Air Quality Update

February 11, 2002

• Groups Say Nonroad Rule Falls Short of Technology

• Universities to Study Airborne Health Impacts of PM

• School Buses Get Pollution Report Card

Groups Say Nonroad Rule Falls Short of Technology

A coalition of environmental advocacy groups says proposed new regulations for off-road motor vehicles fall well short of emissions reductions that could be achieved with available technology. According to the coalition, this shortcoming in proposed reductions is in violation of the Clean Air Act.

The center of this latest CAA controversy is EPA's October proposal to regulate nonroad vehicles including snowmobiles, boats, forklifts and other ground support equipment, off road motorcycles, and other service or recreational vehicles. In addition to a host of environmental advocates, some state and local air officials have also condemned the proposal claiming that it falls short of the clean air gains that could be reached through today's emissions control technology.

Other than the overall indictments of the proposal, the draft had already raised the ire of some environmental groups who voiced concern over provisions in the rule that fell silent on a phase-out of the dirtier two-stroke engines that commonly power snowmobiles. The commotion over this proposal arrives as EPA continues work on yet another proposed rule to regulate diesel emissions from heavy-duty, off road diesel engines.

The coalition includes the Grand Canyon Trust, the Wyoming Outdoor Council, and Environmental Defense. The Natural Resources Defense Council submitted separate comments, calling for more stringent rules, including particulate matter standards for the associated engines. The groups' claims are based on provisions in the CAA that require regulations to mirror advances in emissions reduction technology.

Some state officials pin high hopes on the emissions reductions projected in later years from cleaner nonroad engines. Many see weakened standards as additional pressure to devise new strategies for already strained State Implementation Plans.

Universities to Study Airborne Health Impacts of PM

Four universities have been selected to conduct a new round of research in the human health impacts of airborne particulate matter (PM). Grants totaling just under $4 million have been awarded under EPA's competitive Science to Achieve Results program.

Receiving the research grants for PM study are the University of California, Emory University, Michigan State University, and the University of North Carolina. One of the primary targets of the studies will be the suspected cardiopulmonary health effect of PM.

Researchers from the University of California at Davis will assess the mechanisms by which particles and ozone force adverse effects on cardiopulmonary systems. The Emory team will investigate the relationships of specific air contaminants and their role in cardiac and respiratory conditions. The team from Michigan State will evaluate the impacts of particulate exposure on existing asthma conditions and the level of toxicity associated with PM during smog conditions, and transported PM contrasted with locally generated PM. The University of North Carolina will pursue the role played by zinc in lung inflammation; zinc is abundant in most PM.

Particulate matter of varying microscopic sizes has been linked to a number of harmful health effects, but little is known about how the damage is done. Consequently, the scientific and regulatory communities alike have been somewhat reserved in setting specific control programs while this body of knowledge remains in development.

School Buses Get Pollution Report Card

New research is raising more questions about the exposure to air pollution experienced by children traveling in school buses. A report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) rates each state on its school bus fleet, assigning grades based on emissions.

In "Pollution Report Card: Grading America's School Bus Fleets," the UCS focuses on the diesel fleets that transport the vast majority of U.S. school children. According to Patricia Monahan, lead author of the report and a clean vehicles analyst with UCS, each year an average school bus emits soot equivalent to the total generated by more than 100 cars. In addition, the school bus fleet, nationwide, may produce as many as 95,000 tons of smog-forming pollutants each year.

The majority of state fleets received less than stellar grades. A "middle-of-the-road" ranking was earned by 23 states, while 21 brought in poor or failing grades. Only six states were ranked "ahead of the curve."

The group's bus pollution report assigns state fleets a grade, based on estimates of smog-forming pollutants and greenhouse gases, in addition to diesel soot. According to the UCS research, no state requires school boards to use or purchase low emitting or alternative fuel buses.

Archives