December 13, 2004

The Philadelphia Diesel Difference - Working Group Meeting
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)
Pennsylvania New Jersey Room
The Bourse Building
111 S. Independence Mall East, 8th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106

IN ATTENDANCE:

Brett Alkins, Johnson Matthew, Inc.
Alvaro Alvarado, U.S. EPA, Region 3
Emily Bockian Landsburg, Energy Cooperative of Pennsylvania
Ken Brown, Gordon College
Ray Chalmers, U.S. EPA, Region 3
Eric Cheung, Clean Air Council/PDD
Marianne Cleary, North Penn School District
Fred Cummings, Philadelphia International Airport
Emi Faloughi, DVRPC
Morris Fine, AMS/PDD
Kirt Flowers, Amtrak
Lionel Gillston, Diesel Engine Transformations LLP
Joseph Grincewicz, School District of Philadelphia
Ernie Kline, North Penn School District
Paula Krall, U.S. EPA, Region 3
Jack LeBeau, E Global Solutions
Steven Levy, Sprague Energy
Robert Neff, PA Turnpike Commission
Patricia Passarella, U.S. DOE, Mid-Atlantic Regional Office
Chris Thomas, City of Philadelphia Managing Director's Office
Bill Ross, Sprague Energy
Jack Schweitzer, Amtrak
Barbara Wilson, Krapf Bus Co.

MINUTES TAKEN BY:

Eric Cheung

INTRODUCTIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Morris began by thanking Patricia Passarella and the U.S. Department of Energy, Mid-Atlantic Regional Office for graciously hosting this month's meeting. As his first order of business, Morris noted that he and Eric are planning to include an informational insert concerning the PDD Corporate Sponsorship and Adopt-A-School Bus program as part of AMS's annual emissions inventory mailing to companies. This will be a preliminary step in getting the word out about the Corporate Sponsorship program and Morris anticipates some kind of follow-up with these companies. The mailing will go out before the holidays. Morris mentioned that an article on anti-idling appeared in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. Morris explained that Philadelphia has had an anti-idling ordinance in place for many years. Originally, it was complaint-driven because diesel exhaust was seen as a nuisance. But now that PM2.5 has been proven to be such a health problem, the anti-idling ordinance has greater meaning. Morris said that he is working on a new enforcement initiative for Philadelphia to target idling by tour buses. The initiative should take effect in a few months.

EPA DIESEL PM REGIONAL STUDY:

Alvaro was at the meeting to update the group on the PM Analysis report he presented during September's meeting. The presentation was made available on the PDD website, which means information in the report as well as its existence has been publicly accessible. A meeting was held recently between the Philadelphia Managing Director's Office and U.S. EPA Region III The participants have determined U.S. EPA Region III needs to brief leading Philadelphia officials on the report's findings. In this way, Alvaro said, Philadelphia officials will be prepared to react to the report once it is formally released to the public. The meeting will be scheduled for late January. Alvaro is still getting the report finalized. Alvaro has prepared a disclaimer to accompany the PowerPoint presentation and summary document concerning the PM report. The disclaimer stresses that the report findings are on a county or regional level and cannot be relied on for more localized information. He further noted that the Inquirer article makes references to the PM report. Eric stated that the disclaimer is been tacked onto the documents relating to Alvaro's September presentation on the PDD website. There is no way that someone can download the PowerPoint or the report summary without seeing the disclaimer. Lastly, in responding to an audience member's question, Alvaro said that the PM Report is the first regional analysis of PM's impact done and that the methodologies used to produce it could be applied in other regions of the country.

