In an “unusual collaboration,” EPA and OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) are drafting new standards to restrict emissions from off-road diesel-powered vehicles, such as bulldozers and tractors. According to the Washington Post, EPA expects to issue a proposed rule next spring that will require emissions to be reduced by as much as 95 percent, in line with recently adopted standards for heavy-duty trucks. While EPA has garnered praise from the environmental community for its willingness to issue a non-road diesel standard, concerns have been raised about potential loopholes, as well as the rule’s effective date. Environmentalists are arguing for a 2008 deadline for large-scale emissions reductions, but "EPA officials say they are leaning toward an alternative approach strongly favored by industry that would require a modest interim reduction in the sulfur content by 2007 and put off the new standard until 2010," according to the Post. The outcome of this rule will be particularly interesting because, as OMB Watch previously noted, OIRA has never been in the position of crafting regulation from scratch. In the case of air emissions, Congress has delegated this authority exclusively to EPA. Over the course of the Bush administration, OIRA has been particularly tough on environmental protection, weakening a number of standards in response to industry complaints. In these cases, EPA documented OIRA’s changes, as required by Executive Order 12866, which guides White House review of agency rules. For the non-road diesel standard, however, OIRA is operating without any such disclosure requirements, and its influence is hidden from public view. Nonetheless, the Post reports that OIRA Administrator John Graham is behind a strong standard.