Diesel emission cut is proposed

After a false start and then a series of meetings, supporters of a bill to limit diesel emissions from construction vehicles think they are finally nearing a compromise.
On March 11, a special legislative commission studying the issue wrapped up meetings on a Senate bill (S-2440), which would require contractors working on certain state projects to take steps to lower emissions from diesel construction equipment starting on Jan. 1, 2013. If approved, it would score a victory for environmental and health groups that say the emissions damage the environment and lead to a host of health problems, including asthma, heart disease and development of chronic bronchitis.
“It’s important because it’s one of the more poisonous air pollution components that haven’t been addressed yet and a lot of this construction takes place in densely populated areas,” said Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, who introduced the bill and chairs the legislative commission.
Road and nonroad diesel vehicles – categories that include construction equipment – contribute 19.5 percent of nitrogen-oxide emissions in the state, according to a January 2007 report by the R.I. Department of Environmental Management. Such vehicles also contribute about 10 percent of particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers – essentially soot – released into the state’s atmosphere. Taken as a percentage of transportation sources alone, road and nonroad vehicles contribute 27 percent of nitrogen-oxide emissions and 52 percent of particulate matter.
The state does not track the number of nonroad construction equipment pieces, but in 2002 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that there were 4,245 nonroad diesel equipment pieces were located in the Ocean State. The problem, say bill supporters, is that much of that equipment is old and dirty. Newer engines are required to meet tougher federal standards for emissions, but that leaves hundreds or thousands still at job sites around the state with no sign of going away. Federal law forbids the state from proposing its own regulatory regime, so Rhode Island has moved toward indirect regulation by instead proposing the R.I. Department of Transportation require contractors to retrofit certain older vehicles before undertaking state work.
That set off an outcry from contractors worried about the costs and practicality of such a plan, Miller said. Last year a bill that would have implemented such a policy died and instead the General Assembly established Miller’s study commission.
This time Miller said contractors and the DOT played a larger role in crafting the legislation and he believes it could pass the Assembly this session. (Eric Anderson, the executive director of the Associated General Contractors Rhode Island Chapter, declined to comment on the bill.)
To satisfy concerns about cost – which can range from a few thousand dollars to $15,000 per vehicle depending on the type – this year’s legislation would have the state pay for the retrofit. At least 1 percent of the project budget would cover costs associated with upgrading diesel construction equipment that will remain on the job site for at least 10 days. And contractors would only need to comply on projects with budgets greater than $2 million and where the budget provides money for the retrofits.
Peter Healey, chief of the environmental resources section at DOT, said that would translate into covering the vast majority of projects undertaken by DOT. As for the cost, Healey said it is a policy choice that the state will need to make. “This does in fact have an impact on our ability to contract and there’s a cost to it,” Healey said. “That said, we do support it.”
Healey said some of the money could come from federal or state programs that target diesel-emission reductions. And to make it more affordable for contractors, the bill offered by Miller would exempt diesel emissions-control technology from the state sales tax.
Also under the bill, the state would start slow, choosing a project awarded after Sept. 1 as a pilot. Healey said the DOT already has one in mind – the construction of Waterfront Drive in East Providence. It’s a densely populated area where the health benefits can be measured, but not in a main thoroughfare where delays caused by the pilot could lead to headaches for the DOT.
Nicole Poepping, who runs Clean Water Action’s Rhode Island Diesel Pollution Initiative, said similar laws exist. Providence passed an ordinance last year, but a spokeswoman for the city said no projects have yet qualified under the ordinance. The Cranston City Council Finance Committee is weighing a similar ordinance.
“This is not a new concept,” Poepping said. “There are a lot of other places – states, counties, cities – doing this.”
Long term, Poepping and fellow supporters hope the laws will phase out dirtier engines because eventually contractors will bid on a public contract. The bill at the Statehouse would also provide a mechanism to monitor the number of vehicles by requiring all fleet owners to submit inventory lists of their heavy-duty vehicles to the R.I. Department of Environmental Management. But Miller said he is still working to define who would constitute a fleet owner. •