ULSD AND FUEL PUMPS ISSUE:

The PDD Working Group was joined by representatives of its new stakeholder, North Penn School District. Transportation Coordinator Marianne Cleary wanted to be present to provide a firsthand account of the problems her District has experienced using ULSD. Marianne began by noting that her District received funding from PA DEP to pay for DOCs and to run her fleet on ULSD. North Penn has been using ULSD as of September 10, 2004. In that time, the District has experienced 16 fuel pump failures out of 140 buses. These failures were found primarily in Cummins engines, but also in five GM engines. Specifically, the problems seem to have something to do with the O-Rings. The pumps are manufactured by Bosch. Marianne noted that her District on average experiences only three fuel pump failures a year. Some of the 16 failed pumps are covered under warranties with Cummins. Penn is meeting with Sprague Energy (the ULSD provider) and PA DEP on their premises tomorrow. Marianne expressed grave concern about the stability of her fleet operations. The District relies on its buses to transport 13,000 children a day. The fuel pump failures come with no warning signs and immediately shut down the bus when they occur. Marianne introduced another associate from North Penn, Ernie Kline, to go into specifics about the problems. The fuel pump failures are of two varieties. In newer vehicles, the problem is that the "check engine light" comes on relating to the fuel pumps, but this does not necessarily stop the vehicle. In older vehicles, the fuel pump actually fails and does cause a shutdown in operation. Cummins and Sprague Energy representatives are currently analyzing North Penn's ULSD fuel to see if they can find an explanation. Sprague is also looking into whether lubricity is an issue in the ULSD. The baffling aspect is that Wissahickon has used the exact same fuel, supplied by Sprague, without any problems. PA DEP has advised North Penn not to go back to regular diesel fuel once it replaces the fuel pumps. So far, Marianne said, she has been able to keep the problem from getting out to the general public. The community is very aware that North Penn has undertaken a "green project" by agreeing to use ULSD and retrofit its fleet. It would look bad if North Penn ends up having to back out as a result of the fuel pump failures.

Steve Levy from Sprague offered assurances to the group that it is trying to get to the bottom of this problem. He noted that Sprague is the largest ULSD supplier in the nation, covering 15,000 vehicles. Also, he stated that the lubricity in the ULSD it sells is greater than what engine manufacturers have demanded or even what the new ASTM lubricity standard is. Moreover, difficulties as a result of drastic desulphurization in diesel is not new. In 1993 when the diesel sulfur content was reduced from 2000 ppm sulfur to 500 ppm, fleets also had problems. Bob Neff of the PA Turnpike stated that his fleet has had fuel pump failures with GM engines in the past even when using regular low sulfur diesel.

Morris reminded everyone that the PDD Working Group as a whole is interested in finding out the specific nature of North Penn's problems and how to fix them. Problems with ULSD directly impact the group's mission.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT:

The Subcommittee met on December 10, 2004 to come up with some actions that PDD can take to move its Corporate Sponsorship program along. The Subcommittee decided on the following course of action:
1. Using Dalton's Directory, compile a list of the Top 50 companies in Philadelphia.
2. Send a packet of information to the CEOs of each of these companies including a new Corporate Sponsorship brochure that details the benefits of sponsoring diesel retrofits.
3. Once the information is sent out, PDD Stakeholders will assist Eric in making follow-up calls.
4. Eric will work with the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and other business associations to see if there are any events at which he could present the PDD Corporate Sponsorship program.
5. Eric will work with AMS and DEP to include information on the Corporate
Sponsorship program to those companies that have to complete annual emissions inventory.
More details can be found in the Corporate Sponsorship Subcommittee Meeting Minutes.

2005 MEMBERSHIP CONTRIBUTIONS:

Eric announced that so far three PDD members have submitted contributions for a total of $2,200: Wissahickon School District, Krapf Bus Company and PennFuture.

PHILADELPHIA DIESEL DIFFERENCE ACTIVITIES UPDATE:

Eric has gotten in touch with the Asthma Bus and is working on setting up a meeting with Lubrizol to advance the retrofit project. Amtrak's project to retrofit 14 of its vehicles is currently being done. Eric notified the group that PDD's first newsletter is almost complete and should go out soon. He also said that the Council is working with the Borough of Marcus Hook on implementing diesel retrofits in the truck fleets that drive through. It was suggested that the Council might consider working with the port in Marcus Hook to retrofit tugboats that travel there, because they often use high sulfur content fuel. Finally, Eric noted that PA DEP's truck stop electrification project in Carlisle could be completed as early as the Fall of 2005.

