March 21, 2005

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:

Alvaro Alvarado, U.S. EPA, Region 3
Emily Bockian Landsburg, The Energy Cooperative/Phila. Fry-o-Diesel
April Birnbaum
Ken Brown, Gordon College
Craig Caldwell, Amtrak
Ed Carreras, Synertec International
Ray Chalmers, U.S. EPA, Region 3
Eric Cheung, Clean Air Council/PDD
Morris Fine, AMS/PDD
Lionel Gillston, Diesel Engine Transformations LLP
John Hadalski, City of Philadelphia Water Department
Peg Hanna, NJ DEP
Darlene Heep, City of Philadelphia Law Department
Paula Krall, U.S. EPA, Region 3
Jack LeBeau, E Global Solutions
Bill Ross, Sprague Energy
Nathalie Shapiro, Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities
Arleen, Shulman, PA DEP
Shannon Slowey, City of Philadelphia Law Department
Chris Thomas, City of Philadelphia Managing Director's Office
Mike Turner, GE Transportation
Derek Williams, GE Transportation
Barbara Wilson, Krapf Bus Co.

MINUTES TAKEN BY:

Eric Cheung

INTRODUCTIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Morris noted that the legal issues concerning Philadelphia's Anti-Idling enforcement initiative have all been worked out. By the end of this week he expected the outreach material for the enforcement initiative to be finalized. The next step is to send these materials to fleets that operate in Philadelphia to notify them of the initiative. Morris said first-time violators would be given warnings, but by early May he expected that violators would be issued actual citations. Morris is looking to announce the new initiative publicly at a press event tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 20, 2005 in City Hall's Conversation hall. All PDD members will be invited. Expected speakers include city officials and the Parking Authority. Nathalie Shapiro asked whether idling fines could be directed to fund Anti-Idling projects. Morris explained that AMS penalties usually go to a penalty account in the Health Department. It may be possible to set aside funding from this account to be used for anti-idling efforts, though this has ever been done before. Usually penalty account money pays for air pollution control projects. At the moment, it is unclear where Parking Authority fines will go. Darlene Heep said the City is working out an agreement to address this issue. Morris added that anti-idling fines under the Traffic Code are limited to $300 maximum and that AMS cannot enforce violations under the Traffic Code. Violations under AMS's more stringent anti-idling regulations can result in much higher penalties (up to $25,000) because they were passed as part of the PA State Implementation Plan to bring the Philadelphia region into attainment with federal air quality standards. Eric reminded everyone that both regulations are available for review on the PDD website: http://www.cleanair.org/dieseldifference/regulations/index.html.

Morris said AMS, DEP, and EPA - as a follow-up to Alvaro's regional diesel emissions presentation given last Fall - met with the Port Authority. The group toured the Port and observed a number of potentially controllable sources of diesel emissions. The group will meet with the Port Authority again to discuss strategies to mitigate these emissions. Morris added that the group is working on putting together an EPA CARE grant proposal to help implement these strategies. John Hadalski recommended that the Port Authority go to an upcoming environmental conference on environmental management systems. Arleen Shulman clarified that the Philadelphia River Port Authority is not a city agency. When asked whether EPA is formally planning to issue a press release on its regional diesel emissions impact report, Alvaro replied no, but that EPA is satisfied that the information has been made publicly available through PDD.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP:
Eric noted that mailing went out to the Top 50 corporations in the Philadelphia region explaining PDD's Adopt-A-School Bus program and encouraging their participation. Eric handed out Adopt-A-School Bus brochures (available online: http://www.cleanair.org/dieseldifference/resources/AdoptBus.pdf) for PDD members to see and distributed a list of the companies who received this mailing. Morris explained that sending out letters is not enough to get corporate participation. He hoped for multiple contacts with some of these companies. Eric asked PDD members to review the list of Top 50 corporations to see if they had personal contacts in the organization who could provide assistance in getting corporate participation.

Eric also passed around the latest version of the PDD letterhead, which now recognizes those PDD members who provided financial contribution to support PDD's administration. John Hadalski suggested Eric contact governmental agencies individually to determine what the best procedure for getting membership contributions is.

PHILADELPHIA DIESEL DIFFERENCE ACTIVITIES UPDATE:
Amtrak's retrofit project is still proceeding. Eric noted that he will be meeting with mechanics for the Philadelphia Asthma Bus later today. The mechanics need to fill out paperwork before Lubrizol's Engine Control Systems can determine what type of retrofit device will work on the bus. West Chester School District's project to retrofit 6 buses is also continuing. U.S. EPA's funding for this project is being administered by PA DEP, which is distributing the money to West Chester as a sole source grant.

Eric updated the Working Group on Clean Air Council's statewide school bus anti-idling initiative. A fact sheet is now available, which he distributed to the members present. It can be downloaded at: http://www.cleanair.org/Transportation/idling/anti_idling%20factsheet.pdf. Eric alerted members to some upcoming events that PDD would be tabling at including Clean Air Council's 5K Run (April 16, 2005) and Earthfest 2005 at Temple's Ambler Campus (April 22, 2005). Eric is also working on presenting PDD at a future AQTAC (Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee) meeting.

CLEAN YELLOW BUS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA (CYBA) REPORT:
On March 10, 2005 Eric presented at the PA School Business Official's Annual Conference on clean diesel options for school buses. His presentation can be found on the web here: http://www.cleanair.org/dieseldifference/resources/2005%20PASBO%20Annual%20Conference.ppt. Eric reported excitement and enthusiasm from those who attended his mini-workshop. One person commented that he wished PDD could be replicated throughout the state.

