In a move to help 1998 new car buyers identify the cleanest cars available for sale, the California Air Resources Board has approved a proposal to add Smog Index window stickers to new 1998 passenger cars.

The new indexes will be mounted on the windows of new 1998 cars like those that already indicate fuel economy ratings for new cars. The index will compare the emission levels of new cars to the ARB's 1993 .25 grams per mile hydrocarbon emission standard as well as to other models.

 "These new window indexes will allow consumers to be better informed about their new car purchases than ever before," said John Dunlap, Air Resources Board chairman.

"Many Californians are very concerned about the health effects of air pollution and these stickers will help them to make the same decisions about emissions that they now can make about fuel economy," Dunlap added.

In addition, in an action designed to speed up the introduction of cleaner running trucks, the ARB revised its Ultra Low Emission Vehicle standards for medium duty trucks. The revision will tighten the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission limit for medium duty vehicles, a truck class typically used for fleet delivery trucks.

The change is estimated to result in 23 tons per day less emissions in Southern California and will help the state meet pollution reduction goals set in the 1994 State Implementation Plan. The new medium duty standards will help attain the SIP goals, both through the stricter emission standards and through earlier introduction of these vehicles.

"This more balanced approach to emission standards will help us meet our SIP goals and result in much larger numbers of clean running trucks on California roads up to three years earlier than we originally expected," Dunlap said.

The ARB also introduced a new voluntary class of medium duty truck standards called "Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle" which sets emission levels twice as clean as those required in the ULEV standard, the state's tightest internal combustion engine standard. The new stringent emission limit is expected to initially be met only by vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas or other very clean fuels.