FuelPub.com |

Waste Management of Massachusetts, Inc., has been fined $27,200 for excessive idling at its Stoughton, Taunton, and West Boylston, Massachusetts depots. This is the third time in 2008 that the Region 1 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined waste haulers in Massachusetts for violating the Commonwealth’s 5-minute idling rule. Fines collected from Capitol Waste Services, Allied Waste Services, and Waste Management of Massachusetts have totaled $329,500 in penalties for idling violations in this year alone. EPA inspected numerous locations where trucks park in an effort to reduce habitual and systematic idling of fleets, especially in heavily populated areas. Specifically, EPA inspected Waste Management trucks in Attleboro, Sandwich, Stoughton, Taunton, West Boylston, and Woburn. Although idling to perform required engine-on vehicle safety checks is generally permitted, excessive idling often occurs out of habit or due to outdated assumptions about engine function. Taking steps to improve arrival and departure logistics as well as to change driver behavior will not only help companies protect the health of their drivers and the surrounding community, but also will save fuel and money, according to EPA.

As part of the settlements, Waste Management and Allied Waste have agreed to make operational changes to minimize future idling. Waste Management has retrained its drivers about the State idling rule and will inspect all its Massachusetts facilities daily. Allied will train drivers, post signage, inspect yards twice daily, and insure that automatic engine shutoff devices are working properly in Brockton, Fall River, Quincy, and Revere – the four Allied locations cited for violations. Both companies will submit quarterly compliance reports to EPA. Five New England States (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island) have idling laws, and EPA has the authority to help enforce limits in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. EPA’s enforcement efforts are complemented by assistance to help vehicle operators find alternatives to idling. More information about Region 1’s anti-idling activity can be found at http://www.epa.gov/region1/eco/diesel/idling.html. Source: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6d651d23f5a91b768525735900400c28/6f2f7efc68df442f852574f100659f23!OpenDocument