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Del. gets tough on emissions from idling trucks and buses
Diesel exhaust is region's greatest health hazard, researchers say

The News Journal/RON SOLIMAN

Buses wait for students this week at George Read Middle School near New Castle. One bus company said drivers already comply with DNREC rules because of fuel costs and the health hazards of exhaust emissions.

Big rig and bus drivers will pay a price for keeping their engines running too long starting today as environmental police begin enforcing a more than year-old air quality regulation.

The push targets tractor-trailers, school buses, delivery wagons and other heavier vehicles idling while parked anywhere in the state. Along with passenger cars, the bigger rigs produce the vast majority of the cancer-causing and smog-forming pollution drifting across the region's skies.

Under the rules, drivers of vehicles 8,500 pounds and over face fines of $50 to $500 for first offenses if caught idling for longer than three minutes, with some exceptions. Penalties for subsequent offenses can range from $500 to $1,500.

"I think anything that reduces pollution is essential for the health of residents in this state," said Laurel Lincoln, who lives in the Timber Farms neighborhood south of the I-95 rest area near Newark. Lincoln said her neighbors are eager for relief from noise and soot that blow daily off the interstate plaza's sprawling parking lot.

Truck drivers who use the plaza will often leave their trucks idling so they can run air conditioners in the summer, heaters in the winter and other electrical equipment. There are no jacks for the drivers to hook into at the service area.

The News Journal/RON SOLIMAN

"I am more concerned during winter; how are drivers going to warm themselves when staying here overnight?" asked driver George McMullen at the truck plaza on I-95 near Newark.

Some drivers also keep engines running to avoid delays while starting up and warming diesel engines.

"I know the governor has air conditioning in her house and office. What about my people?" said Amiel Durham, owner of Bridgeville-based Durham Trucking. "Why don't they just take the trucks off the road and let people starve? We don't need this."

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control officials approved the idling restrictions in April 2005. Regulators spent the months that followed working with industry groups, school districts and other organizations, hoping to change habits.

DNREC officials said the regulations offer exceptions for drivers on extended rests far from outside power sources. They also defended the rules as important for public health.

"Any place where they congregate, their idling could almost be a major source of air pollution," rivaling emissions from a small factory, said Philip Wheeler, a DNREC program manager. "If you reduce emissions from diesel trucks, it's a real benefit as far as reducing the level of particulate matter" released to the air.

Wheeler said industry representatives were generally satisfied with exemptions developed for cold weather and for school bus drivers while picking up students. Bus drivers can idle for up to five minutes during pickups. A 15-minute window is allowed when weather is below freezing and limits are waived when temperatures dip below minus-10 Fahrenheit.

Emergency vehicles and drivers using truck sleepers and who need power for air conditioners or other systems also are exempt if they would have to drive more than 25 miles to reach an outside power source.

Jane Rossell, a manager for Lehane's Bus Services Inc., said that most school bus drivers already try to comply with DNREC's requirements.

"I prefer for them not to have the buses idling, with fuel prices where they are," said Rossell, whose company transports students for the Appoquinimink School District. "First, they're not supposed to have them idling, and second, it's not good to do that when they're outside schools when students are around."

Researchers have ranked diesel exhaust as far and away the region's greatest overall hazard, accounting for more than 90 percent of cancer-causing emissions in most of the state and 60 percent to 70 percent of overall health-damaging pollution.

Diesel contains fine soot, hydrocarbons and smog-forming compounds that can harm lungs. Cancer-causing chemicals, including benzene, also come out of big-truck tailpipes.

Delaware ranks seventh-worst in the country for diesel health hazards, according to a national study commissioned by the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force, based in Boston. The same study found that lifetime cancer risks from diesel emissions are 350 times higher nationwide than levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Long-haul trucks, transit buses, school buses and other large vehicles are covered under the regulation, although emergency vehicles are exempt.

More than 25 states, cities and other communities have restricted idling time allowed for heavy duty vehicles, including Philadelphia, New Jersey and Connecticut.

"Large trucks are a major source of pollution in the region," said Joe Minott, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council. "We've always been very strongly in favor of anti-idling regulations. The problem has always been enforcement."

Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.

IDLING REGULATIONS

WHAT: State environmental police will start ticketing trucks and buses. Drivers face fines of up to $1,500 if they park with engines running for longer than three minutes.

WHEN: Starting today

WHERE: Statewide

HOW TO REPORT: Citizens can report idling violations by calling the state's 24-hour Environmental Complaint Line in-state at (800) 662-8802. Verizon Wireless cellular phone users can lodge a complaint by calling #DNR.