Ontario Turns Attention To Truck Emissions
The Ford Conservatives in Ontario announced it is killing the Drive Clean program because it had outlived it’s usefulness and was too costly. During that announcement Ford added there would be more enforcement on large commercial trucks.
The province of Ontario recently announced a consultation process to redesign a heavy truck emissions control program, which will include stronger roadside enforcement of anti-tampering regulations, as well as potential incentives for purchasing trucking environmental equipment.
The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) is welcoming government consultations on anti-tampering enforcement and environmental incentives.
The Environmental Registry Notice says the objective of the review is to develop an effective heavy truck testing program, while balancing the need to reduce the regulatory burden on impacted transport industries.
“The (Doug) Ford government has established an excellent tone in policy and direction for how this review is to be conducted,” said OTA president Stephen Laskowski. “The outcome of a fair and level playing field program that reduces regulatory tape for the trucking industry is very much in alignment with the objectives of OTA.”
The OTA plans to work with the province to determine how current MTO enforcement policies and programs can be better utilized with regards to environmental matters. It would like to see emissions system tampering be eliminated.
“Getting this technology out of our industry would be a significant victory for competitive fairness. OTA looks forward to working with the Ministry of Environment on tackling this important issue through the development of an effective program that levels the playing field without introducing an unnecessary regulatory burden for the vast majority of compliant carriers,” said Laskowski.
The association is also encouraged about a potential incentive program that would reward fleets that buy leading-edge environmental equipment and carbon-cutting technologies. Any members interested in helping steer the discussion should contact lak.shoan@ontruck.org.
