U.S. funds, Arizona effort help Mexico trucks pollute less

[EmmettKelly]

Now that the administration has solved the impasse about Mexican trucks on our highways, over the objections of the Teamsters Union BTW, we can be thankful that they're going to clean up the air a bit. At least we can breath easier while standing in line for our unemployment checks and food stamps.

Change that smells good.

NOGALES - Hundreds of big trucks cross the U.S.-Mexican border here every day, many more than once. On a busy day, the rigs idle for long stretches of time, waiting in line at the border, spewing exhaust through often-outdated mufflers that contribute to unhealthy levels of pollution.

For air-quality regulators, the border creates a legal barrier. State and federal agencies can't force vehicles manufactured and bought in Mexico to comply with U.S. emissions rules, even though the trucks cross into this country.

So the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality tried a different approach, offering to pay Mexican truck owners to replace old mufflers with new catalytic converters that will reduce harmful diesel emissions by up to 30 percent. The project in effect circumvents the more lax Mexican rules about exhaust systems.

Ron Hubbard (left), and Miguel Prieto, both Auto Safety House employees, work at Nogales. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality awarded grants to a program that retrofits diesel trucks at the U.S.-Mexican border near Nogales.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/04/11/20110411arizona-mexico-truck-pollution-regulation.html#ixzz1JMqzqo5P