SOUTHEASTERN PA CLEAN SCHOOL BUS COALITION:

Eric said that he learned of four more fleets that the Coalition had contacted about applying for Toyota Settlement money, which means up to 16 school districts may be under consideration for diesel retrofit funding. PDD sent a letter to U.S. EPA voicing concern that the Clean School Buses For Kids program was not open to privately owned school bus fleets. Steve Levy added that PDD was not the only one who communicated this. Eric also noted that Pennsylvania's Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant rebate program was recently amended by the State Legislature to include biofuels and to permit the DEP to increase rebate amounts. The next Coalition meeting was to meet right after the Working Group meeting.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES:

Eric said PDD would be submitting a proposal to Clean Water Action for Sunoco Settlement funding to cover a diesel retrofit project in Southwest Philadephia. Eric is also working with PDD Working Group members to submit up to two grants to EPA to fund a stationary diesel engine retrofit demonstration. Also, a contact at EPA has provided information on an upcoming grant opportunity called CARE (Community Action for a Renewed Environment) that PDD may be interested in.

MONTHLY PRESENTATION:

Patricia Passerella from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Mid-Atlantic Regional Office provided information on the Clean Cities program. The Department of Energy began this program in the early 1990s. Clean Cities are stakeholder-driven coalitions that seek to reduce the country's consumption of petroleum in order to reduce foreign oil dependency and to improve air quality. It does this primarily through the promotion of alternative fuel vehicles, but its mission has expanded to include anti-idling, fuel economy, fuel blends and hybrid electric vehicles. There are currently 85 coalitions across the country. The Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities Program, coordinated by Nathalie Shapiro of the Energy Cooperative Association of Pennsylvania, is among the oldest. Together the coalitions have been responsible for displacing 181 million gallons of oil and 32,000 metric tons of emissions each year. The primary focus of Clean Cities in Philadelphia has been CNG infrastructure, but it is also active in biofuels. A public E85 station is expected to be open soon in Philadelphia, which will make it the first urban ethanol station. The station will include a biodiesel pump.

U.S. DOE provides funding opportunities for Clean Cities Coalitions each year through its State Energy Program Special Projects program. This year the program is expected to offer money for alternative fuel school buses and other niche fleets, hybrid electric vehicles, and initiatives that promote better fuel economy. Other financial incentives that are available for alternative fuel vehicles include tax credits under the Clean Air Act, tax credits for biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel and money from the Department of Transportation. Also, U.S. DOE administers the Energy Policy Act which directs federal and state agencies to purchase a certain number of alternative fuel vehicles when adding new vehicles to their fleet each year.

Steve expressed approval with seeing the Clean Cities program moving its focus more towards biofuels. He noted that Sprague Energy is working on using a biodiesel/ULSD blend with diesel retrofit devices. Brett Alkins said Johnson Matthey is also studying using such a blend with its diesel retrofit equipment. Eric stressed the need to bring in more federal agencies to work with PDD, particularly where they share goals. Eric observed that PDD and the Clean Cities Program share a mutual interest in the following: marine vessels, anti-idling, biodiesel and hybrid electric technology.

NEXT MEETING AND LOCATION:

Going back to the Inquirer article, Eric pointed out that besides the piece Morris mentioned, there is a companion article about all the positive initiatives going in Philadelphia concerning diesel emission reduction. That article mentions PDD.

Eric announced that the next meeting will be held Monday, January 10, 2005. He passed around a list of all other 2005 meeting dates. All but May's meeting will be held at DVRPC's offices, unless PDD members are notified otherwise.