PRESS PACKET Alliance for California Business March 14, 2016 The Alliance for California Business (the Alliance) has assembled a packet of information regarding a California Air Resources Board (CARB) public hearing, scheduled for April 22, 2016, on a proposed regulation entitled Aftermarket Diesel Particulate Filters Regulation. Also enclosed is information regarding the March 7, 2016 rulings by Judge Peter Twede in the Alliance s pending Glenn County Superior Court action against CARB. The Alliance will be hosting a telephonic Press Conference tomorrow, March 15, 2016 at 3:30 p.m. to discuss this matter (Conference Call Number: 1-800-503-2899; Access Code: 8678715#). Please join us to discuss these important developments. Two Alliance press releases o WE TOLD YOU SO: CARB ADMITS THAT THE DIESEL PARTULATE FILTER CAUSES ENGINE DAMAGE o CARB MISLEADS GLENN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE THE VERIFICATION PROCESS DOES NOT ENSURE DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTER SAFETY April 22, 2016 Hearing Information o Notice of Public Hearing http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2016/aftermarket2016/aftermarketnotice.pdf o Staff Report http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2016/aftermarket2016/aftermarketisor.pdf As these engines age, there is an increasing need to replace the OEM DPFs as the parts experience wear. Engine problems such as faulty turbochargers, bad fuel injectors, or malfunctioning EGR [Exhaust Gas Recirculation] valves can negatively impact DPFs in several ways including catalytic poisoning, fouling or overloading the DPF, or causing thermal damage due to more frequent regeneration. Failure to properly maintain the DPF, such as failing to clean the DPF or performing inappropriate cleaning, may also result in damage to the DPF. (Staff Report, Page 3.) o Appendix A http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2016/aftermarket2016/aftermarketappa.pdf o Appendix B http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2016/aftermarket2016/aftermarketappb.pdf o Appendix C http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2016/aftermarket2016/aftermarketappc.pdf o Appendix D http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2016/aftermarket2016/aftermarketappd.pdf... the trapped soot in the wall-flow DPF builds up over time, increasing the backpressure on the engine as it continues to operate. Operating the engine at excessive backpressure for extended periods will impact engine performance and eventually cause engine damage. (Appendix D, Page D-5.) Alliance s Third Amended Response to CARB Special Interrogatory No. 5 (Exhibits to same available at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rkg0i0l1yl24st9/aabeqw3i9g_jxwo3dfdccg7oa?dl=0) Order Granting CARB s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, dated March 7, 2016 Order Denying CARB s Motion to Compel Further Interrogatory Responses, dated March 7, 2016 For further information, please contact: Bud Caldwell, President Alliance for California Business Telephone: 530-342-6511 allianceforca@gmail.com Website at: http://allianceforca.org 1
Alliance for California Business Press Release March 14, 2016 WE TOLD YOU SO: CARB ADMITS THAT THE DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTER CAUSES ENGINE DAMAGE The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has admitted that the normal and predicted operations of the diesel particulate filter (DPF) damages heavy-duty diesel engines. In a dramatic reversal of its previous position, CARB explains that the potential for serious engine malfunction and damage arises as the DPF device ages on the engine. When the DPF becomes clogged with soot, it must go through repeating cycles of regeneration to burn off the soot. Over time, operating exactly as intended, the buildup of soot in the DPF and extremely high heat damages the filter and other components of the engine, and this, in turn, creates excessive heat buildup and backpressure in the engine, which eventually and inevitably causes engine damage. All of this is set forth in CARB s Notice of Public Hearing for April 22, 2016, and supporting documentation, proposing to make aftermarket parts available for the repair of the 2007-2009 DPFs, including retrofitted and original equipment manufactured (OEM) DPFs. In CARB s own words: [T]he trapped soot in the wall-flow DPF builds up over time, increasing the backpressure in the engine as it continues to operate. Operating the engine at excessive backpressure for extended periods will impact engine performance and eventually cause engine damage. CARB further states: As these engines age, there is an increasing need to replace the OEM DPFs as the parts experience wear. Engine problems such as faulty turbochargers, bad fuel injectors, or malfunctioning EGR [Exhaust Gas Recirculation] valves can negatively impact DPFs in several ways including catalytic poisoning, fouling or overloading the DPF, or causing thermal damage due to more frequent regeneration. CARB now admits the destructive effect of the extreme heat during the regeneration process, which is a necessary operation of the DPF. CARB concedes that the DPF device will break down over time, and that it will cause engine damage. 1
