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The federal government and the state of California have agreed to delay enforcement of a controversial “in-use” diesel-engine test to determine if emission levels are greater than what the engine was certified to produce.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted 12-11 on June 26 to broaden a freeze on truck-and-trailer sizes to cover the 156,000-mile National Highway System.

PHOENIX — Bill Graves, president of American Trucking Associations, told an overflow crowd at the Diesel Engine Emissions Summit here that the trucking industry wants to “avoid a repeat of history” as engine makers gear up to meet tougher engine standards in 2007 and 2010.

PHOENIX — Top executives of leading truckload carriers called for the government to delay its 2007 deadline for stricter diesel emission rules, saying they would need tax incentives to help cover costs of buying the next generation of heavy-duty trucks and engines.

PHOENIX — A senior Environmental Protection Agency official urged truck engine makers to pursue “simpler” technologies to meet tougher emissions rules for 2007 and beyond, expressing doubt that engine systems that add a chemical solution to the exhaust stream would be practical.

PHOENIX – A senior Environmental Protection Agency official urged truck engine makers to pursue "simpler" technologies to meet tougher emissions rules for 2007 and beyond, expressing doubt that engines using a urea additive would be practical.

WASHINGTON — Nearly $60 million that Congress appropriated to fund Operation Safe Commerce, intended to develop an intermodal freight plan to ensure that ship containers are moved securely by trucks across the country, may be diverted to help the aviation industry, lawmakers said last week.

Truck drivers, who must obtain separate security cards to work at each of Florida’s 14 ports, would only need one card in the future, under a bill the state Legislature passed last month.

Exhaust emissions from about half the Class 8 trucks sold in the first two months of this year exceeded levels that the government required of most diesel-engine manufacturers late last year, thanks mainly to strong sales of Caterpillar and Mercedes-Benz engines, industry and environmental officials said.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced the level of fines it will levy against Caterpillar Inc. for producing two models of the company’s heavy-truck engines that emit greater levels of emissions than EPA’s guidelines allow.