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Where's the rule?

February 12, 2008

Posted by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution , Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:

boat, diesel, emissions, EPA, locomotive, marine, pollution, ship, trains

Where’s the rule? 

Unlike my colleagues who have worked on power plant and climate issues over the past eight years, I have developed the habit of welcoming new EPA rules on my diesel issues.  After all, there have been no rollbacks in diesel pollution over the past eight years, and on diesel issues, EPA has consistently followed the global consensus of the scientists on the public health threats of diesel pollution. 

So, in 2001, when the new Bush White House was putting dozens of Clinton era rules on hold, they let President Clinton’s Highway Diesel Rule pass unchanged.  Then, they ushered in the key component of that rule, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, on schedule in fall 2006.  Now, new diesel truck and bus engines are more than 90 percent cleaner than their predecessors, thanks to this new fuel and the new pollution standards that followed its implementation.

Likewise, in 2004, when we successfully aimed to expand that rule to the farm, construction, industrial and other so-called “non-road” diesel engines, EPA staff didn’t buck our calls.  Instead, they worked night and day to make sure that there was a program that could pass muster with environmental and industry stakeholders alike, so the rule could be implemented without even the most basic legal challenge.  At a time of seemingly unprecedented hostility in Washington over environmental issues, the diesel issue was a bright star in an otherwise dark night.  

All of this work is paying off for the health of our nation.  Taken together, these programs will eliminate more than 20,000 premature deaths and more than $150 billion in health costs annually, once today’s all of dirty diesels have been replaced by new models that meet the new pollution standards.

But what’s happening now?

In 2004, President Bush said that he wanted a similar rule to cover the nation’s last bastion of dirty diesels—the trains and ships that carry goods and people throughout every state.  He said he wanted it by 2006.  When that schedule wasn’t kept, EPA Administrator Steven Johnson asserted, over and over again, that the final rule to clean up the trains and ships would be in place by the end of 2007. 

Well, we’re heading towards mid-February, and the rule isn’t here yet.  From what I can tell, EPA and the White House are still working out some of the details. 

But in the meantime, the clock is ticking and delay matters.

Here’s why cleaning up trains and ships is critically important: 

Locomotive yards and marine ports are major hubs of economic activity—but also major sources of diesel pollution.  The trains and ships emit emit huge amounts of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), as well as other toxic air contaminants that can cause or exacerbate an array of environmental impacts that seriously affect millions of Americans.  These impacts include increased asthma attacks and emergencies, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, heart disease, and premature death.  Moreover, these dirty diesel engines hamper state and local efforts to attain and maintain EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM and ozone.  State and local air regulators estimate that cleaning up these engines will prevent more than 4,000 premature deaths a year.

Given the progress in cleaning up other diesel engines, locomotive and marine diesel engines are the last bastion of dirty diesel engines.  

Unlike diesel trucks, buses and non-road engines (which are getting cleaner by the day), locomotive and marine diesel engines are en route to an alarmingly large share of the nation’s vehicle-related soot and NOx emissions. By 2030, current trends suggest that train and ship engines will emit more than 765,000 tons of NOx and 28,000 tons of soot every year.  In plain English, unless EPA acts now to reduce locomotive and marine diesel emissions, these engines will emit more than ¼ of vehicle-related NOx emissions and almost ½ of vehicle-related soot emissions in 2030.  

Aggregate emissions tell only part of the story, because locomotive and marine diesel pollution disproportionately affects the people and communities who live closest to the rail yards and ports.  In those communities, exposure to these emissions is likely to be far greater.  Many of these communities are low-income and/or communities of color, raising significant environmental justice concerns that need to be addressed.

Finalizing this proposed rule now matters because the proposed rule anticipated that some of the oldest, dirtiest locomotive engines would be rebuilt to cleaner standards—this year.  If finalizing the rule is delayed significantly, that rebuilding program may also be delayed.  

The draft rule also anticipated a cascading implementation of emissions standards that rolled into place at various points until 2017.  In fact, 2017 is too long to wait for cleaner engines, so NRDC and our coalition partners have been pushing for an end date of 2015.  That change would prevent 1,400 tons of soot and 80,000 tons of smog-forming gases from entering our air.  

I’m confident that the final rule will include plenty of good things to make future train and ship operations much, much, much cleaner.  But, at the same time, the clock is ticking, so it’s my job to ask:

Where’s the rule?

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