Requirements and Incentives for Reducing Construction Vehicle Emissions and Comparison of Nonroad Diesel Engine Emissions Data Sources

Nonroad construction vehicles and equipment powered by diesel engines contribute to mobile source air pollution. The engines of this equipment emit significant amounts of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. These pollutants pose serious problems for human health and the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate and control the levels of these pollutants. Furthermore, there are emerging requirements and incentives for “greening” of construction vehicle fleets and operations. Currently, there are two types of standards that regulate air pollution for these types of vehicles: technological standards for engines and quality standards for air. It is also necessary to quantify the levels of emissions that nonroad construction vehicles and equipment produce. Quantification may be based on existing data sources (such as the EPA NONROAD model) or by collecting data directly from the vehicles as they work in the field. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the challenges to quantification of emissions from nonroad construction vehicles, describe associated governmental regulations and incentives for reducing emissions, identify and compare various sources of emissions data, establish the need to collect additional data, and propose a future research agenda that focuses on air pollution generated by construction vehicles.