Introduction
Most of the nation’s trucks, buses, ships, trains, and
off-road machinery run on diesel engines. Despite diesel’s
characterization as a clean fuel due to efficiency and low
carbon dioxide emissions, recent studies conclude that diesel
emissions can have severe adverse effects on human health
and the environment. Although diesel emits less CO2
than petroleum, it emits more nitrous oxide and particulate
matter, contributing to smog, global climate change, and
health problems like asthma, heart disease, and cancer.(1)
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is playing
a key role in raising awareness and promoting action to
reduce the harmful effects of diesel. An NRDC report issued
in 2001 concluded that children who ride diesel-powered
buses to school every day have an increased risk of cancer
from diesel exhaust. NRDC’s research prompted a nationwide
campaign to make our children’s school buses less toxic,
and their continuing efforts at diesel research and education
are encouraging awareness of diesel’s downside across the
country.(2) For more information
on what’s being done to protect our children from the dangerous
effects of diesel, please see SERC’s Policy Issues Package
on School
Bus Diesel Emissions.
The negative effects of diesel exhaust are compounded in
areas frequented by diesel users, and our nation’s ports
are one of those most severely affected. A March 2004 report
by NRDC and the Coalition for Clean Air criticizes the U.S.
marine industry for its negative environmental impact. According
to that report, U.S. seaports are the nation’s largest and
most unregulated polluters.(3)
Diesel-burning trucks converge at ports to load and unload
shipments from diesel-burning ships, and often have to wait
there with their engines idling.
Idling, from diesel-powered commercial trucks, is estimated
to contribute 36.2 million tons of pollution annually.(4)
A study conducted in Vancouver, Canada demonstrated that
idling ships are responsible for 58% of the greenhouse gas
emissions over the city and for 95% of sulfur compounds
that contribute to its smog.(5)
One cruise ship emits the diesel exhaust equivalent of 10,000
to 12,000 cars – a big problem for areas that rely heavily
on the cruise ship industry.(6)
The busy ports at Long Beach and Los Angeles, California,
taken together, emit more pollution that the region’s top
300 emitting industrial plants and refineries.(2)
A 2003 study in Oakland, California, revealed that diesel
emission levels in the community near the port were 90 times
higher per square mile than in the rest of the state.(7)
Most major U.S. ports, including Los Angeles, Oakland, Long
Beach, New York, New Jersey, and Houston, violate federal
safety standards for ozone and particulate matter.(2)
Despite all this evidence, U.S. seaports lack the environmental
regulations imposed on almost every other major industry.
The state of California has been the most outspoken in
the U.S. for making diesel cleaner and less hazardous. California’s
State Air Resources Board classified diesel exhaust as a
known carcinogen in 1990 and as a toxic air contaminant
in 1998(2)(8), and the state’s
busy ports at Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland have
begun measures to combat diesel emission effects. The port
of Los Angeles, which services about 40,000 diesel-powered
trucks each day, uses electric-powered cranes and has initiated
a tugboat engine retrofit program, expected to reduce nitrogen
oxide emissions by more than 80 tons per year. Ports at
Los Angeles and Oakland have begun to establish the infrastructure
necessary to provide electrical hookups to some boats as
an alternative to idling and to retrofit existing diesel
engines with pollution control devices.(2)(9)
A California bill, passed in 2002, imposes fines on diesel-burning
trucks that idle for longer than 30 minutes at ports, and
other states and cities have followed their lead.(10)
In addition, many coastal cities around the country now
require that diesel-burning trucks and ships at their ports
use ultra-low sulfur diesel, which is much kinder to human
health and the environment.(11)
There are several other measures that have been proposed
to reduce the harmful effects of idling diesel engines.
Technology-based solutions, such as IdleAir, allow truckers
to stop their engines and plug into an electrical resource
to keep them warm or cool, and allow the use of electrical
devices.(12) At ports, similar
technologies have been devised and proposed for ships. Off-road
equipment used near ports can be made to run on electricity
or natural gas rather than diesel. Some states are discussing
legislation that would extend the hours that ports are open
and staffed for loading and unloading, aiming to reduce
waiting and idling times; others are working on advanced
communications technology to help ships and trucks know
when and where to be to make or pick up a delivery to improve
speed and efficiency.(7) At the
federal level, in light of the appalling lack of environmental
regulation at U.S. ports, NRDC and other air quality advocates
strongly recommend that the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) include diesel-burning marine vessels in its
ultra-low sulfur diesel (15ppm) phase-in beginning in 2007.(2)
For more information on diesel alternatives, see SERC’s
Policy Issues Package on Biodiesel.
Laws Affecting Ports and Marine Terminals
California
AB
2650, passed in September 2002, effective January 1,
2003, imposes fines on marine terminal operators who allow
heavy-duty diesel trucks to idle for more than 30 minutes
at California ports. The law also establishes the California
Port Community Grant Program, funded from fines on marine
terminals, to provide grants to truck drivers to replace
and retrofit diesel engines.
Illinois
HB
2563, introduced 2/20/03, creates the Idling Time and
Emissions Reduction Act. The bill provides that a marine
or rail terminal must operate in a manner that does not
cause the engines of diesel trucks to idle or queue for
more than 30 minutes while waiting to enter the terminal.
