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Moore, Senate pass legislation to improve air quality on school campuses
April 16, 2008 ... During a recent formal session, Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, and his colleagues in the Senate passed legislation prohibiting school buses, commercial and personal vehicles from idling on school property. “This bill benefits communities in several different ways, most notably the fact that there will be cleaner air for students and less fuel and maintenance costs for school districts,” said Moore. “I am pleased that the Senate has taken the initiative to promote positive climate changes measures.” The legislation, entitled an Act to Improve School Campus Air Quality compliments existing programming administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). DEP’s Idling Reduction Toolkit aids cities and towns in their efforts to reduce idling and improve air quality. To date, forty communities statewide participate in this campaign. Still other towns have developed their own response to unnecessary vehicle idling on school grounds. Across the state, over 9,000 school buses and 770 school vehicles transport nearly 750,000 children to school each day. Children board idling buses that fill the air with dangerous emissions, running cars waiting to pick children up from school also contribute to this pollution. This unnecessary idling pumps added carbon dioxide into playground air, while school ventilation systems draw in these harmful fumes and re-circulate them throughout school buildings. Children breathe up to 0 percent more air per pound of body weight than adults, making them more susceptible to both acute and chronic respiratory problems including asthma, the leading source of chronic illness among children and leading cause of school absenteeism. Additionally, school buses “idle-away” an average of 1.3 million gallons of fuel annually. With fuel prices topping $3.00 per gallon, this legislation will save school districts statewide over $4 million each year. Contrary to common belief, warming engines before driving does not improve fuel efficiency. Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than turning the engine off. Idling increases maintenance costs because it leaves fuel residues that contaminate motor oil and clog fuel injectors. Vehicles idling 10 minutes per day waste more than 29 gallons of fuel each year. |
