Excerpt: "Lawmakers say central Pennsylvania’s air quality will improve if anti-idling legislation passed in the state Senate Wednesday is signed into law.

The bill, which was amended to include parts a similar bill drafted by Sen. Patricia Vance, R-31, would prohibit commercial vehicles from idling for more than five minutes in any hour. It heads to the state House for a vote."

CAB Action Alert:

Commenting or Testifying about the Idling Regulations

For Immediate Release
January 11th, 2008
Department of Environmental Protection

Idling Reduction Regulation to be Published in
PA Bulletin;3 Public Hearings Scheduled
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Excerpt:

HARRISBURG – The Environmental Quality Board has scheduled three public hearings and will accept comments on a proposed statewide idling reduction regulation that is expected to improve air quality and save millions of gallons of diesel fuel.

The rule, which will be published in the Pa. Bulletin on Saturday, is primarily aimed at long-haul truckers, many of whom idle their vehicles during federally mandated rest periods to heat, cool and provide other amenities to their bunks and cabs. It will also affect many delivery trucks, school buses, transit buses and motor coaches.

In most cases, the proposed regulation would limit idling by commercial diesel-powered vehicles to five minutes per hour. It was approved for public comment by the Environmental Quality Board, or EQB, on Oct. 16.

DEP estimates that an engine idling for more than 15 minutes—otherwise known as long-duration idling—amounts to about 22.3 million hours a year in Pennsylvania, approximately 95 percent of which is due to truck travel rest periods. If each of the 13,000 long-haul trucks that idle in Pennsylvania each day used alternative means to provide power during rest periods, fuel use would be cut by more than 20 million gallons per year.

Diesel powered vehicles emit nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), both of which contribute to ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. Ozone and fine particulate matter are pollutants that can cause or exacerbate breathing problems, especially in people with pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.

Welcoming Airestotle

Portable PM2.5 Monitor Has Arrived

Carlisle, PA (November 21, 2007) – The Unitarian Universalists of the Cumberland Valley (UUCV), as part of their commitment to the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. (CAB), raised funds for the purchase of a monitor to sample the air we are breathing. Keen Transport offered matching funds, which expedited the fund-raising process significantly. The monitor has arrived and five CAB members have received factory training in its operation. The monitor was unveiled at a press conference on November 28, 2007 at Keen Transport.   

CAB also conducted a naming contest for the monitor. The winning name is "Airestotle", and the winner is Connie Rae Clark. 

Cumberland County air quality is worse than EPA standards and has been designated as being in non-attainment of the EPA Annual PM2.5 standard. Pennsylvania DEP is now requesting that Cumberland County also be designated as being in non-attainment of the PM2.5 24-hour standard. The DEP and EPA currently have two PM2.5 monitors at fixed locations in Cumberland County that show that our air is among the nation’s worst. This portable monitor can be used to identify areas that are candidates for closer scrutiny by the the DEP and EPA.