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- Currently — January 6th, 2023
Currently — January 6th, 2023
What you need to know, currently.
The US has a new emissions standard for heavy-duty trucks for the first time in over 20 years, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday.
This stricter pollution rule is part of the agency’s Clean Trucks Plan and is the first time pollution standards for buses and heavy duty trucks have been updated in more than two decades, according to reporting by Grist.
The standard will be enforced when 2027 vehicles are available to buy.
This is significant because heavy-duty vehicles are one of the major emitters of nitrogen oxide, which, in large concentrations can exacerbate heart disease, asthma, and other respiratory diseases.
The updated standard is particularly good news for communities that bare the brunt of vehicle pollution — such as low-income people of color — who are more likely to live and work near factories, major highways, and other places where vehicles cause the most pollution due to racist zoning laws and redlining.
The agency estimates that heavy-duty vehicle nitrogen dioxide emissions will decrease by 48 percent by 2045, because of the rule. The new standard is expected to prevent up to 2,9000 deaths by 2045.
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