ARB EYES RELAXING OBD II PROPOSAL TO ACCOMMODATE CLEAN DIESELS

Air board officials are considering relaxing proposed on-board diagnostic (OBD) rules to help some clean diesel passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks comply with the state's low emission vehicle (LEV) regulation for the first time. The proposal may draw objections from environmentalists and alternative-fuel advocates, based on arguments that rules should not be bent to accommodate diesels, and that officials may be sending the wrong message about how automakers should reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At issue are the Air Resources Board's...