Southern California Contractors Association

The biggest worry for contractors isn't what Caltrans' budget looks like or even the decline in the housing market-the biggest worry is what the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has done during the past year and what it might do in the near future.

The two big topics for contractors are what CARB has been up to regarding portable equipment and planned off-road diesel regulations.

CARB reopened the statewide portable engine registration program (PERP), on an emergency basis December 7th, but kept two thirds of the engines in this equipment class locked out by refusing to allow Tier 0 units.

These engines are ubiquitous, used by every trade. They power equipment like welding units, wood chippers, diesel pile-driving hammers service or work-over rigs, compressors, abrasive blasting operations, concrete batch plants, sand and gravel screening, rock crushing and pavement crushing and recycling operations, tub grinders and trommel screens, dredges on boats or barges, generators, trash pumps, and are used as secondary engines on cranes, concrete pumps, drill rigs and more.

Industry, led by SCCA, MCOG and the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition (CIAQC) will be back before the Board at its March meeting, once again asking that owners of Tier 0 equipment be allowed to register and legally operate their units. This is especially important since the South Coast Air Quality Management District (all of Orange, most of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties) adamantly refuses to allow this engine category into their district program.

By 2010, CARB regulations will also require the registered owners of portable engines to replace Tier 0 equipment with new Tier 3 engines—which will cost our industry at least $300 million.

CARB itself says it is unable to quantify any environmental benefit from this new regulation, but admits their outrageous fees will cost the industry tens of millions over the next five years, mostly through record-keeping requirements. Here’s how:

The new CARB regs require the installation of hour meters on all of this equipment and tell CARB when these units are in place, which leads, in the twisted logic of these bureaucrats, to a requirement to keep records on the hours the equipment operates. CARB estimates the hour meters alone will cost industry $876,000.

These records, of course, lead to reports that will have to be kept for a minimum of five years, just in case CARB should ask for them; again, no environmental improvement, but a big increase in cost of operation—CARB itself says these record keeping requirements will cost contractors at least $400 per unit per year—over five years they say record-keeping will cost the industry $41.2 million. Many contractors think they will have to hire someone just to stay on top of these record keeping requirements.

To top it all off, if the contractor moves certain types of equipment to a new location for more than five days they will have to notify the local air district—no reason—just because, but it will give the new local inspectors something to do.