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California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District is offering incentive funding of up to $50,000 for the purchase of a diesel truck or up to $100,000 for the purchase of a natural gas truck, in return for scrapping an older Class 8 diesel truck, the agency said.

Flatbed carrier Arrow Trucking Co. closed suddenly Dec. 22, shutting off its fuel cards and leaving an unknown number of drivers for its 1,400 trucks stranded around the country, industry and federal officials have said.

Today’s new diesel-power trucks are, by law, equipped with particulate filters, and in many models the DPF will soon will be joined by another aftertreatment device — selective catalytic reduction, or SCR, in a canister.

Donaldson Co., a manufacturer of filtration systems, said Monday it is spending $5 million to enable one of its plants to manufacture parts that comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 diesel emission standards.

Navistar Inc., which said it has spent $600 million to develop its 2010 exhaust gas recirculation engine, said the company is losing sales of next year’s model because federal regulators “helped create the false impression” among customers that only urea-based after-treatment systems would meet 2010 federal emissions standards.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. will buy BAF Technologies, a supplier of natural gas vehicle systems and conversion technology, for $8.3 million.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s decision to cut the maximum allowed stopping distance for large trucks by 30% will increase truck buyers’ costs somewhat, but will not force a widespread shift to new technology such as air disc brakes, industry groups and manufacturers said.

Grocery retailer Safeway Inc. said it will begin inflating its truck and trailer fleet tires with nitrogen instead of compressed air.

Diesel emission standards change again in January 2010, but unlike the previous modifications when all manufacturers used essentially the same emission-controlling technology, medium-duty truck buyers next year will have a choice of competing systems.