California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

By  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Land Line staff writer Dec. 19. 2011

Diesel in California will likely cost more money in the future because of requirements from a California regulation approved and amended Friday.

The California Air Resources Board voted to approve amendments to the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard Friday. The fuel standard is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels 10 percent by the year 2020.

The fuel standard is designed to work with the state’s cap-and-trade-program, which limits emissions created by fuel companies, utilities and other businesses.

Though diesel, unleaded and crude oil are all affected by the regulation, the fuel standard may not matter to truck owners who don’t have to fill their tanks in California.

OOIDA Regulatory Affairs Director Joe Rajkovacz said trucks operated by interstate operators will end-run around the rule because of its associated costs.

“Truckers from out-of-state will easily and legally avoid this fiasco by purchasing their diesel outside of California,” Rajkovacz said. “Thus, CARB will have created yet another unintended consequence by effectively killing off significant sales for California’s truck stop industry.”

Before voting on the fuel standard amendments, one CARB board member said other states would have to enact their own similar standards in order for the system to work.

“It can’t be just a California program,” said Daniel Sperling, CARB board member. “It won’t be enough.”

Several trucking and business organizations issued statements and letters critical of the fuel standard regulation.

A coalition of more than 30 business organizations signed onto a letter warning CARB that the new standard would damage California’s already reeling economy. The groups included the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, the California Chamber of Commerce, and the California Construction Trucking Association.

“The billions of dollars in projected low carbon fuel standard cost will not fall only on fuel providers, but will dramatically increase costs for businesses in all sectors, and constitute a hidden fuel tax on consumers in the form of higher fuel costs and increased costs for fuel-dependent goods and services,” the letter says. “Higher costs translate to loss of jobs, which is unconscionable considering that at 11.7 percent, California’s jobless rate is second highest in the nation.”

The California Trucking Association echoed the coalition’s sentiments.

“How can CARB impose a major drag on our economy at a time when California’s unemployment rate still hovers at almost 12 percent?” CTA said in a statement.

During Friday’s CARB board meeting, Andrew Barrera of the South Bay Latino Chamber of Commerce asked the board to “take the appropriate action” and minimize the rule’s impact on jobs and local communities.

“We are concerned by this item on several levels,” Barrera said. “Our members and our communities are already suffering from higher energy costs as a result of other regulations.”