Leveraging Real-Time Remote Sensing to Improve Regulatory Compliance
Particulate matter (PM2.5) presents one of the greatest threats to human health, decreasing average life expectancy by nearly 2 years. In California, home to seven of the nation’s ten cities with the greatest pollution, the problem is especially severe. Heavy-duty diesel trucks are the largest source of PM2.5 in the U.S., and California has implemented stringent emissions standards for these trucks. However, enforcing truck regulations has proven prohibitively costly, and non-compliance and evasion are rampant. While over one million heavy-duty trucks operate in California each year, only 1 percent are inspected.
Advances in technology offer the potential to drastically, and cost-effectively, improve the enforcement of emissions regulations and air quality. The E&E Lab is partnering with the California Air Resources Board to pilot the use of novel remote sensing technology that measures emissions as trucks drive by, making it possible to identify high- emitting trucks in real time. Leveraging this technology, the Lab has designed a field experiment to measure the impact of targeted enforcement actions on regulatory compliance, emissions, and pollution damages, and emissions leakage state-wide.