By Walter Yost, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Dec. 11--Hundreds of them stand silently by in the Sacramento Valley, ready to kick into action during an emergency.
Most of the time, the innocuous-looking diesel generators, used as a backup electricity supply, go unnoticed by the public.
But recently, the generators and their pollutants are sparking concern at local and state levels.
At Sacramento Waldorf School in Fair Oaks, parents are fighting for tougher emission controls on a generator near the campus. They say whenever the generator operates, students are exposed to the dangers of diesel exhaust.
And in downtown Sacramento, a hearing today will focus on proposed regulations to protect Californians from stationary diesel engine emissions.
'These are pretty strict standards,' said Gennet Paauwe, a spokeswoman for the California Air Resources Board, which will meet at 8:30 a.m. at 1001 I St.
California has more than 26,000 stationary diesel engines, of which 19,700 are backup generators.
Unlike diesel-powered vehicles, most diesel backup generators, often referred to as 'BUGS,' operate with little or no pollution controls because they are intended only for emergency use.
Kate Larsen, co-author of a report last year on the state's diesel backup generators, said it's time someone regulated the engines.
'BUGS are stealth polluters, and we need to bring them under closer scrutiny to protect our air quality and health, especially that of our at-risk populations like schoolchildren and the elderly,' said Larsen, with the conservation group Environmental Defense.
Her report says the Sacramento Valley has 544 backup generators, with clusters in downtown Sacramento and along Highway 50 in Rancho Cordova.
Diesel backup generators also can be found on school campuses. The Folsom Cordova Unified School District has backup generators at both of its high school stadiums. The Sacramento City Unified district has generators on five campuses.
Environmental Defense's 'BUGS Mapper' shows locations of backup generators in several state air quality control districts, including Sacramento's. The Web site is www.environmentaldefense.org/bugs/.
For several years, California Air Resources Board staff members have worked with environmental and health groups and diesel industry representatives on rules to reduce health hazards from stationary diesel engines.
A recent Air Resources Board report states that a stationary diesel engine without emissions controls and operating as little as 200 hours a year 'can result in a potential significant cancer risk.'
Changes recommended by the board's staff include requiring the use of best available emission-control technology or reducing the non-emergency operating hours of stationary diesel engines.
Today's hearing, Paauwe said, will discuss proposals to regulate stationary diesel engines, including backup generators. The board is not expected to take final action until early next year.
Of particular interest to Waldorf School parents like Aimee Merrill are measures to safeguard children, the group most vulnerable to developing asthma or other respiratory ailments from air pollution.
The proposals would limit the hours per year that generators can operate for testing and maintenance to 30, and prohibit engines at schools from running during school hours, except in emergencies. The board also likely will consider restrictions on generators near schools.
Any regulation cutting emissions is welcome, Merrill said. She and other Waldorf parents are appealing a decision by the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District to issue a permit for a diesel engine they say was illegally installed next to the school.
The backup engine, part of a wastewater pumping station operated by the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District, helps prevent sewage from spilling during power outages.
But the parents say the engine had been operating without a permit since 1999 when it was installed. They argue that the engine should be retrofitted to reduce the health threat to children and neighbors.
At a hearing before the local air district's appeals board last month, Richard Drury, an attorney representing the parents, said new technology can lower engine emissions by 90 percent.
'We should do it for the sake of the kids,' said parent Eric Richmond.
Ron Linden, a senior civil engineer for the sanitation district, said his agency failed to apply for a permit. But of the 31 emergency engines his department operates, Linden said the generator near Waldorf School is 'the only one that fell through the crack.'
During the past three years, Linden said, the generator has run an average of 27 hours per year -- far less than the 200 hours allowed by a permit. He said this week that his department decided to run the engine for testing and maintenance only before school hours.
Drury said he wants the air district either to require that the engine be retrofitted or to curtail the number of hours it can operate.
The air district staff members say their restrictions on operating hours are already among the most stringent in the state.
District legal counsel Kathy Pittard said the district will look at options for emission controls before the next hearing, Jan. 15.
Regarding efforts to place more restrictions on backup diesel generators, one industry spokeswoman cautioned that the public needs to keep in mind the purpose of such engines -- to provide power during emergencies.
'If it weren't important for there to be continuous power, there would be no need for emergency generators,' said Pamela Jones, of the Diesel Technology Forum.
'What we're looking at is a balance,' she said. 'BUGS provide vital functions with very little hours of operation,' she said.
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(c) 2003, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
