As the state tries to meet federal clean air regulations for several of its urban areas, the Texas Senate has approved a bill that calls for an incentive program for the purchase of cleaner diesel engines in those areas.

The Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Galveston, Beaumont-Port Arthur and El Paso regions have all been classified as "non-attainment" areas by the federal government. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission late last year submitted its plans to clean up those areas to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials. Some of those proposals that will affect trucking include lower speed limits and idling restrictions.
However, the state legislature believes there are significant areas of potential emission reductions the commission cannot regulate, but that could be realized through incentive programs.
The bill, SB5, calls for new or higher fees on new diesel motor vehicles and construction equipment, new or higher fees for vehicle safety inspections and motorboat licenses, and higher taxes for hotel rooms and taxi rides in some counties. It will use these proceeds to fund the incentive programs. The fees collected would be deposited into a fund that would be controlled by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, which would allocate it to various grant programs. The program would expire in 2008, the year after the non-compliance areas must meet federal clean air standards.
The bill calls for grants to be given to equipment retrofits, repowers, or add-ons that cut oxides of nitrogen by at least 30 percent. Incentives also would be available for the lease or purchase of low-emissions vehicles in the non-attainment areas. The bill also calls for research on new emissions-reducing technologies.