CARB Begins Enforcing State’s Idling Law
By Eric Miller, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the Oct. 20 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
California environmental regulators said they are beginning to enforce the state’s five-minute idling limit for diesel-fueled commercial vehicles, including those with sleeper cabs.
Drivers seen idling for more than five minutes face a minimum fine of $300. Subsequent penalties can range from $1,000 to $10,000, according to an Oct. 9 statement from the California Air Resources Board.
“Turning these engines off should be second nature,” said CARB Chairwoman Mary Nichols. “It saves money, reduces pollution and protects the health of the driver and everyone working or living around the engines.”
Regulations that limit the idling of on-road commercial diesel-engine vehicles to five minutes have been in effect for several years, but trucks with sleepers have been covered only since January. In addition, violators who previously were issued only warning citations now face fines, said CARB spokesman Dimitri Stanich.
“The grace period is over now,” Stanich said.
In another action, CARB officials issued a draft regulation that would require oil companies and fuel providers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels sold in the state by at least 10% by 2020.
The requirement is designed to lower carbon emissions, expand the market for alternative fuels and stimulate improvements in transportation fuel technologies, officials said.
The state’s proposed low-carbon fuel standard, which includes both gasoline and diesel, was posted Oct. 10 on the CARB Web site to give stakeholders an opportunity to provide comments to CARB’s staff.
The new low-carbon fuel standard was commissioned in January 2007 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who asked top university transportation-energy experts to design a blueprint for a standard that would reduce carbon emissions from fuels by 10% between now and 2020.
Studies show that in California, transportation fuels account for about 40% of all greenhouse-gas emissions. Diesel fuel accounts for about 17% of the state’s transportation energy.
The new low-carbon fuel standard is part of a state law known as AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, and an administration-wide effort to address climate change and mitigate the most severe of the projected effects of global warming by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions statewide.
Later this year, CARB will consider further measures to reduce emissions, which include requiring heavy-duty trucks to follow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program, beginning in 2011. Currently, the SmartWay program is voluntary.
In December, the board also is expected to vote on a proposed rule that would require fleets with four or more trucks to install diesel particulate filters on pre-1994 model-year trucks by the end of 2010.
