State Bill Would Lower Air Pollution

Group: Diesel emissions cause 20,000 premature deaths per year

By Devlin Barrett
Associated Press
Printed in the Peoria Journal Star
February 23, 2005

Emissions from old diesel engines cause more than 20,000 Americans a year to die sooner than they would have otherwise, an environmental group estimated Tuesday.
The metropolitan areas with the highest number of early deaths from diesel engines were New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force.

The group based its figures on the most recent government emissions data - from 1999 - and from public health studies of the effects of various types of air pollutants.

Conrad Schneider, report co-author, said regulations designed to make new diesel engines cleaner don't affect millions of older trucks, buses and construction engines.

"Those are great rules, they will hold new engines to higher standards. ... In the meantime, we're stuck with a legacy of dirty diesel engines," said Schneider, advocacy director for the Clean Air Task Force, a coalition of regional and local groups.

Illinois Cleans Up

Illinois, ranked the sixth-worst state for pollution is taking steps to clean the air.

Illinois House Bill 2347 would prohibit diesel-powered vehicles, such as school buses and tractor-trailers, from idling longer than three minutes an hour.

Reducing idling is a "simple, practical, no-cost way to limit the pollution," said Jennifer Sublett, outreach coordinator for the Illinois Environmental Council.

The bill is limited to vehicles weighing at least 8,000 pounds.

There are exceptions for when engines can idle, including traffic jams, repairs and maintenance, cold weather, bus stops and required rest periods for drivers with sleeper cabs. Violators could be fined $100 for the first offense and $500 for each consecutive conviction within one year.

Supporters said HB2347 is a first step toward their goal of reducing diesel emissions in Illinois 50 percent by 2010, 75 percent by 2015 and 85 percent by 2020.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 878 premature deaths each year in Illinois can be linked to diesel emissions.

Updating Engines

Illinois may be cleaning up its act, but the problem is much bigger than the Land of Lincoln.

Because many older diesel engines can run for 30 years, more action is needed by federal, state, and local governments to reduce emissions and retrofit existing diesel engines to run more cleanly, the Clean Air task force said. Retrofits for a typical transit bus can cost about $5,000 to $7,000.

Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc. is helping to refit vehicles with its award-winning advanced combustion emission reduction technology. ACERT is designed to cut diesel engine emissions in such vehicles as school buses, trucks, ambulances, firetrucks and mining and construction machines.

The EPA last year required new diesel engines on trucks and buses to cut in half the amount of nitrogen oxides produced. In 2007, emissions are to be cut further.

Kirsten Singleton of Copley News Service contributed.

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Diesel Deaths

Diesel pollution is blamed for contributing to asthma, respiratory diseases, and heart attacks. Here are estimated annual early deaths from diesel pollution, according to estimates from the Clean Air Task Force:

By state:

By metro area:

More Information

American Lung Assocation website:
http://www.lungchicago.org/programs/diesel.asp

Read more about the Diesel Study:
http://www.catf.us/publications/view/83