Bill Will Clean Up Over 30,000 Diesel Vehicles for $160 Million Over Next Decade
As the new home of NJPIRG's environmental work, Environment New Jersey can be contacted regarding this news release.
MAPLEWOOD–
NJPIRG joined Acting Gov. Dick Codey, legislative co-sponsors Sen. Bob
Smith (D-17) and Asm. John McKeon (D-27), the DEP and fellow
environmental and health advocates to celebrate the signing of diesel
clean-up legislation that will clean up over 30,000 diesel vehicles
over the next decade. The bill will clean up all school buses, all
transit buses – public and private –, garbage trucks and other public
diesel vehicles, as well as cracking down on illegal idling and
speeding up the introduction of cleaner diesel fuel for off-road diesel
vehicles.
“New
Jersey’s health has been compromised by diesel pollution for far too
long. With this bill, New Jersey takes a big step from doing next to
nothing to actively cleaning up diesel hot-spots,” said Doug O’Malley,
NJPIRG’s Field Director.
The
legislation, which was passed with strong bipartisan support, will
reduce over 400 tons of soot pollution annually – about 10 percent of
the total. The funding for the initiative, one of the most
comprehensive in the nation, will go to the November ballot for voter
approval because it will shift $16 million annually in constitutionally
dedicated environmental funds from the Corporate Business Tax.
“This
fall, voters will have a clear choice on the ballot to start cleaning
up New Jersey’s air and reduce diesel pollution,” O’Malley said. “A yes
vote on Ballot Question 2 is a clear winner for everybody.”
NJPIRG’s
summer campaign, Cleaning Up Dirty Diesel, and our team of over 50
canvassers out of 4 state offices visited over 150 towns across the
state and spoke to over 150,000 citizens across the state on diesel
pollution. This fall, NJPIRG will work to activate our over 20,000
members to actively educate their neighbors and voters by passing out
educational materials on Ballot Question 2 leading up to Election Day.
We also work to do more outreach to the medical community and get more
press coverage on the importance of Ballot Question 2.
The
legislation will start to mitigate the health impact of diesel soot
pollution. A Clean Air Task Force report, using EPA methods, showed
that soot pollution – a known carcinogen – was attributable for over
800 deaths, over 1,300 heart attacks and over 17,000 asthma attacks
annually in New Jersey and the state had the second worst cancer risk
rate in the nation.
The
current legislation will prioritize the clean-ups of school buses
because of the additional health threat they pose to children. Already,
asthma is the number one reason why kids miss school in New Jersey.
School children spend an average of over an hour on the bus each day,
and the bus cabins act as diesel exhaust incubators, as soot pollution
from the exhaust and the engine floods inside at each bus stop. A
University of California Berkeley study showed that school children
breathe in collectively more diesel soot than the entire surrounding
metro area and up to 70 percent more diesel soot than the average
commuter.
The
diesel funding must go to the state’s voters in November because
funding for the bill alters constitutionally dedicated environmental
funds. The legislation proposes to shift 17% of these existing
environmental funds from site remediation to reduce diesel pollution,
as well as allowing a kick-start appropriation of up to $10 million
from an $80 million surplus for underground storage tanks.
“This
bill should be the beginning of a campaign to improve New Jersey’s
health and our air by cutting diesel pollution. Our next governor needs
to clean up the vast majority of diesel trucks on the road – private
fleets,” O’Malley said. “We are calling on the gubernatorial candidates
to pledge to reduce diesel emissions by 75% over the next 10 years.”
The
need to increase efforts to attain diesel soot reductions is
highlighted by having 13 New Jersey counties out of EPA attainment for
overall soot pollution, and annual healthcare costs from diesel soot
pollution that the state DEP estimates top $10 billion. As well as
private on-road diesel trucks, off-road diesel vehicles used in public
contracts can be required by the state to be cleaned up with retrofit
technology. The legislation will start to use this proven retrofit
technology, like diesel filters, that can reduce soot levels by up to
90 percent.
“The
benefits of reducing diesel pollution are directly proportional – every
pound of soot removed means a direct health benefit and more lungs
breathing easier,” O’Malley concluded. “We need to reduce diesel
pollution hotspots, and this legislation is the right first step to
reduce the diesel danger.”
Additional Contacts
Dr. Paul Lioy; EOHSI; 732-445-0155
Dr. Leonard Bielory; UMDNJ Asthma and Allergy Research Center; 973-972-2762
