The university that produced a study justifying the repeal of stronger emissions standards for certain freight trucks has asked the EPA to disregard the study.
Philip B. Oldham, the president of Tennessee Technological University, warned the EPA in a letter that “experts within the university have questioned the methodology and accuracy” of the study.
“We request that you withhold any use or reference to said study pending the conclusion of our internal investigations,” he wrote.
The study was funded by the country’s largest manufacturer of so-called glider trucks, Fitzgerald Glider Kits of Byrdstown, Tenn.
It concluded that pollution from glider trucks was the same as trucks with modern emissions controls. Glider trucks are older trucks that are equipped with remanufactured engines that do not have modern emissions controls.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has moved to exempt glider trucks from a requirement that forces other heavy-duty trucks to install modern emissions control systems.
An EPA representative said the agency “did not rely on the study” to justify revisiting the Obama administration rule, and “only noted the existence of the study” in its findings. Still, Pruitt announced in August that he would re-examine the rule “in light of the significant issues raised” and review whether it’s permitted under the agency’s Clean Air Act authority.
The EPA in its own modeling has projected that gliders emit 20 to 40 times as much of the pollutants nitrogen oxide and soot as trucks with new engines.
Pruitt met in May with officials from Fitzgerald, which offered to build a new research center for the university on land owned by the company, the New York Times reported.
The EPA is reviewing public comments about repealing the exemption before making a final decision.
