Louisiana contractors are watching with a skeptical eye as California gets ready to impose a new set of rules in 2010 that will require construction companies to phase out or retrofit most of their heavy equipment.

The law, which governs greenhouse gas emissions, calls for the phased overhaul of almost all off-road diesel vehicles, which accounted for 24 percent of statewide particle matter emissions and 19 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions in 2007, according to California's Air Resource Board.

Ken Naquin, CEO of the Louisiana Associated General Contractors, said stricter emissions regulations have not yet been a factor in Louisiana but are likely to take hold at some point in the near future.

While he isn't necessarily against higher emissions standards, he said the drastic measures California is proposing would be devastating to the construction industry if they were implemented in Louisiana.