Chapter
177
2007 -- H 5574 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/02/07
A N A C T
RELATING TO MOTOR AND
OTHER VEHICLES -- DIESEL EMISSIONS REDUCTION
Introduced By: Representatives Ginaitt, Segal, Walsh, Naughton, and Sullivan
Date Introduced: February
28, 2007
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Title 31 of the General Laws entitled "MOTOR AND OTHER
VEHICLES"
is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER 47.3
THE DIESEL EMISSIONS REDUCTION ACT
31-47.3-1.
Legislative findings. -- (a) Diesel emissions, due in large part to
their high
concentrations
of particulate matter, are associated with severe and multiple health risks to
the
citizens
of Rhode Island, including increased risks of cancer, decreased lung function,
aggravated
asthma,
heart attacks and premature death. Reducing diesel pollution will also help
advance the
state's
climate protection goals and climate action plan by reducing black carbon
pollution.
(b)
Diesel exhaust also contains nitrogen oxides, which contribute to the formation
of
ground-level
ozone, or smog. Rhode Island continues to be classified as a
"serious-nonattainment
area"
for ozone.
(c)
Reducing diesel pollution may help to stem the tide of the asthma epidemic in
Rhode
Island
where more than one in ten (10) citizens have asthma. Rhode Island ranks eighth
(8th) in
the
U.S. for the worst asthma rates overall, and has the fifth (5th) highest rate
for children. Rhode
Islanders
pay about forty-one million dollars ($41,000,000) per year in asthma-associated
health
costs.
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children and responsible for the
most
school
absences in Rhode Island.
(d)
The EPA, recognizing the harmful effects of diesel emissions, issued new fuel
and
engine
emission standards that will reduce particulate matter emissions from engines
model year
2007
and newer ninety percent (90%) below previous levels.
(e)
The same technology that reduces emissions by up to ninety percent (90%) for
new
engines
can be retrofitted onto existing engines, which will continue to operate for years.
(f)
As a first step in tackling the diesel pollution problem in Rhode Island,
school buses
should
be given high priority.
31-47.3-2.
Definitions. -- When used in this chapter:
(1)
“Best available retrofit technology” means technology, verified by the United
States
Environmental
Protection Agency or California Air Resources Board (CARB) for achieving
reductions
in particulate matter emissions at the highest classification level for diesel
emission
control
strategies that is applicable to the particular engine and application. Such
technology shall
not
result in a net increase in nitrogen oxides.
(2)
"Heavy duty vehicle" or "vehicle" means any on-road or
nonroad vehicle powered by
diesel
fuel and having a gross vehicle weight of greater than fourteen thousand
(14,000) pounds.
(3)
“Director” refers to the director of the department of environmental management
(DEM).
(4)
“Level 1 control” means a verified diesel emission control device that achieves
a
particulate
matter (PM) reduction of twenty-five percent (25%) or more compared to
uncontrolled
engine
emissions levels.
(5)
“Level 2 control” means a verified diesel emission control device that achieves
a
particulate
matter (PM) emission reduction of fifty percent (50%) or more compared to
uncontrolled
engine emission levels.
(6)
“Level 3 control” means a verified diesel emission control device that achieves
a
particulate
matter (PM) emission reduction of eighty-five (85%) or more compared to
uncontrolled
engine emissions levels, or that reduces emissions to less than or equal to one
one-
hundredth
(0.01) grams of (PM) per brake horsepower-hour. Level 3 control includes
repowering
or
replacing the existing diesel engine with an engine meeting the US EPA’s 2007
Heavy-duty
Highway
Diesel Standards, or in the case of a nonroad engine, an engine meeting the US
EPA’s
Tier
4 Nonroad Diesel Standards.
(7)
“Closed crankcase ventilation system (CCV)” means a system that separates oil
and
other
contaminant from the blow-by gases and routes the blow-by gases into a diesel
engine’s
intake
system downstream of air filter.
(8)
“Full-sized school bus” means a school bus, as defined in Rhode Island general
law
section
31-1-3, which is a type 1 diesel school bus, including spare buses operated by
or under
contract
to a school district, but not including emergency contingency vehicles or low
usage
vehicles.
(9)
“Model year 2007 emission standards” means engine standards promulgated by the
federal
Environmental Protection Agency in 40 CFR Parts 69, 80 and 86.
(10)
“Verified emissions control device” means a device that has been verified by
the
federal
Environmental Protection Agency or the California Air Resources Board to reduce
particulate
matter emissions by a given amount.
31-47.3-3.
Reducing emissions from school buses. -- (a) Purpose. To reduce
health
risks
from diesel particulate matter (DPM) to Rhode Island school children by
significantly
reducing
tailpipe emissions from school buses, and preventing engine emissions from
entering the
passenger
cabin of the buses.
