5670540 Energy and Environment, Department of - Notice of Final Rulemaking - Engine Idling Exception for Warming Buses

Department of ENERGY AND Environment

 

NOTICE OF final Rulemaking

 

Engine Idling Exception for Warming Buses

 

The Director of the Department of Energy and Environment (“the Department” or “DOEE”), pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 5 and 6 of the District of Columbia Air Pollution Control Act of 1984, as amended, effective March 15, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-165; D.C. Official Code §§ 8-101.05 and 8-101.06 (2013 Repl.)); Section 107(4) of the District Department of the Environment Establishment Act of 2005, effective February 15, 2006 (D.C. Law 16-51; D.C. Official Code § 8-151.07(4) (2013 Repl.)); Mayor's Order 98-44, dated April 10, 1998; Mayor’s Order 2006-61, dated June 14, 2006; and Mayor’s Order 2015-191, dated July 23, 2015, hereby gives notice of the adoption of amendments to Section 900 (Engine Idling) of Chapter 9 (Air Quality – Motor Vehicular Pollutants, Lead, Odors, and Nuisance Pollutants) of  Title 20 (Environment) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (“DCMR”).

 

The Department is amending the District’s regulation controlling engine idling (20 DCMR §  900.1) to add an exception for warming buses deployed by the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) in the event of a “Cold Emergency Alert.”  Currently, Subsection 900.1 prohibits any vehicle from idling its engine for more than three (3) minutes while the vehicle is parked, stopped, or standing. The regulation provides exceptions for private passenger vehicles, vehicles that are operating power takeoff equipment, and to allow idling for up to five (5) minutes when the temperatures are below thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit (32°F). When the District issues a “Cold Emergency Alert,” typically because forecasted temperatures are below fifteen degrees Fahrenheit (15°F), HSEMA deploys warming buses around the District to provide shelter to the District’s vulnerable population and protect them from the frigid cold and bracing wind. The Department is adding a narrow exception to the engine idling restrictions so that these warming buses can idle in excess of the five (5) minute restriction during extreme cold temperatures and weather conditions in order to protect vulnerable individuals from cold-related death and injury.

 

Although the District is in nonattainment for ozone (O₃) and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), the Department does not expect this exception to have a significant negative impact on air quality. The warming buses will only be deployed when temperatures are extremely cold, conditions that are not conducive to the formation of ozone. The Department has also specified that priority should be given to clean fuel vehicles or, if those are not available, newer model year vehicles, in order to minimize vehicle emissions. The Department has also specified that the buses should be located at least fifty feet (50 ft.) from residential buildings, in order to reduce concerns about odors.

 

These amendments were enacted as an emergency rulemaking on February 7, 2014, and an emergency and proposed rulemaking was published in the D.C. Register on February 14, 2014 at 61 DCR 1323. The thirty (30) day comment period expired on March 17, 2014, and no comments were submitted. Therefore, the Department is finalizing this rule as proposed, with the exception of three non-substantive clarifications.

This rulemaking was submitted to the Council of the District of Columbia (Council) for a review period of forty-five (45) days. The Proposed Resolution of Approval for the Notice of Final Rulemaking was introduced in the Council on June 5, 2014, and was deemed passively approved on October 23, 2014.

 

The rules were adopted as final on September 15, 2015 and will become effective upon publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.

 

Chapter 9, AIR QUALITY - MOTOR VEHICULAR POLLUTANTS, LEAD, ODORS, AND NUISANCE POLLUTANTS, of Title 20 DCMR, ENVIRONMENT, is amended as follows:

 

Section 900, ENGINE IDLING, Subsection 900.1, is amended to read as follows:

 

900.1               No person owning, operating, or having control over the engine of a gasoline or diesel-powered motor vehicle on public or private space, including the engine of public vehicles for hire, buses with a seating capacity of twelve (12) or more persons, and school buses or any vehicle transporting students, shall allow that engine to idle for more than three (3) minutes while the motor vehicle is parked, stopped, or standing, including for the purpose of operating air conditioning equipment in those vehicles, except as follows:

 

(a)        To operate private passenger vehicles;

           

(b)        To operate power takeoff equipment, including dumping, cement mixers, refrigeration systems, content delivery, winches, or shredders;

 

(c)        To idle the engine for no more than five (5) minutes to operate heating equipment when the ambient air temperature is thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit (32° F) or below; or

 

(d)       To operate warming buses during a Cold Emergency Alert, provided that:

           

(1)        Warming buses are located a minimum of fifty feet (50 ft.) away from residential buildings; and

 

(2)        In order to minimize air pollution, motor vehicles shall be selected for use as warming buses as follows:

 

(i)         If available, vehicles that meet the needs for warming buses and use clean fuel, such as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), shall be selected; and

 

(ii)        If vehicles meeting the criteria in subparagraph (i) are not available, the newest available model year vehicles that meet the needs for warming buses shall be used.

 

Section 999, DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS, Subsection 999.1, is amended as follows:

 

By adding the definition of “warming bus” to read as follows:

 

Warming bus – any motor vehicle deployed by the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) during a Cold Emergency Alert to provide vulnerable individuals with shelter from cold weather conditions.

 

By adding the definition of “Cold Emergency Alert” to read as follows:

 

Cold Emergency Alert – issued pursuant to the District of Columbia Cold Emergency Plan when the temperature falls, or is forecasted to fall, to fifteen degrees Fahrenheit (15°F) or below for a twelve (12) hour period, or fifteen degrees Fahrenheit (15°F) including wind chill and one or more of the following conditions exists:

 

(a)        Steady precipitation for sixty (60) consecutive minutes;

 

(b)        Ice storms and/or freezing rain;

 

(c)        Snow accumulation of three inches (3 in.) or more;

 

(d)       Sustained winds of more than ten to fifteen miles per hour (10-15 mph);

 

(e)        A wind chill below zero degrees Fahrenheit (0°F); or

 

(f)        Other meteorological conditions or threats as determined by HSEMA.