It also provides that, any time a truck idles for more than
30 minutes while waiting to enter, the terminal is guilty
of a petty offense punishable by a fine of $250.
Status: Sent to House Committee
on Rules 2/13/03
Massachusetts
SB
1218, introduced 2003, would prohibit the idling or
queuing of heavy-duty diesel trucks at marine terminals
for more than 30 minutes and establish fines for violations.
Status: From Joint Committee
on Natural Resources and Agriculture, accompanies study
order H 4539
New Jersey
A
3491 (S 2438), introduced 5/5/03, would prohibit the
idling or queuing of heavy-duty diesel trucks at marine
terminals for more than 30 minutes and establish fines for
violations.
Status: Sent to Assembly Transportation
Committee 5/503.
A
1483, introduced 1/13/04, prohibits the idling or queuing
of heavy-duty diesel trucks at marine terminals for more
than 30 minutes.
Status: Sent to Assembly Committee
on Transportation 1/13/04
Texas
HB
3447 (2003) would prohibit the idling or queuing of
heavy-duty diesel trucks at marine terminals for more than
30 minutes and establish fines for violations.
Washington
HB
1661, introduced 2/4/03, provides that a marine or rail
terminal must operate in a manner that does not cause the
engines of diesel trucks to idle or queue for more than
30 minutes while waiting to enter the terminal. The bill
also provides that, any time a truck idles for more than
30 minutes while waiting to enter, the terminal is guilty
of a petty offense punishable by a fine.
Status: Sent to House Committee
on Fisheries, Ecology and Parks 2/4/03
Anti-Idling Regulations
Note: Many states have general anti-idling
regulations; for a chart
of states with anti-idling provisions, as of February 2003,
visit the EPA online.
The following laws apply specifically to diesel-idling.
There are exemptions in many of the existing laws, which
render them ineffective at combating problems with diesel
emissions.
District of Columbia
Title 20, Reg 900.1 – No longer than 3-minute idling time
for diesel vehicles.
Exemptions: Operation of air
conditioning for 15 minutes on a bus with 12 or more passengers,
or operation of heating equipment in temperatures below
32°F.
Nevada
NAC
445B.576 – No longer than 15-minute idling time for
diesel vehicles.
Exemptions: When a variance
is issued; emergency vehicles; removal of snow; used to
repair or maintain other vehicles; traffic conditions; during
repair/maintenance; emission is treated and contained by
method approved by commission; engine must idle to perform
a specific task (e.g., drilling).
New Hampshire
Env-A
1101.05 – Idling time allowed for diesel vehicles (5-15
minutes) dependant on temperature.
Exemptions: Traffic conditions;
emergency vehicles; takeoff power for auxiliary uses; vehicle
is being repaired/serviced; operated solely to defrost windshield.
New York
Environmental
Conservation Rules and Regulations, Chapter 3, Subpart 217-3.2,
3.3 – No longer than 5-minute idling time for diesel
vehicles.
Exemptions: Traffic conditions;
if regulation already exists to maintain conditions for
passenger comfort; during maintenance; to provide power
for auxiliary purpose; emergency vehicles; mining/quarrying
on own property; temperature less than 25°F, if motionless
for 2 hours; diesel waiting to undergo a roadside emission
inspection; hybrid electric engine charging batteries.
Pennsylvania
City of Philadelphia Reg. IX – No longer than 2-20 minutes,
dependant on temperature and conditions for heavy-duty diesel
vehicles over 8,500 lbs. or with passenger-carrying capacity
over 12 persons.
No exemptions.
Rhode Island
H
7370, introduced 1/27/04, would regulate the idle times
of diesel-powered buses and would establish fines for violations
of the regulation.
Status: From House committee
on Health, Education and Welfare, scheduled for hearing
2/4/04.
Texas
City of Houston/Galveston, Texas, Sec 114.500-114.509 –
No longer than 5-minute idling time between April 1 and
October 31 for diesel vehicles over 14,000 lbs.; no longer
than 30 minutes for heat/air conditioning for transit and
school buses.
Exemptions: Traffic conditions;
vehicle is being repaired/serviced; solely to defrost windshield;
power source necessary for mechanical operation other than
propulsion; airport ground service equipment; emergency
vehicles; owner of vehicle rented or leased to another who
is not employed by the owner.
Vermont
S
250, introduced 1/6/04, prohibits diesel buses and trucks
from idling for more than three minutes in most situations.
Innovative Approaches
California
AB
2042, introduced 2/17/04, requires the Ports of Long
Beach and Los Angeles to ensure that all future growth at
each port will have a zero net increase in air pollution.
The bill also requires each port to establish the baseline
for air pollution in consultation with the South Coast Air
Quality Management District.
Status: Sent to Assembly Committee
on Transportation; scheduled for hearing 4/12/04.
Washington
SB
6386 (HB 1661), introduced 1/19/04, establishes a process
for a review committee to identify areas in the state most
in need of diesel exhaust reduction, and to initiate electrification
pilot projects at those sites.
Status: Sent to Senate Committee
on Rules 2/6/04
Press Clips
|