(b)
Requirements for Rhode Island school buses:
(i)
By September 1, 2010, no full-size school bus with an engine model year 1993 or
older
may be used to transport school children in Rhode Island;
(ii)
and, providing there is sufficient federal or state monies, by September 1,
2010, all
full-sized
school buses transporting children in Rhode Island must be retrofitted with a
closed
crankcase
ventilation system and either: (A) be equipped with a level 1, level 2, or
level 3 device
verified
by the US Environmental Protection Agency or the California Air Resources
Board; or
(B)
be equipped with an engine of model year 2007 or newer; or (C) achieve the same
or higher
diesel
PM reductions through the use of an alternative fuel such as compressed natural
gas
verified
by CARB/EPA to reduce DPM emissions at a level equivalent to or higher than
subsection
(B) above.
(c) Financial assistance to defray costs of pollution reductions called for in
(b)(ii):
(i) DEM shall work with the Rhode Island department of transportation or other
authorized
transit agencies to maximize the allocation of federal congestion mitigation
and air
quality
(CMAQ) money for Rhode Island for diesel emissions reductions in federal FY
2008 and
thereafter
until the retrofit goals in this act are met. The (CMAQ) program is jointly
administered
by
the federal highway administration (FHWA) and the federal transit
administration (FTA), and
was
reauthorized by congress in 2005 under the safe, accountable, flexible, and
efficient
transportation
equity act: A legacy for users (SAFETEA-LU). The (SAFETEA-LU) requires
states
and MOPs to give priority in distributing CMAQ funds to diesel engine
retrofits, and other
cost-effective
emission reduction and congestion mitigation activities that benefit air
quality.
(ii)
Drawing upon any available federal or state monies, the director shall
establish and
implement
a system of providing incentives consistent with this section to
municipalities,
vendors,
or school bus owners for the purchase and installation of any CARB/EPA-verified
emission
control retrofit device together with the purchase and installation of closed
crankcase
ventilation
system (CCV) retrofit device. In 2007, the per-unit incentive shall not exceed
one
thousand
two hundred fifty dollars ($1,250) for a level 1 device plus a CCV, or two
thousand five
hundred
dollars ($2,500) for a level 2 device plus a CCV, or for model years 2003-2006
five
thousand
dollars ($5,000) for a level 3 device plus a CCV. Incentive levels may be
reevaluated
annually,
with the goal of maintaining competition in the market for retrofit devices. To
the
extent
practicable, in kind services will also be utilized to offset some of the
costs. Incentive
recipients
must also certify that newly purchased or retrofitted buses with a level 3
technology
will
operate in the state of Rhode Island for a minimum of four (4) years.
(d)
Priority community provision:
(i)
When penalty funds, state SEP funds, federal funds, or funds from other state
or non-
state
sources become available, these should first be allocated toward further
offsetting costs of
achieving
"best available" emissions control in "priority
communities";
(ii)
The "best available" standard is attained by all new buses (MY2007
and newer) and
by
diesel buses model year 2003 to 2006, inclusive that has been retrofitted with
level 3-verified
diesel
particulate filters and closed crankcase ventilation systems, by diesel buses
model year
1994
to 2002, inclusive that has been retrofitted with at least level 2-verified
diesel particulate
filters
and closed crankcase ventilation systems or could be achieved with a natural
gas bus that
achieves
the same or better standards of cleanliness as a 2007 diesel bus standard; and
(iii)
"Priority communities" (to be identified by the Rhode Island DEM) are
Rhode Island
communities
that have high levels of ambient air pollution and high incidence of childhood
respiratory
impacts.
SECTION
2. To achieve the pressing public health and environmental goals of this
act,
DEM
shall identify opportunities to achieve maximize PM reductions from diesel
powered heavy
duty
vehicle or equipment that is owned by, operated by, or on behalf of, or leased
by, or
operating
under a contact to a state agency or state or regional public authority (except
vehicles
that
are specifically equipped for emergency response) and diesel powered waste
collection and
recycling
vehicles that are owned, leased, or contracted to perform the removal or
transfer or
municipal,
commercial or residential waste, or recycling services. No later than January
1, 2008,
DEM
shall present a report to the general assembly, governor, house committee on
environment
and
natural resources, and the senate committee on environment and agriculture on
such
opportunities
to maximum PM reductions from the aforementioned fleets including legislative
changes,
regulatory changes, funding sources, contract requirements, procurement
requirements,
and
other mechanisms that will bring about maximum PM reductions from these two
priority
fleets.
This report shall explore funding sources beyond CMAQ, including but not
limited to
Diesel
Reductions Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) funds under the Federal Energy Act.
SECTION
3. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this
act
shall
be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid and after
exhaustion of all
further
judicial review, the judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the
remainder thereof,
but
shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section
or part of this act
directly
involved in the controversy in which the judgment shall have been rendered.
SECTION
4. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01556/SUB A/2
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