RESPONSIBLE CITY AGENCY: Office of the C.A.O.
KEYWORDS: Transportation, Fleet, Anti-Idling
Preface
Air pollution is a major public health
concern in Salt Lake City and motor vehicles are significant sources of air
pollution. In Utah over 50% of air pollution is a result of mobile
sources.
Air pollution can cause or aggravate lung illnesses such as acute
respiratory infections, asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and lung
cancer. In addition to health impacts, air pollution imposes significant
economic costs and negative impacts on our quality of life.
Exhaust from
vehicles is a substantial source of ozone precursors in the Salt Lake
Valley. Vehicle exhaust also is a source of carbon monoxide, particulate
matter, toxic air contaminants, and greenhouse gases (the leading cause of
climate change).
Salt Lake City can play an important role in improving air
quality by limiting the amount of time engines are allowed to idle and thereby
lead the effort to improve air quality by adopting a prohibition on unnecessary
vehicle idling by all City employees. The purpose of this Executive Order is to
protect the public health and improve our environment by reducing emissions
while conserving fuel.
Therefore I enact this Executive
Order:
1. Definitions
1.1 "Driver" means any employee of Salt Lake
City Corporation who drives, operates, or is in actual physical control
of a
vehicle.
1.2 "Idle" means the operation of a vehicle
engine while the vehicle is stationary or not in the act of performing
work or its normal
function.
1.3 "Vehicle" means any self propelled
vehicle that is required to be registered and have a license plate by the
department of motor vehicles.
2.
General
2.1 This Executive Order applies to the
Mayor and to City employees in City departments under the direction of the
Mayor.
2.2 No driver, while (a) operating a City
owned vehicle or (b) operating a privately owned vehicle while on City
business, shall cause or permit a vehicle's engine to idle for more than ten
(10) consecutive seconds, except for the following kinds of
idling:
A. Idling while
stopped:
1. for an official traffic control
device;
2. for an official traffic control
signal;
3. at the direction of a police
officer;
4.
at the direction of an air traffic
controller;
5. idling as needed by City employees to operate defrosters, heaters, air
conditioners, or other equipment to
prevent a safety or health
emergency;
6. idling as needed for a fire apparatus that must
be kept running when outside to keep the pumps running and
circulating
water.
B. Idling as needed to ascertain
that a vehicle is in safe operating condition and equipped as required by all
provisions of law, and that all equipment is in good working order, either as
part of the daily vehicle
inspection, or as otherwise
needed;
C. Idling as needed for testing,
servicing, repairing, or diagnostic
purposes;
D. Idling for the period recommended
by the manufacturer to cool down a turbo-charged heavy-duty vehicle
before turning the engine
off;
E. Idling as needed to operate
auxiliary equipment for which the vehicle was designed, other than transporting
goods, such as: operating a transportation refrigeration unit (TRU), lift,
crane, pump, drill, hoist, ready mixed
concrete mixer, or other auxiliary equipment, except a heater or air
conditioner;
F. Idling as needed to operate a
lift or other piece of equipment designed to ensure safe loading and unloading
of
goods or
people;
G. Idling to recharge a battery or
other energy storage unit of a hybrid electric vehicle /
equipment;
H.
Idling as needed for vehicles that house K-9 or other
service
animals;
I. Idling by on-duty
police officers as necessary for the performance of their official
duties.
Background
On August 7, 2007, Mayor Ross
C. Anderson signed an Executive Order prohibiting the idling of Salt Lake City
(the "City") vehicles for more than five (5) consecutive minutes, except in
certain circumstances. Afterwards, the City began collaborating with the
various governmental entities and interests groups, such as the Utah Department
of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake County, Utah Transit Authority, Utah Clean
Cities, and Utah Moms for Clean Air, that all stress a lower idling time
limit. Accordingly, and for the reasons further explained below, the
August 7, 2007 Executive Order is amended to require that the idling limit be
lowered to ten (10) seconds.
Why a
Change is Needed
Several reasons support the
City's decision to lower its idling time limit to ten (10) seconds. For
instance, the Canada Department of Natural Resources reports that the average
vehicle will use more gas and cause more emissions if they idle for more than 10
seconds than if they are turned off and restarted. In addition, the Canada
Department of Natural Resources also reports that when a vehicle's engine is
left idling for excessive periods, many negative effects occur, including engine
damage, waste of resources, and environmental pollution.
Engine Damage: Research shows that the wear rates of
an idling engine are double that of running an engine under load.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an hour of idling is
equal to 80 miles of driving.
Waste of
Resources: The EPA
reports that fuel costs alone from engine idling are enormous, as car engines
will use over a gallon of fuel for each hour they idle. In addition,
according to the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 3 billion gallons of fuel
are used every year fueling idling engines.
Environmental Pollution: The unnecessary idling of cars and
buses contributes to the amount of emissions piped into the air every day.
The Utah Department of Air Quality has observed that this affects the quality of
air we all breathe both at the point of idling (often in front of schools and
homes), and regionally due to pollutants released into the
atmosphere.
By lowering
the City's idling limit on City vehicles, the City limits the negative
environmental effects that idling creates and preserves the longevity of City
property. Additionally, the City maintains consistency with other
governmental agencies and private sector interests groups that already subscribe
to a 10 second idling limitation.
EFFECTIVE DATE 8 22, 2008 (Date signed by Mayor): August 7, 2008