This has been the long-held position of the Alliance for California Business (the Alliance). In 2013, the Alliance filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of CARB s regulations that require truck and bus owners to have DPF devices on their vehicles as a condition of operating in California, because the DPF, operating exactly as designed, is mechanically unreliable and dangerous. The Alliance told CARB, through declarations of truck owners, operators, mechanics, and an expert in the field of automotive engineering, that the DPF disables and damages engines as well as engine components through the repeated exposure to extremely high temperatures and backpressure within and near the engine compartment. The Alliance presented evidence that these conditions have led to explosive truck and bus fires, and caused brush fires and damage to nearby property. CARB blamed the DPF problems on poor maintenance (blaming the owners and operators) and has steadfastly refused to consider, much less investigate these fires. Now CARB admits that the DPF s filter component disintegrates over time because it cannot withstand the extremely high temperature that is necessary for the DPF to operate, and along the way it damages other parts of the engine. But it gets worse CARB proposes to fix the problem by facilitating the creation of yet another line of dangerous and defectively designed DPF replacement parts to be paid for, once again, by California businesses. It is time for CARB to do the right thing: issue a recall on all DPFs until they are proven safe and mechanically reliable. The Alliance remains committed to defending California truck and bus owners and operators, and all those who rely on trucks and buses for the transportation of goods and people, from this regulatory debacle. For further information, please contact: Bud Caldwell, President Alliance for California Business Telephone: 530-342-6511 allianceforca@gmail.com Website at: http://allianceforca.org 2
Alliance for California Business Press Release March 14, 2016 CARB MISLEADS GLENN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE THE VERIFICATION PROCESS DOES NOT ENSURE DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTER SAFETY In December 2015, attorneys for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) told Judge Peter Twede of the Glenn County Superior Court that CARB has regulations on the books that resolves all of the diesel particulate filter (DPF) safety concerns raised by the Alliance for California Business (the Alliance) and its members. On the basis of those claims and representations, the Court granted CARB s motion for judgment on the pleadings by order dated March 7, 2016. However, in fairness to Judge Twede, CARB has told so many half-truths in its pleadings and in the courtroom, that it is hard for anyone to untangle the yarn. For example, CARB conveniently left out of the story the fact that the regulations CARB quoted to the judge were passed in late 2013 having no impact whatsoever on more than half of the DPF devices currently verified (or approved) for sale by CARB. For the pre-2013 approvals totaling at least 66 DPF devices that are currently on the market and in use there were no safety protocols in place as part of CARB s review process. But even more shocking is that CARB s attorneys stood in Court on December 11, 2015 and said not a word to Judge Twede about the information that CARB had gathered and the new regulations CARB was drafting for the April 22, 2016 noticed meeting something that (we now know) has been in the works at CARB since early 2015. Says Alliance President Bud Caldwell: It is not hard to imagine the impact on a crowded courtroom and an attentive judge if CARB s attorneys had honestly disclosed that winter afternoon that they and their client knew all along that the DPF, working just as it was designed, damages and destroys engines and creates the risk of runaway regeneration, excessive heat buildup and backpressure the ingredients of the massive fireball explosions that we have witnessed on trucks and buses throughout the State of California for at least the past three years. What next for the Alliance? The news from the courthouse is a new challenge to the Alliance s effort to have a trial on the merits of its claim that the DPF is mechanically unreliable and unsafe, and that there is a critical and frightening causal link between the DPFs and the ever-increasing number of truck and bus fires throughout the state of California. However, the Alliance s president, Bud Caldwell and Board members, including Jim Paiva, Angela Casler, Hank de Carbonel, Bob Evans, Tony Hobbs, and Betty Plowman have vowed to fight on. The Alliance will file a motion with the Court for reconsideration, submitting the evidence CARB neglected to provide at the hearing in December 2015 documented in CARB s owns words in its April 22, 2016 meeting notice and supporting documents that the DPF, as designed and operated, is mechanically unreliable and dangerous. As noted by Board Member, 1
Hank de Carbonel, the regulations that require CARB and the manufacturers to consider safety in the DPF design does not solve the problem at all. As CARB now admits, the DPF becomes unsafe over time under normal wear and tear conditions created by the exposure to high temperatures during regeneration. The regulations that CARB tries to use as an excuse to end this lawsuit have not and cannot eliminate the real and imminent danger that the DPF presents to truck and bus drivers, passengers, and those who live near public roads and highways. The Alliance remains committed to defending California truck and bus owners and operators, and all those who rely on trucks and buses for the transportation of goods and people, from CARB s reckless and irresponsible regulatory practices. For further information, please contact: Bud Caldwell, President Alliance for California Business Telephone: 530-342-6511 allianceforca@gmail.com Website at: http://allianceforca.org 2