Skip to main content

Black Carbon

Black carbon (or soot) is a potent climate forcer that may rank second only to CO2 in warming the planet. Reducing black carbon emissions could avoid as much as .5°C (or nearly 1° Fahrenheit) of warming. In the United States, the major sources of black carbon emissions are diesel combustion from the transportation sector, diesel combustion from stationary sources, coal combustion, and biomass combustion. The chapter discusses key strategies and obstacles to reducing black carbon emissions, with a particular focus on reducing diesel fuel use. The chapter explains how several CAA programs that regulate emissions of fine particulate matter (PM), including the mobile source standards program, several stationary source programs, national ambient air quality standards, and SIPS, could help reduce or eliminate black carbon emissions. The chapter also examines programs that state and local governments could use independent of the CAA to reduce black carbon emissions. Finally, the chapter identifies obstacles to successful regulation, proposes strategies to overcome obstacles, identifies areas of uncertainty, and briefly identifies measures discussed in other chapters in the book that would complement or accelerate the black carbon reduction strategies identified here.

Sub-topics

Filter by

33 resources

Example Executive Branch

NY/NJ Port Authority Truck Replacement Program

The Port Authority established a grant program to help truck owners finance the purchase of 2013-or-newer engines, up to $25,000 apiece, for trucks that service the port frequently and currently have ...
Example Executive Branch

CAA §202(a)(3) – Engine Retrofits

Clean Air Act §202(a)(3) authorizes EPA to regulate the rebuilding of heavy-duty vehicle engines. For any engine built after 2004, a rebuild of that engine must bring it up to performance standards co...
Resource Local Governments

EPA Compilation of Idling Laws

EPA prepared 2006 a compilation of state and local anti-idling regulations.
Example States and State Governments

California Unattended Idling Prohibition

California Vehicle Code ch. 9 §22515 prohibits unattended vehicle idling.
Resource Congress

CAA §110 Authorising SIP In-Use Requirements

The Clean Air Act authorizes state implementation plans to include indirect source regulations, as well as provisions designed to reduce emissions from mobile source use. In-use regulations include ca...
Example States and State Governments

California School Bus Idling Law

California has adopted a regulation prohibiting school buses from idling while stopped at schools, or from starting more than 30 seconds before departure.
Example Executive Branch

EPA’s SmartWay program

EPA’s voluntary SmartWay program is a partnership between the Agency, shippers, freight carriers, and freight logistics companies to benchmark and track CO2 emissions and disseminate information on fu...
Example States and State Governments

California’s Moyer Program

California has used the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program to provide funding support for diesel engine retrofits and replacement. The program administers funds to help owner...
Example Local Governments

Sacramento Idling Prohibition

The city of Sacramento has an idling prohibition specifically targeting vehicles left unattended.
Example Executive Branch

New Stationary Sources Standards

Different sections of the Clean Air Act authorize EPA to regulate particulate matter emissions from new stationary sources, including new source performance standards, prevention of significant deteri...
Example States and State Governments

California Mobile Cargo Handling Requirement

California has provided a model for regulating in-use emissions from ports, through its regulation governing mobile cargo handling equipment at ports and intermodal railyards. The original regulation ...
Example States and State Governments

Arizona Truck Idling Regulation

Arizona state law requires that counties adopt, implement and enforce ordinances that place limits on the maximum idling time of heavy-duty, long-range trucks.
Example States and State Governments

Texas Emissions Reduction Plan programs

The Texas Emissions Reduction Plan comprises eleven different funding programs. The Texas Clean Fleet Program, e.g., provides grants to help diesel equipment owners retrofit older equipment, funded ou...
Example States and State Governments

Connecticut Clean Diesel Plan Funding

The Clean Diesel Grant Program funds a number of programs in the state, including the Clean School Bus program.
Example States and State Governments

