NONROAD VEHICLE EMISSIONS

CRC Project No. E-70

Leaders:          C. Hart
                        M. Natarajan

Scope and Objective

This study is aimed at collecting data to quantify populations, usage, and emissions of diesel nonroad equipment in EPA Region 7. CRC is cooperating with EPA and the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators/Association of Local Air Pollution Control Offices (STAPPA/ALAPCO) to conduct a systematic data collection designed to improve the methods and tools used by the EPA to estimate emissions from nonroad equipment. Data to be collected include populations, usage rates (activity), and “in-use” or “real-world” emission rates.

Current Status and Future Program

The project is a data collection study conducted by the Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) in the Office of Air and Radiation (OAR). This project is being performed as a work assignment under a new EPA contract for National Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS)/Portable Activity Monitoring Systems (PAMS) research.  EPA first recognized CRC as a co-sponsor of this research, in an arrangement where CRC also recognizes EPA as a co-sponsor of the E-77 Project. In 2007, CRC and EPA initiated a new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to support an expansion of the testing.

ERG, the prime contractor, is working with EPA to integrate statistical sampling techniques, the latest in-use activity and emissions measurement technology, and rigorous quality assurance and quality control methods to characterize in-use, real-world emissions from 52 nonroad diesel engines. Prior to the fieldwork, 500 establishments were briefly interviewed regarding their equipment ownership and use.

During this pilot study, portable on-board instruments are being used to measure exhaust emissions and usage of commercial nonroad diesel engines in the construction sector. Statistical sampling is being used to randomize the recruitment and screening of participants and the selection of equipment to be instrumented. Fieldwork for this study is being conducted in EPA Region 7, which includes the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.

Information gathered during the course of this study will be used to help refine methods and protocols for a larger-scale project to estimate the population, usage and emissions of nonroad equipment in various economic sectors. After undergoing analysis and quality assurance review, these data will be stored in OTAQ’s Mobile Source Observation Database, where they may help expand and improve the data currently used to support emission inventory modeling for nonroad engines.

The project started in 2007.  In 2007, CRC funded an expansion of this project through a new CRADA with the EPA. Testing from this expansion will continue through the summer of 2008. 

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