FYI: The Environmental Protection Agency convened a public meeting in Manhattan Tuesday (the first in a national series of public meetings) on its proposed rules for limiting emissions from non-road diesel engines. The proposal is a rare instance in which the Bush administration has made environmental lobbying groups happy. Non-road diesel engines are used mostly for construction, industrial and agricultural purposes, and account for 44 percent of all particulate matter (tiny, breathable particles largely ignored in existing regulations) and 12 percent of nitrogen oxides emitted. The new rule seeks to limit emissions of each, reducing all emissions from newly produced, non-road diesel engines by 90 percent. The Union of Concerned Scientists says more tonnage of particulate matter is released by non-road diesel engines in New York City than any other major metropolitan area. The EPA estimates that, by 2030, the new rules would eliminate 9,600 premature deaths per year attributable to air pollution nationwide. [6/12/03]