California’s ZEV Regulation and Other Participating States

California’s ZEV regulation requires automobile companies to produce a certain percentage of ZEVs for sale in California, such as hydrogen fuel cell, batter electric, and hybrid vehicles. The ZEV mand...
Resource Executive Branch

Stationary Existing Source Standards

EPA has two statutory regimes under which to regulate particulate matter and black carbon, national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs) and §111(d) existing source standards. NE...
Example Executive Branch

CAA §202(a)(1) – On-road Vehicle Sources

Clean Air Act §202(a)(1) gives EPA authority to establish emissions standards for “any air pollutant from any class or classes of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines.” This authority exten...
Example Congress

Diesel Emissions Reduction Act programs

DERA provides federal funding in the form of grants to eligible entities for projects that reduce emissions from existing diesel engines. The programs provide funding for applicants nationally, at the...
Example Executive Branch

Residential Standards

EPA may regulate black carbon from residential sources through new source performance standards for residential heating stoves, education, or incentivizing the replacement of inefficient stoves. EPA p...
Resource Congress

EPA Black Carbon Report

EPA’s 2011 Black Carbon Report to Congress represents an intensive effort to compile, assess, and summarize available scientific information on the current and future impacts of black carbon, and to e...
Example States and State Governments

California Truck and Bus Regulation

California has a truck and bus regulation under its Clean Air Act waiver, which includes emission standards for new engines and vehicles, as well as in engine retrofit requirement aimed to ensure that...
Resource Executive Branch

CAA §213 – Nonroad Vehicle Sources

Clean Air Act §213 grants EPA the power to regulate nonroad vehicle sources, which includes any type of mobile source that was not designed primarily for highway travel. EPA must regulate emissions of...
Example Executive Branch

EPA 2023 Proposed Soot Exposure Regulation

In January 2023, EPA proposed a reduction of the allowable annual exposure to industrial soot pollution, and will solicit public comment before making a final decision in 2023. EPA’s proposal would lo...
Example States and State Governments

California In-Use Emissions Testing Requirements

California passed a heavy-duty vehicle inspection program in 2014 that requires trucks to comply with a random roadside in-use emissions testing program to verify that diesel engines do not smoke exce...
Example States and State Governments

California TRAC Leases

California’s Terminal Rental Adjustment Clause Leases, or TRAC leases, encourage business owners to upgrade their diesel trucks for early compliance with on-road diesel vehicle regulations. The progra...
Example States and State Governments

CARB Diesel Risk Reduction Plan

California’s Diesel Risk Reduction Plan includes recommended actions to reduce emissions from mobile and stationary sources. Under the plan, California has enacted on-road and nonroad emissions standa...
Model Law Congress

LPDD Model Law: Reducing Black Carbon in Arctic Shipping

As new shipping lanes emerge in the Arctic, the potential harms attributable to black carbon emissions — which coats the surrounding ice surface black and accordingly increases the rate of heat absorp...
Example Executive Branch

LIHEAP

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, among other financial assistance, funds woodstove replacement for low-income households.
Resource Executive Branch

Report, Domestic Mitigation of Black Carbon from Diesel Emissions

Chang’s 2011 report examines how black carbon emissions are controlled under the CAA and what EPA, states, and municipalities can do to mitigate black carbon emissions further.
Example States and State Governments

Connecticut Bus Idling Regulation

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227 prohibits the idling of a school bus for more than three consecutive minutes.
Resource Congress

Proposed Super Pollutants Act (2019)

This proposed 2019 legislation would reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) in the atmosphere by enabling federal agencies to set up a taskforce with businesses and non-profits to speed the ado...
Example Local Governments

NYC Idling Law

The New York City Administrative Code, Title 24, Section 24-163 establishes that no person should allow the engine of a motor vehicle to idle for longer than three minutes while parking, standing, or ...
Example States and State Governments

California Off-Road Mobile Source Regulations

California has promulgated regulations for a variety of nonroad sources, including tractors, excavators, dozers, portable generators, and sweepers are required to meet emission standards. These repres...