Someone asked if the new diesel rules had been compromised as part of the new budget agreement in Sacramento.

Yes.

The rollback of rules for heavy-duty construction diesels probably may delay the San Joaquin Valley's bid to achieve air quality standards in the next decade or so.

The California Air Resources Board says people will suffer. The quote by Mary Nichols, chairwoman of ARB in the Los Angeles Times: "Anti-tax zealots were able to force a weakening of our anti-diesel-pollution standards as the price of a balanced budget."

Construction industry officials said thousands of construction workers would remain employed as a result of the delay in the rules.