TITLE
An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, establishing a policy on idling of diesel powered motor vehicles.
BODY
WHEREAS, transportation is the single largest source of air pollution in the United States causing nearly two-thirds of the carbon monoxide, a third of the nitrogen oxides and a quarter of the hydrocarbons in our atmosphere; and
WHEREAS, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), even though heavy-duty trucks and buses, most of which are diesel, make up only 2% of vehicles on the road, they are responsible for more than one-quarter of all ozone-forming nitrogen oxides and almost two-thirds of all particulate pollution emitted by all on-road vehicles; and
WHEREAS, research continues to demonstrate the serious health implications resulting from vehicle emissions; the EPA estimates that the air toxics emitted from cars and trucks account for half of all cancers caused by air pollution;
WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Allegheny County Council to follow the example of the EPA and 20 other states and regions in adopting a mobile vehicle idling policy to protect the health, safety and welfare of this County's residents.
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. DEFINITIONS
Diesel Powered Motor Vehicle - A self-propelled vehicle designed for transporting persons or property which is propelled by a compression ignition type of internal combustion engine.
Heavy-Duty - Any motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of more than 8,500 pounds or with a passenger carrying capacity of more than 12 persons.
Idling - The operation of an engine in the operating mode where the engine is not engaged in gear, where the engine operates at a speed at the revolutions per minute specified by the engine or vehicle manufacturer, or when the accelerator is fully released and there is no load on the engine.
Motor Vehicle - All vehicles propelled other than by m...
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