The dc circuit court of appeals of the us upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's (epa) rule to make heavy-duty trucks and buses run cleaner. The regulation, which comes into force in 2007, requires reduction of emissions from diesel trucks and buses by 95 per cent. It also stipulates a cut in sulphur levels in diesel fuel from 500 to 15 parts per million. This requires advanced pollution-control technologies such as particulate traps, which in turn needs low sulphur diesel to work efficiently. "Due to the rule, 8,300 premature deaths, 5,500 cases of chronic bronchitis and 17,600 cases of acute bronchitis in children will be prevented annually," said epa administrator Christie Whitman. While it will reduce 2.6 million tonnes of nitrogen oxide emissions each year, particulate matter levels will fall by 110,000 tonnes a year.
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