4761068 Environment, District Department of the - Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking - Engine Idling exception for Warming Buses

DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

 

Notice of EMERGENCY AND PROPOSED Rulemaking

 

Engine Idling Exception for Warming Buses

 

The Director of the District Department of the Environment (“the Department” or “DDOE”), 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; and Mayor’s Order 2006-61, dated June 14, 2006, hereby gives notice of the intent to adopt an emergency amendment to Section 900 (Engine Idling) of Chapter 9 (Motor Vehicular Pollutants, Lead, Odors, And Nuisance Pollutants), Title 20 (Environment) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).

 

The Director also gives notice of intent to take final rulemaking action to adopt the amendment following a thirty (30) day public comment period and approval by the Council of the District of Columbia, or forty-five (45) days after submission to the Council, not including Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and days of Council recess, if the Council has not disapproved these rules.

 

Emergency Rulemaking

 

This emergency rulemaking action is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public safety and welfare of District residents in the event that the Mayor declares a “Cold Weather Emergency”. The rulemaking ensures that individuals in the District have access to shelter during extremely cold temperatures and harsh weather conditions.

 

This emergency rulemaking action was signed by the Director on February 7, 2014, and will become effective immediately. This emergency rule will expire one-hundred twenty (120) days from that date, on June 7, 2014, or upon the publication of the final rulemaking action, whichever occurs first.

 

Proposed Amendments

 

The Department is proposing to amend the District’s regulation controlling engine idling (20 DCMR §  900.1) to add an exception for warming buses deployed by the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) in the event of a “Cold Emergency Alert.”  Currently, Section 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 activates its Cold Emergency Plan, 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 proposing to add 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 would 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.

 

Section 900 (ENGINE IDLING), Subsection 900.1, of Chapter 9 (MOTOR VEHICULAR POLLUTANTS, LEAD, ODORS, AND NUISANCE POLLUTANTS), Title 20 (ENVIRONMENT) of the DCMR 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 a 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 Weather Emergency, 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, of Chapter 9 (MOTOR VEHICULAR POLLUTANTS, LEAD, ODORS, AND NUISANCE POLLUTANTS), Title 20 (ENVIRONMENT) of the DCMR 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.

 

 

Comments on these proposed rules must be submitted, in writing, no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register to Manuel Oliva, District Department of the Environment, Air Quality Division, 1200 First Street, NE, 5^th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20002 or sent electronically to [e-mail].  Mr. Oliva may also be contacted at [phone]. Copies of the proposed rule are available for public review during normal business hours at the offices of the District Department of the Environment or on-line at http://ddoe.dc.gov.

 

The Department’s policy is that public comments, whether mailed, delivered, submitted electronically on computer disks or in paper, will be made available for public viewing without change on its website as the Department addresses them, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, confidential business information, or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. When the Department identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, it will provide a reference to that material on the website. The copyrighted material will be available in hard copy to the public.