EPA is adopting amendments to its heavy-duty diesel engine programs that will specifically allow engine manufacturers to request to deploy specific emission controls or settings for new and in-use engines that are sold for use only in emergency vehicles. EPA is adopting these revisions to enable fire trucks and ambulances with heavy-duty diesel engines to perform mission-critical life- and property-saving work without risk of losing power, speed or torque due to abnormal conditions of the emission control systems.
EPA's current diesel engine requirements have spurred application of emission controls systems such as diesel particulate filters (commonly called soot filters or DPF's) and other after-treatment systems on most new diesel vehicles, including emergency vehicles. Some control system designs and implementation strategies are more effective in other segments of the fleet than in emergency vehicles, especially given some emergency vehicles' extreme duty cycles. By this action, EPA intends to help our nation's emergency vehicles perform their missions; to better ensure public safety and welfare and the protection of lives and property.
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