Crystal L. Heide

November 20, 2009

It was a typical day in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Parents were busy at work, children were learning multiplication tables, and school buses were idling for up to two and a half hours anticipating the end of the children's school day. This "excessive amount of time" spent idling, not only in school bus lots in Rhode Island but also in Connecticut, caught the attention of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspector who found that school bus company First Student, Inc. had violated state prohibitions on vehicle idling in 2008.

First Student, Inc. is one of the largest school bus companies in the United States, operating in 40 states across the country, serving approximately four million children daily, and employing a 50,000 diesel-bus fleet. In October of 2009, First Student, Inc. reached a settlement with the EPA and agreed to stop idling its fleet. First Student agreed to pay a fine of $128,000 and will invest $1 million in environmental projects. These projects include retrofitting approximately 150 school buses across New England with equipment that will reduce particulate matter emissions between twenty and thirty percent, and enabling First Student to track its fleets' time spent idling. Additionally, Fist Student will launch a national training and management program to train its drivers to reduce idling and comply with local laws. First Student "will require supervisors to monitor idling in school bus lots, post anti-idling signs in areas where drivers congregate, and notify the school districts it serves of its anti-idling policy." The EPA estimates that these actions can reduce up to 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually and reduce First Student's fuel use by 4.5 million gallons per year. Senior enforcement counsel for EPA New England said, "To its credit, First Student has been focused on a solution ever since we notified them of the violation." In a statement of its own, First Student said, "We appreciate the EPA assisting us in identifying areas for improvement. We are a socially responsible organization that recognizes the benefits of reducing our environmental impact. School buses take around 36 cars off the road for each journey and we are always looking at ways in which we can further improve benefits to the environment."

The anti-idling actions against First Student arise from multi-state and federal efforts to reduce diesel air emissions. Ira W. Leighton, the acting regional administrator of EPA's New England office, said, "Pollution from diesel vehicles is a serious problem across the country. Children, especially those suffering from asthma or other respiratory ailments, are particularly vulnerable to diesel exhaust." Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management's Director W. Michael Sullivan stated, "You're putting onto the school busses some of the youngest lungs we have." Diesel emissions contain pollutants that can cause or aggravate respiratory diseases and are "likely to be carcinogenic to humans by inhalation at any exposure condition." Idling buses can burn approximately one gallon of diesel fuel per hour, contributing to the above mentioned health risks, climate change, haze, smog, and acid rain.

To reduce these harmful emissions, both the EPA and a handful of states have taken action. The EPA has set stringent national emissions standards for new heavy-duty diesel trucks, buses, and diesel fuel. These standards reduce emissions from new diesel engines by up to ninety percent, and create voluntary initiatives to reduce emissions from existing diesel engines. The EPA is working with New England states to "retrofit existing diesel vehicles with pollution controls, implement emission testing programs for diesel vehicles, create and implement anti-idling programs, and promote cleaner fuels like compressed natural gas." "Since 2002, more than 10,000 engines in New England have been or are being retrofitted with pollution control technology." Additionally, "EPA's New England office has brought and resolved eleven separate enforcement actions for penalties against nine different companies, for violations of state anti-idling regulations."

States have jumped in on the action, with twenty-one states enacting anti-idling regulations. (These states include: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.) Limits on idling time vary from three minutes (as in Connecticut) up to five minutes (as in Rhode Island and Vermont). State regulations are designed to meet national air quality standards and are enforceable by the state and the EPA. Most idling regulations, however, do have exemptions to take into account special circumstances such as emergency vehicles, engine warm-up, traffic, vehicle inspections, and vehicle difficulties.

The settlement with First Student, Inc. not only reduces excessive idling and emissions, conserves fuel, and protects the environment and public health; it also proves that the EPA is willing to enforce anti-idling regulations. Annie Costner, Clean Water Action's Rhode Island anti-idling organizer, stated, "We need greater enforcement of the law," and Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's Commissioner Amey Marella said, "Strong enforcement of anti-idling regulations, which is a focus of this settlement, reduces diesel emissions and is a [Department of Environmental Protection] priority." Moreover, this settlement acts as a cautionary tale for other companies. Conway said, "We know there are idling problems in New England and we know we want to solve them. We also felt strongly that since First Student has a nationwide presence . . . making a national statement was a positive thing." Only time will tell if other companies take note of this national example and fall in line.

SOURCES:

Environmental Leader, Penalized for Pollution, Major Bus Firm to Reduce Idling, http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/10/23/penalized-for-pollution-major-bus-firm-to-reduce-idling/(last visited Nov. 5. 2009).

Environmental Protection Agency, Diesel Exhaust, http://www.epa.gov/NE/eco/diesel/index.html(last visited Nov. 5, 2009).

Environmental Protection Agency, School Bus Company to Implement Nationwide Anti-Idling Program and Pay Penalties for Clean Air Act Violations: Public Health Benefits as Nation Recognizes school Bus Safety Week, http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6d651d23f5a91b768525735900400c28/1bf1e67d57168b4a85257656005c6f52!OpenDocument (last visited Nov. 4, 2009)

HartfordBusiness.com, Connecticut School Bus Operator to Obey States' Idling Ban, http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news10680.html?Type=search (last visited Nov. 5, 2009).

Pete Mangione, Bus Company Violated Environmental Laws, WPRI, Oct. 23, 2009, http://www.wpri.com/dpp/on_air/green_team/local_wpri_ri_bus_company_reaches_settlement_after_breaking_environmental_laws_20091022_mds.

Richard Salit, EPA, First Student Reach Settlement Over Bus Emissions, Providence Journal, Oct. 23, 2009, http://www.projo.com/news/environment/content/IDLING_SCHOOL_BUSES_10-23-09_AGG5VQ9_v19.3a6345f.html.

Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Air, http://www.anr.state.vt.us/Env01/air.htm (last visited Nov. 5, 2009).

Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Air Pollution Control Division, Diesel Exhaust from School Buses in Vermont, http://www.anr.state.vt.us/air/MobileSources/htm/Diesel.htm (last visited Nov. 4, 2009).