Through the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s Diesel Solutions
program, launched in 2001, partners work to reduce diesel emissions
by retrofitting vehicles with pollution control equipment, using
cleaner fuels including ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and biodiesel,
and promoting reduced idling.
As part of a five-year
program funded by the 2003 state legislature, so far
more than 2,100 school buses in the Puget Sound area
have been retrofitted with pollution control devices.
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Our Diesel Solutions program has enlisted local transit agencies,
school districts, cities and counties, ports, ferries, cruise lines,
garbage haulers and private businesses to voluntarily clean up their
fleets and equipment.
Cleaner burning ULSD fuel
was put to use in our area five years in advance of
the EPA rule, thanks to the cooperation and commitment
of partners including the City of Seattle, King County,
the Boeing Company and area school districts.
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Even with new diesel fuel and engine standards going into effect
in 2006 and 2007, diesel emissions will continue to be an air pollution
concern for years to come. That’s because many diesel
engines can run, literally, for a million miles. Pre-2007 engines
could still be on the road for 10 to 15 years.
And recognizing that air knows no boundaries, we are also involved
with various regional, national and international partners including
the West Coast Collaborative, a public-private partnership working
to reduce air pollution emissions from diesel sources along the entire
West Coast, from Canada to Mexico.