Nathalie Shapiro mentioned that she would be appearing at U.S. EPA Region 3's upcoming Schools Summit, to be held April 7, 2005. She would be handing out materials from CYBA partners including PDD and Philadelphia Clean Cities. She also noted that a CYBA newsletter and mailing to school districts are still being planned.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES:
Currently, U.S. Department of Energy is offering grant money for Clean Cities projects through its State Energy Program Special Projects solicitation. Nathalie said that Philadelphia Clean Cities has three projects so far: 1) funding to assist PECO in its purchase of a hybrid/electric utility vehicle 2) administrative support for the Philadelphia Clean Cities Coordinator and 3) funding for biodiesel stations. Eric said there may be a possibility to apply for an electrification project at the Walt Whitman truck stop. He noted that Pottstown Borough is interested in purchasing hybrid-electric buses for its transit system, but is not in a position to apply for Clean Cities funding. Morris noted that AMS is in the midst of securing funding for diesel retrofits through a potential enforcement settlement with Sunoco.

TECHNICAL SUB-COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT:
Ray Chalmers chaired the March 2 meeting of the technical subcommittee to review North Penn School District's fuel pump failure issues. He started by reviewing the facts. North Penn has experienced more frequent fuel pump failures since using ULSD, but it is unclear whether there is a causal connection. The failures consist of two kinds: for 2004 engines the fuel is being restricted possibly due to filter plugging and for pre-1994 engines the failures have more to do with the seals. Seal failures were experienced in the early 1990s when diesel was desulfurized from 2,000 ppm, so this phenomenon relating to the introduction of ULSD may be similar. Cummins is covering the 2004 engine failures under its warranties, but not the pre-1994 failures. GM is covering all failures of its engines experienced by North Penn.

Ray said that the subcommittee is looking to get a bulletin from the Engine Manufacturer's Association concerning the early 1990 fuel pump failures that may provide insight into what North Penn has experienced. Also, Ray is looking for additional information from Cummins and GM, including any statements or bulletins they have issued that may be helpful. Once gathered this information will be made available to subcommittee members so that they can consider it when formulating recommendations. Arleen noted that because North Penn has not done any retrofits yet, its fuel pump failure problem should really be characterized as a fueling issue. More details about the subcommittee meeting can be found in the minutes to that meeting.

MONTHLY PRESENTATION:
Derek Williams and Mike Turner from General Electric's Transportation Division presented to the Working Group its low NOx technology solutions, including its auto-engine stop/start. Diesel engines do not actually propel locomotives, but rather power alternators that send electricity into traction motors for each of the locomotive wheels. Locomotives require 4,400 - 6,000 horsepower engines. Switcher units require 1,200 to 1,500 horsepower engines. Switcher units are smaller locomotives that connect train cars to the bigger locomotives that actually drive the trains. GE's Transportation Division is located in Erie. The engines are made in Grove City, Pennsylvania. 85% of all locomotives produced today in America are produced by GE. While General Motors is a competitor, it is leaving the industry.

Locomotives and switchers are subject to federal regulations. Currently, locomotives produce up to 110 tons of NOx per year and switchers produce up to 22 tons. The Northeast region of the country suffers from high NOx density, which is caused in part because of the presence of number of different train systems, including Amtrak, Norfolk, CSX, and local public transit. By 2007, locomotives and switchers will be subject to Tier 0 standards, which will dramatically reduce NOx emissions. Amtrak is aiming to be an early adopter in meeting Tier 0 requirements. GE Transportation offers solutions for all engines to meet Tier 0 standards including hardware solutions and purchasing NOx credits. Engines manufactured today by GE already meet Tier II requirements, but GE needs to look at after-market solutions for further reductions. There is a fuel efficiency penalty associated with reduced NOx emissions.

Locomotives have not used ULSD because the fuel does not have the lubricity quality needed for such engines. An agreement between the railroad industry and EPA requires that by 2007 locomotives will only use diesel with a sulfur content of 500 ppm or less, but not necessarily 15 ppm.

New technologies being developed by GE Transportation include a hybrid-electric diesel locomotive and the new Evolution diesel engine that already meets Tier 2 requirements and is designed to be modified for increased emission reductions.

AESS (Auto Engine Stop-Start) is the system developed by GE Transportation that Amtrak is implementing for trains based in Philadelphia. It is part of the strategy to getting Amtrak locomotives to be Tier 0 compliant. Basically the system works by shutting down the locomotive engine if it has been sitting idle for more than 10 minutes. Systems will only shut down so long as sub-systems are in operating conditions. For instance, because locomotives have no antifreeze, they need to remain running when temperatures are below 40 degrees. Currently, if a locomotive is not in operation, it is sitting in a yard running. AESS offers 1-3% fuel savings for locomotives and 8-10% for switchers. GE offers AESS for its own locomotives as well as competitor engines. AESS is primarily used for trains that sit in yards when not in operation. Passenger fleets can often rely on electrification at train stations. Payback for AESS systems is less than a year because of the fuel savings. The system costs between $8,000 and $10,000 per locomotive.

Locomotive engines have a 30-40 year life span. Short-line (commuter) rail trains can often be in place for up to 50 or 60 years.

GE Transportation also makes engines for marine vehicles and mining equipment as well as traction motors for wind turbines.

NEXT MEETING AND LOCATION:
The next meeting will be held April 18, 2005, the same week as the upcoming Anti-Idling Press Event.