New Jersey § 26:2c-8

§ 26:2c-8.

The Legislature finds and declares that the emissions of fine particles into the air

pose an extraordinary health risk to the people of the State; that the Department

of Environmental Protection has determined that 1,000 deaths and 68,000 cases of asthma

in the State each year are attributed to the exceedance of the federal 2.5 micron

fine particle standard in the State; that exhaust emissions from diesel-powered vehicles

and equipment contribute substantially to the fine particle problem, and pose both

cardiovascular and cancer risks; that the United States Environmental Protection

Agency has classified diesel exhaust as likely to be carcinogenic to humans by inhalation

at environmental exposures; that the United States Environmental Protection Agency

has also identified diesel particle matter and diesel exhaust organic gases as a mobile

source air toxic; that studies repeatedly have found links between exposure to fine

particles and health effects, including premature death and increased incidents of

asthma, allergies, and other breathing disorders; and that these studies include

the examination of the health impacts of the exposure to diesel emissions for school

children riding diesel-powered school buses. The Legislature further finds and declares that, although some new diesel-powered

vehicles and equipment operate more cleanly and may contribute less to air quality

problems than their predecessors, diesel-powered trucks, buses, and off-road equipment

tend to remain in service as long as 20 years or more; that, among these types of

vehicles and equipment, diesel commercial buses and diesel solid waste vehicles operate

in significant numbers in urban areas of the State where the reduction of fine particle

diesel emissions should be prioritized because fine particle diesel emissions are

at the highest concentrations in these areas; that the emissions from diesel school

buses directly impact the health of school children throughout the State; that unless

emissions from some on-road diesel-powered vehicles and off-road diesel-powered equipment

currently operating in the State are controlled, all on-road diesel-powered vehicles

and off-road diesel-powered equipment will continue to emit high levels of fine particles

and contribute to air pollution in the State for many years to come; that filters

and other devices and cleaner burning fuels are available to reduce emissions from

older diesel vehicles and equipment; that retrofitting certain diesel-powered vehicles

and equipment with emissions reducing devices, operating these vehicles and equipment

on cleaner burning fuel, or both, could significantly improve air quality; that although

such requirements impose costs, the costs are relatively small when compared with

the costs of the vehicles or equipment they update or the cost of the impact on the

public health from the air pollution that the requirements abate; that by exercising

discretion in the types of vehicles and equipment and the matching of technologies

to vehicles and equipment, the cost of installing and using pollution-reducing devices

and fuels can be minimized and the air pollution reduction and public health benefits

can be maximized; and that the Department of Environmental Protection has estimated

that targeting reductions of fine particles from these vehicles and equipment could

remove 315 tons per year from the ambient air in the State and could prevent more

than 150 premature deaths. The Legislature therefore determines that it is of vital importance to the health

of the people of the State to begin to reduce significantly fine particle emissions

and exposure of school children to these emissions; and that this start can be most

effectively and economically accomplished by requiring the use of the best available

retrofit technologies for the reduction of fine particle emissions in diesel-powered

commercial buses, school buses, solid waste vehicles, and publicly owned on-road vehicles

and off-road equipment.