Public service fleet managers in Southern California are concerned about the cost involved with switching their fleets over to alternative-fuel to comply with proposed fleet rules by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). "Changing from diesel to currently available AFV's or LEV-Certified gasoline would substantially reduce the service life of the vehicle's motor," said Steve Szueber, fleet office technician for the City of Corona, CA. “There should be financial considerations for that.” Szueber made his comments at the National Association of Fleet Administrators (NAFA) Pacific Southwest Chapter meeting, which took place at the SCAQMD headquarters in Diamond Bar on Oct. 4, 2000. Szueber’s comments were directed to Barry Wallerstein, SCAQMD executive officer, who gave a presentation on the SCAQMD’s air quality program to an audience of about 30 NAFA members, which included mostly municipal fleet managers, and some utility and commercial fleet managers. Wallerstein discussed Rule 1191 (which applies to local, state, and federal government fleets with fewer than 15 vehicles), Rule 1192 (which ap-plies to fleets of transit buses), Rule 1193 (which applies to on-road refuse vehicles), Rule 1194 (which applies to ocmmercial airport ground access), and Rule 1195 (which applies to school buses). “We’re working on the availability of vehicles, enhancement of vehicles, and improving infrastructure and financial assistance,” Wallerstein said. A new proposed Rule, known as 1196, states that for public fleets with 15 vehicles or more weighing 14,000 lbs. GVW or more, new purchases after July 1, 2002 must be alternative-fuel, dual fuel, or LEV-certified gasoline-powered vehicles. Wallerstein said the proposed exeptions to the proposed rule would be if no alternative-fuel vehicles are available for the application needed by the fleet, such as if a fleet needs a certain amount of horsepower for an application and it is not available in an alt-fuel vehicle. One provision of proposed Rule 1196 is that private fleets providing services to local governments would be exempt, which prompted concerns from attending fleet managers that this may provide a financial incentive to government agencies to outsource certain fleet operations that are currently handled in-house.