One of the last actions former EPA Administrator Pruitt took before resigning was to issue an “assurance of non-enforcement” to makers of glider kit trucks to exceed the 300 unit annual sales limit established by the Obama Administration. Acting Administrator Andy Wheeler has confirmed his intention to proceed with the assurance of non-enforcement order. “Glider kits” are reconditioned older diesel engines (that do not meet EPA emissions standards) that are sold as new. According to EPA-conducted tests, glider kit trucks emit as much as 55 times more pollution than diesel trucks that meet the agency’s current emissions requirement.

During the Obama Administration, the EPA finalized a rule limiting the annual sale of glider kits to 300 a year. The EPA’s assurance of non-enforcement will allow the glider kit industry to exceed the 300 annual limit for both 2018 and 2019. An estimated 10,000 glider kit diesel trucks were sold in 2015, before the Obama EPA annual limit went into effect. It is expected that glider kit sales for 2018 and 2019 will return to 2015 sales volumes.