Until recently, I worked for the state helping with fleet maintenance at my university, and have been dealing with the diesel emissions issue for a while. We just retrofitted one of our buses to comply with the emissions standards, but we're losing the rest of the fleet (combined smog & ADA retrofit costs will exceed the value of the buses).
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Truck manufacturers have had 20+ years to begin adopting the changes to their engines that Mercedes made to the OM617 engine in the 1980s. We're not talking Bluetec here, just simple things that diesel cars have had for years. That truck engine builders chose to ignore the problem until the state finally got tired of their stalling and forced them to comply does not wring any tears out of me.
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Umm.. no.
The particulate filters that are required to be retrofitted are not like anything you'll find on the 617 diesels, or any car diesel. In fact, they're alot closer to the scrubbers mounted in industrial smokestacks. The changes being mandated arn't because of "truck builders [choosing] to ignore the problem", they're because technology has advanced, and it's now possible to build sophisicated devices to help reduce the emissions.
The interesting thing to watch will be to see how broad the law itself actually is. If it isn't much more specific than "commerical vehicles", there will be a very odd situation developing. Due to a quirk of law, all pickups are designated "commercial vehicles" here unless you have a camper permanently attacked and have the registration changed to a "house car". Even if they regulate based on GWVR, many pickups now have a high enough weight & load rating that an optioned-out F350 may be required to comply (new, full size duallies tend to skirt the border of the GVWR required for a Motor Carrier Permit [MCP]).
Ah, the joys of living in CA