An effort to reduce diesel pollution in Rhode Island, especially from school bus exhausts, has been approved by the General Assembly in what environmental, labor and health care advocates are calling a great victory.
The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, sponsored by Sen. Paul E. Moura, D-East Providence, and Rep. Peter T. Ginaitt, D-Warwick, bars the use of any school bus with an engine from 1993 or earlier to transport children in Rhode Island. For buses built between 1994 and 2005, the state will provide funding for retrofits if the buses operate in Rhode Island for at least four years. School buses would be the first vehicles to be retrofitted.
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“This is a great bill,” said Sheila Dormody, Rhode Island director of Clean Water Action, one of 38 members of a coalition that campaigned for the legislation.
“Too many of our older school buses are endangering our children with the pollution coming from their engines,” she said. “We know that from the Lung Association that one in 10 children in Rhode Island suffer from asthma, so this bill is going to be a good first step to … [make] it easer for children to breathe on the way to school.”
Beyond school buses, the legislation also requires:
• Ultra-low sulfur diesel and the best available retrofits (modified equipment) for all heavy-duty diesel vehicles owned and operated by the state.
• Retrofits at least to level 3 for waste-hauling and recycling diesel-fueled vehicles owned, leased or contracted by the state with model years 1994 to 2006. This is expected to reduce pollution by 85 percent.
The first $850,000 of startup costs for the Diesel Emissions Reduction Program, which would cover all three categories, will be covered by the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality fund, according to a legislative news release. The remainder will come from an account consisting of contributions, fees, surcharges (on the sale of 1998 or older heavy-duty diesel vehicles and non-road diesel vehicles) and penalties for non-compliance.
The R.I. Department of Environmental Management will also be required to report back to the legislature on the best ways to control the pollution from heavy-duty diesel vehicles owned, leased or contracted by the state.
“Now that affordable technology is available to virtually eliminate commuter exposure to diesel pollution, it is our responsibility to take advantage of this equipment,” Ginaitt said in the news release. “The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act will improve our environment and the quality of life of every Rhode Islander.”
“The time has come to clean up diesel vehicles and make Rhode Island a cleaner, healthier place to live and work,” said Moura.
This is the second year in a row that the General Assembly has tried to reduce diesel fumes pollution. Last year, a law was passed that limits how long diesel engines are allowed to idle.
Molly Clark, of the American Lung Association of Rhode Island, said she hopes emissions from other types of diesel vehicles will ultimately be controlled as well.
“We’re hoping the DEM report will help move us along to the next step,” she said.
