Next week on May 25, the California Air Resources Board will consider stricter emission regulations for equipment such as backhoes and bulldozers. Environmentalists say it's overdue, but construction companies say it will cost them dearly. From Sacramento, Marianne Russ reports.
The new rules would affect equipment used everywhere from airports to construction sites to golf courses and ski resorts. To reduce diesel emissions, companies would have to buy new machines, or new cleaner engines. Mike Lewis with the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition says it would cripple contractors:
Lewis : This is going to cost the industry over $13 billion over that 10-year period and there simply isn't the money within the construction industry to spend on those kinds of changes.
Lewis says they need more time. But Bill McGavern with the Sierra club disagrees:
McGavern : Californians have been breathing polluted air for too long and we're already way past the federal and state deadlines for cleaning up our air and improving health standards.
McGavern hopes the state might offer financial help to small businesses in replacing old engines.
