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Beginning Jan. 1, officials at the Southern California sister ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will face yet another challenge as they begin the second phase of their clean trucks plans: fewer trucks.

Today’s new diesel-power trucks are, by law, equipped with particulate filters, and in many models the DPF will soon will be joined by another aftertreatment device — selective catalytic reduction, or SCR, in a canister.

Donaldson Co., a manufacturer of filtration systems, said Monday it is spending $5 million to enable one of its plants to manufacture parts that comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 diesel emission standards.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week declared that greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and industrial facilities are a danger to human health, a first step the agency must take along the path to regulations limiting the levels of combustion by-products from tailpipes.

The California Air Resources Board last week began to look into changing the state’s diesel emissions rule, which could give truckers hit by the recession more “flexibility” or even partial delays of one or two years in complying.

The Environmental Protection Agency is likely to rule Monday that carbon dioxide is a dangerous pollutant, the Wall Street Journal reported.

News Flash: Since the administration has rejected any move to raise fuel taxes, it’s incumbent on the Department of Transportation to work with Congress to select another funding source for the nation’s infrastructure needs.

The Environmental Protection Agency concluded Monday that greenhouse gases threaten public health and the environment, a move that allows the agency to regulate emissions of the gases.