Heavy-Duty Remote Sensing Demonstration: Nogales Border Crossing in Arizona

OVERVIEW

Over four million heavy-duty commercial trucks a year enter the United States from Mexico at various ports along the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. More than 250,000 trucks enter through the Mariposa-Nogales border crossing in Arizona alone. The most recent scientific research shows that high-volume truck traffic is creating severe air pollution problems for people who live in communities along the congested Mexico-US border. As the US prepares to fully implement the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), truck traffic is expected to increase, compounding the existing air pollution problem.

GOALS

The project will help state and federal officials determine:
1) how many trucks crossing the border exceed the EPA’s new standards for fine particle diesel emissions;
2) how much pollution these trucks are emitting into the air;
3) emissions standards for a potential heavy-duty commercial truck inspection program;
4) the feasibility and benefits of a “gross-emitter” program that reduces harmful diesel exhaust by identifying polluting trucks.

PROJECT PARTNERS

ESP’s partners in the project include the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Customs and Border Protection and M.J. Bradley & Associates.

Remote sensing technology represents an advanced tool for air quality managers, allowing them to identify high-emitting vehicles at congested border crossings without interrupting the nation’s important flow of commerce.

BACKGROUND

Commercial carriers crossing into the US from Mexico through the Mariposa-Nogales port are primarily transporting agricultural products. Agricultural trade surges in the winter, with a peak volume of 1,400 incoming trucks per day.

Heavy duty vehicles and their big diesel engines are major sources of soot. According to the American Lung Association, diesel engines generate 100 times more sooty particles than gasoline engines. In fact, diesel engines create 26 percent of all hazardous particle pollution and 66 percent of the particle pollution from on-road sources,according to the ALA. Diesel exhaust emissions contributeto ground-level ozone (smog),fine particulate pollution, and air toxics, which are believed to cause cancer in humans.

The testing will also help authorities understand how the increased truck traffic will impact air quality, public health and the environment. By identifying the source of harmful emissions and measuring the contribution from diesel trucks, policy makers can shape their efforts to reduce pollution in a more cost-effective manner.

Information gained from the cross-border project will eventually enable states to develop heavy-duty diesel emission reduction programs. These programs will help officials meet the EPA’s new standards for diesel soot emissions, and benefit public health by improving air quality.

The pilot project will measure diesel exhaust from commercial trucks crossing the border at the MariposaNogales Port of Entry. Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), Hydrocarbons (HC), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), and fine particulate matter (PM) will be estimated. Several technologies will be in use, including: Heavy-Duty Remote Sensing Devices (HDRSDs), portable emissions monitors (PEMs), and opacimeters. HDRSD equipment will be the only emissions measurement device able to analyze nearly all
trucks passing through the border.

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