restrictions. EPA has yet to send its Final Rule to rescind the glider emis- sions to OMB, which must approve rulemakings before publication in the Federal Register. With the rule still unfiled with the OMB – and the office's approval process await- ing – glider kit makers are left in a regulatory limbo. A group of 24 lawmakers — three senators and 21 House members — wrote Mulvaney asking him to skip a step in the approval process to allow the rule to be published more quickly. The lawmakers asked OMB to skip the rule's regulatory impact analysis, saying it's not required for deregulatory actions. OMB has not said when it plans to approve EPA's rule, nor has it yet responded to the May 24 letter from lawmakers. – James Jaillet C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Poly Deck NEW_7x4.5.pdf 1 6/11/18 9:41 AM Untitled-28 1 6/11/18 3:13 PM EPA's Obama-era Phase II regulations re- quire glider kit builders to restrict emissions of greenhouse gases and particulate matter.