26:2C-8.26 Findings, declarations relative to regulation of fine particle emissions from diesel engines.

1. The Legislature finds and declares that the emissions of fine particles into the air pose an extraordinary health risk to the people of the State; that the Department of Environmental Protection has determined that 1,000 deaths and 68,000 cases of asthma in the State each year are attributed to the exceedance of the federal 2.5 micron fine particle standard in the State; that exhaust emissions from diesel-powered vehicles and equipment contribute substantially to the fine particle problem, and pose both cardiovascular and cancer risks; that the United States Environmental Protection Agency has classified diesel exhaust as likely to be carcinogenic to humans by inhalation at environmental exposures; that the United States Environmental Protection Agency has also identified diesel particle matter and diesel exhaust organic gases as a mobile source air toxic; that studies repeatedly have found links between exposure to fine particles and health effects, including premature death and increased incidents of asthma, allergies, and other breathing disorders; and that these studies include the examination of the health impacts of the exposure to diesel emissions for school children riding diesel-powered school buses.

The Legislature further finds and declares that, although some new diesel-powered vehicles and equipment operate more cleanly and may contribute less to air quality problems than their predecessors, diesel-powered trucks, buses, and off-road equipment tend to remain in service as long as 20 years or more; that, among these types of vehicles and equipment, diesel commercial buses and diesel solid waste vehicles operate in significant numbers in urban areas of the State where the reduction of fine particle diesel emissions should be prioritized because fine particle diesel emissions are at the highest concentrations in these areas; that the emissions from diesel school buses directly impact the health of school children throughout the State; that unless emissions from some on-road diesel-powered vehicles and off-road diesel-powered equipment currently operating in the State are controlled, all on-road diesel-powered vehicles and off-road diesel-powered equipment will continue to emit high levels of fine particles and contribute to air pollution in the State for many years to come; that filters and other devices and cleaner burning fuels are available to reduce emissions from older diesel vehicles and equipment; that retrofitting certain diesel-powered vehicles and equipment with emissions reducing devices, operating these vehicles and equipment on cleaner burning fuel, or both, could significantly improve air quality; that although such requirements impose costs, the costs are relatively small when compared with the costs of the vehicles or equipment they update or the cost of the impact on the public health from the air pollution that the requirements abate; that by exercising discretion in the types of vehicles and equipment and the matching of technologies to vehicles and equipment, the cost of installing and using pollution-reducing devices and fuels can be minimized and the air pollution reduction and public health benefits can be maximized; and that the Department of Environmental Protection has estimated that targeting reductions of fine particles from these vehicles and equipment could remove 315 tons per year from the ambient air in the State and could prevent more than 150 premature deaths.

The Legislature therefore determines that it is of vital importance to the health of the people of the State to begin to reduce significantly fine particle emissions and exposure of school children to these emissions; and that this start can be most effectively and economically accomplished by requiring the use of the best available retrofit technologies for the reduction of fine particle emissions in diesel-powered commercial buses, school buses, solid waste vehicles, and publicly owned on-road vehicles and off-road equipment.

L.2005,c.219,s.1.