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February 3, 2000 9:45 AM, EST

A research venture in New Mexico that brings together trucking and government is tackling some of the complex issues that confound regulators trying to crack down on air pollution.

The goal of the National Environmental Respiratory Center in Albuquerque, N.M., is to move away from looking at air pollution on a source-by-source or chemical-by-chemical basis — the framework used by most researchers and regulators — and instead look at how a mix of chemicals and sources interact and how that combination affects humans.

The center is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and industry sources such as American Trucking Associations, the California Trucking Association, Caterpillar Inc., Cummins Engine Co., Detroit Diesel Corp. and Navistar International Transportation Corp.

Getting to the root of air pollution could be critical for trucking, which faces federal plans for further reductions of diesel emissions levels, a study by California researching that pins the blame on diesel for a majority of the lung cancer caused by air pollution, and more states looking at restricting truck emissions to solve air pollution problems.

For the full story, see the Jan. 31 print edition of Transport Topics. .