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Operational costs

Equipment, repair, downtime and consumer costs

What the diesel-emissions system costs to buy, maintain, repair and operate — across pickups, medium-duty and Class 8 tractors.


Factual status: Analysis

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The mandate is not only a legal regime. It is a bill of materials: diesel particulate filters, selective catalytic reduction systems, NOx sensors, exhaust gas recirculation valves, exhaust gas coolers, aftertreatment doser modules, diesel exhaust fluid tanks and heaters.

This section will publish itemized cost data as sources are documented. Nothing here is presented as a final figure until a citation exists.

Cost and benefit context

EPA's own 2011 cost-benefit study, the strongest scholarly synthesis of Clean Air Act effects, and the leading environmental advocacy analysis. Read them together before drawing conclusions about diesel-specific costs.

Peer-reviewed research· 2022Supports Clean Air Act

Looking Back at 50 Years of the Clean Air Act

Joseph E. Aldy, Maximilian Auffhammer, Maureen Cropper, Arthur Fraas, Richard Morgenstern — National Bureau of Economic Research / Journal of Economic Literature

Strongest scholarly case that the Act worked

Verification: Verified academic source