Non-road diesels engines, such as construction equipment, bulldozers and portable diesel generators, do not have to comply with the same pollution standards of diesel trucks and buses used on our roads. The fuels these off highway machines use is a contentious issue because non-road diesel fuel contains as much as 200 times the sulfur that is allowed in highway diesel fuel.
Much of that sulfur is converted to dangerous fine particle soot which enters into the blood stream and clogs the lungs sensitive passageway, carrying with it severe health consequences. With the manufacturing and design of diesel engines for construction equipment, bulldozers, and portable diesel generators, dating back to the Korean War, you can image why these machines might be tremendous polluters.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency these machines produce more soot and smoke than all the vehicles on the nation's highways. The Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials (ALAPCO) has concluded that by toughening emission controls on non-road, dirty diesel engines that our nation could prevent more than 8,500 premature deaths, 180,000 asthma attacks, and save $64 billion in health costs each year.