An ordinance requiring diesel construction vehicles to meet cleaner emissions standards when working on city-funded projects was introduced by Ward 1 Councilman Seth Yurdin at a Providence City Council meeting last Thursday.
Under the proposed law, companies given city contracts over $150,000 will have to use ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and retrofit older equipment with emissions filters.
One of the motivations behind the proposal is the availability of federal funding for such initiatives, said Yurdin, whose district includes Fox Point and most of College Hill.
In a show of support, the other 14 council members signed on to co-sponsor the proposal, Yurdin said. The bill will go through the ordinance committee before going back to the entire council for a final vote.
Diesel exhaust contains small particles and gases which are easily breathed in, causing new diseases and exacerbating existing conditions such as lung and heart disease, cancer and asthma, said Molly Clark, manager of health promotion at the American Lung Association of New England.
Exhaust from construction equipment is particularly harmful in urban environments like Providence, Clark added.
"The important thing to realize is it's a public health (issue)," Yurdin said. "This is one of the really significant and dangerous forms of pollution in cities and particularly in Providence."
Emissions from construction vehicles account for 40 percent of all diesel emissions in the Northeast, said Annie Costner, coordinator of the Diesel Pollution Initiative in Rhode Island for the environmental non-profit Clean Water Action. Providence County is among the worst 6 percent of counties in the nation for health problems caused by diesel emissions, "which is kind of shocking," she said.
Clean Water Action has been involved with previous diesel pollution reduction efforts at the state and local level. It has supported laws to ban the idling of vehicles for more than five minutes and a requirement that all school buses be equipped with emissions control devices by 2010, Costner said. The Environmental Protection Agency has identified construction vehicles as the next focus of air pollution reduction efforts, she said.
With federal stimulus funding coming to the state for infrastructure projects, such as sewer and road repair, "it made sense to make sure that those good projects aren't creating a bigger mess or public health threat," Costner said.
In addition to legislative efforts, Yurdin has been working with neighborhood organizations to reach out to local business owners about preventing the prolonged idling of delivery vehicles and getting the police involved when necessary, he said.
"It's hard to enforce idling (laws) because you have to have an officer sitting watching a vehicle idle for five minutes," Yurdin said. "It's better to be more informal."
Part of Yurdin's motivation to reduce diesel emissions came from the diesel pollution summit he attended at Brown's Urban Environmental Lab last year, where he heard "strong scientific testimony" about negative health effects linked to emissions, he said.
In addition to hosting programs for cities and town in Rhode Island with groups like Clean Water Action, Brown students, faculty and staff are also getting involved in projects to limit diesel pollution. Brown is currently looking to develop a policy requiring construction contractors working on University projects to abide by clean emissions standards, said Christopher Bull, senior research engineer and senior lecturer in engineering, who has been involved in projects to promote clean diesel technologies.
Students in ENVS0410: "Environmental Stewardship," taught by Lecturer in Environmental Studies and Manager of Environmental Stewardship Initiatives Kurt Teichert, are working with Clean Water Action this semester to improve efficiency and implement green building strategies on campus, Teichert said.
Though Yurdin has not yet heard any negative reactions to the proposed ordinance, he said he anticipates resistance from certain contractors who may not want to retrofit or replace older equipment, he said.
According to Costner, retrofitting costs roughly 0.5 percent of the total cost of projects over $2 million but can become a significant portion of the budget of smaller projects.
"If (contractors) want the city jobs, they are going to put (the filters) on and pass that cost along to the city," she said.
