A new regulation approved for public comment Tuesday by the Environmental Quality Board will help clean Pennsylvania's air and save trucking companies millions of dollars in diesel fuel.
The regulation, developed by the
Department of Environmental Protection after it was petitioned by the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania, would limit the amount of time a diesel-powered commercial motor vehicle can idle its engine to no more than five minutes in a 60-minute period.
The rule is aimed, primarily, at long-haul truckers, many of whom idle their vehicles during federally mandated rest periods to provide heating, cooling and power to their bunks and cabs.
The regulation must now be opened to public comment and be discussed in a public hearing before final consideration by the EQB. It then must be approved by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, which reviews all proposed state regulations and, finally, the state attorney general.
Because of its extensive interstate highway system, there is a heavy volume of truck travel in Pennsylvania. The commonwealth has some 260 truckstops, 47 public rest areas, and more than 13,000 truck parking spaces - providing many convenient areas for heavy-duty diesel vehicles to idle.
DEP estimates that 13,000 long-haul trucks idle in Pennsylvania each day. If each of these trucks used alternative means to provide drivers with power during rest periods, fuel use would be cut by more than 20 million gallons a year.
Estimates are that a tractor-trailer uses about one gallon of diesel fuel per hour when idling, which means that truck idling related to travel rest in Pennsylvania consumes 21 million gallons of diesel fuel each year. At diesel's current statewide average cost of $3.19 per gallon, truckers are spending nearly $67 million each year on fuel to idle their vehicles during rest periods.
Under Gov. Edward G. Rendell leadership, the commonwealth already has made investments to encourage alternatives to idling. It has awarded $1 million in grants to support the installation of alternative power sources to truckers, with more than another $1 million in grants to small trucking firms to help them buy on-board alternative power units.
Pennsylvania joins 14 other states, including Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York in adopting anti-idling measures.
The EQB will accept public comment on this proposed regulation for 60 days following the regulation's publication in the Pa. Bulletin. It will also hold three public hearings on the proposal.
For more information, visit www. depweb.state.pa.us/>, then keyword: Diesel Idling.