WASHINGTON, D.C. — As manufacturers and dealers grapple with technology challenges and additional costs associated with Tier 4 engines, some in the industry have heard talk that a Tier 5 standard may be on the horizon.

In 2004, the U.S. EPA announced Tier 4 emission standards, designed to further reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Non-road, or off-road, vehicles were to be fully compliant with Tier 4 standards by the end of 2014. Tiers 1-3 were phased in beginning in the 1990s.

“Manufacturers in general support what the end result of Tier 4 regulations are trying to accomplish,” said Charlie O’Brien, senior vice president with the Assoc. of Equipment Manufacturers. “The time frame to go from (Tier) 3 to 4 wasn’t a long period to develop the technology. There was a high investment in that technology, as many manufacturers spent 25 to 30 percent of their R&D (research and development) budgets incorporating the changes.”

Tier 4 technology has added $10,000-$20,000 to the cost of a new piece of equipment, said Kim Rominger, executive vice president and CEO of the Ohio-Michigan Equipment Dealers Assoc. and the Mid-America Equipment Retailers Assoc. Those numbers don’t include maintenance.

“For Tier 4, a whole new technology needed to be developed,” he noted. “For the amount of money it’s costing customers and for its impact on the environment, it’s negligible. Is the cost worth it? When is enough enough?”

O’Brien and Rominger have heard rumors about the possibility of Tier 5 standards. Tom Cowher, president of Capital Engine Co., an industrial engine distributor based in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, said he’s heard the technology could be required by 2019-20.

Europe, which uses the term stage instead of tier, has proposed a Stage 5 standard and Cowher thinks manufacturers will push for similar technology in the United States so they won’t have to make two models of the same engine.

The idea of a Tier 5 engine is just a rumor so far, O’Brien noted. “It’s a huge investment and what we have now coming out of the exhaust is pretty good,” he said.

Justin Greuel, director of the EPA’s diesel engine compliance center, said he couldn’t comment on the potential for Tier 5 standards but said there are ongoing conversations within the non-road industry. Companies have talked with the EPA, but the agency hasn’t made any commitments nor broadcast any intentions toward Tier 5 standards, he added.

When Tier 4 standards were announced in 2004, the EPA said it would result in reductions of pollution equivalent to having some 2 million fewer trucks on the road. Tier 4 standards require the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, which has no more than 15 parts per million of sulfur, according to the agency.

“We are going to make that burst of black smoke that erupts from diesels a thing of the past,” then-EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said at the time.

Current agency officials have been pleased with the rollout of the Tier 4 engines, which started with highway vehicles, then moved to non-road equipment, Greuel said.

“We’ve been pretty happy with how it’s occurred,” he stated. By rolling out the technology over a period of years, “it gave the industry time to develop experience with the emission standards.”

The non-road industry has more equipment manufacturers than engine builders, which presented challenges for the various companies to work together, Greuel said. That’s less of a problem for highway vehicles because the same companies often make both the engines and vehicles, he noted.

The EPA left it up to individual manufacturers to decide how they would meet the Tier 4 standards, Greuel said. For example, some may have used diesel particulate filters while others opted for an oxidation catalyst.

Some dealers have complained the newer technology is less efficient and requires more fuel to generate less horsepower, Rominger said. Those complaints could be valid, depending on the manufacturer, Cowher noted.

“Generally, I think the (Tier 4) engines are a little more efficient, but it does depend on the model, brand, horsepower class,” he explained. “Every manufacturer’s solutions and results are different. The manufacturers took different approaches to reach the compliance standards.”

The EPA’s focus is on the emissions data it receives from the manufacturers and the agency doesn’t have any means to compare efficiency levels, Greuel said.

“Efficiency will depend on the specific engine manufacturer and the choices they made to comply with the standards,” he explained. “It’s hard to say across the board if efficiency is up or down. The manufacturers are working as hard as they can to meet the emissions standards. They may meet the standards but it may not be with their most efficient setup.”

The new and unfamiliar technology has meant extra work for dealers, as they must train their service employees to work on the new engines, Rominger noted.

“The dealer has to pay for schools and training on the new technologies; it’s not free,” he said. “Dealers make money on repetition work and don’t have any basis to base pricing on for this repair work. They have to develop procedures and costs and figure that into the pricing.”

Tier 4 technologies also limit the types of repairs farmers might try to make on their own, Cowher said. “It’s probably not practical for an owner to do his own service on a Tier 4.

“These engines have on-board diagnostics that a dealer can plug into a laptop and find the problem. It really takes out the owner-mechanic. The dealers are also faced with additional training requirements and additional investments in tools.”