Freight Movement & Air Quality: Extending the Freight Planning Agenda

1. Freight Movement & Air Quality: Extending the Freight Planning Agenda Talking Freight Presentation March 21, 2012 Alan Jones Tennessee Department of Transportation Rebecca Watts Hull Mothers & Others for Clean Air

2. Freight Movement & Air Quality • SEDC and the Freight Mobility Committee • Diesel Emissions & Nonattainment • Diesel Emissions & Public Health • Freight Movement "Hotspots" • Reducing Emissions from Freight

3. SEDC & Freight Planning Committee • Southeast Diesel Collaborative (SEDC): A voluntary, public-private partnership of leaders from federal, state and local government, the private sector and other stakeholders working together to reduce diesel emissions.  • SEDC is part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Clean Diesel Campaign. • SEDC Freight Planning Committee: • Formed in 2010 to identify and pursue strategies for integrating air quality and exposure reduction into freight planning • Spurred by anticipated increase in goods movements in the region due to projected freight growth & Panama Canal expansion

4. Diesel Emissions & Nonattainment • The Southeast Context • Many counties in Southeast nonattainment for PM 2.5 and/or ozone • New designations coming for 1997 ozone standard • More stringent ozone standard likely in a few years (70 ppb or less) • Two factors will increase freight-related emissions • Projected growth in national freight volume • Studies estimate over 2% a year • Increased freight volume in SE region due to Panama Canal expansion • “Legacy” fleet of 20 million diesel engines • Companies delaying truck replacement • Fleet turnover to cleaner engines will take years

5. Diesel Emissions & Public Health Diesel soot particle Source: Clean Air Task Force, Diesel and Health in America: The Lingering Threat, 2006 Nationally, diesel exhaust poses a cancer risk that is 3 times higher than the risk from the 181 air toxics tracked by EPA combined. (CATF)

6. PM2.5 (2.5 µm) PM10 (10µm) Diesel Emissions & Public Health Diesel exhaust is a major source of fine and ultrafine PM Human hair cross section (70 µm) Fine Particulate Matter: Complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets Ultra-Fine Particulate Matter: Even smaller Not yet regulated but may be even more dangerous M. Lipsett, California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

7. Increased rates of asthma Reduced lung function growth More ER visits and higher mortality for people with asthma Emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia, sinusitis Diesel Emissions & Public Health Respiratory Disease In Utero • Slowed fetal growth • DNA damage • Infant mortality • Cancers • Lung cancer • Bladder cancer Additional Risks Heart Disease • Nervous system impairment • Stroke • Increased circulatory and cardiovascular risk for diabetics

8. Who is affected? Children & seniors People with respiratory and cardiac illnesses People living, working or commuting near “hotspots” Highways and busy intersections Rail yards, airports, marine ports, bus terminals Commuters (bus and diesel train riders, pedestrians, cyclists and car passengers) Diesel Emissions & Public Health

9. Who is affected? Goods movement (rail and truck) is not evenly distributed

10. Who is affected? Health risks from diesel soot are closely associated with goods movement Diesel Health Risk Lowest Impact Highest Impact Courtesy of Clean Air Task Force

11. Freight movement "Hotspots" Ports and distribution centers

12. Freight movement "Hotspots" Freight Corridors

13. Freight movement "Hotspots" Freight corridors may pass very close to schools, senior centers, businesses-- One-third of U.S. public schools are located close enough to major roadways for exposure to air pollution to be a concern. How many of these “major roadways” are freight corridors? Appatova, Alexandra S., Ryan, P. H., LeMasters, G. K., Grinshpun, S. A., 2008. Proximal exposure of public schools and students to major roadways: a nationwide US survey. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 51 (5), 631-646.

14. Freight Movement "Hotspots" Urban Freight Centers Rail yards Distribution Centers

15. How Close is Too Close (to roadway diesel emissions)? Health Effects Institute: <500 meters (1640 feet) CHPAC: Screen ½ mile; exclude site if closer than 1,000 feet California law: Schools cannot be built < 500 feet from busy roadway/highway Freight movement "Hotspots" Image courtesy of Clean Air Task Force

16. Freight Planning AQ Solutions: Big Picture • Air quality as part of freight planning at every level • Make air quality improvement a major goal of all freight planning efforts • Transportation agencies’ goal of reducing congestion is complementary to the goal of reducing diesel emissions • Identify opportunities during freight planning for air quality improvements • Emphasize strategies that address freight bottlenecks and heavily traveled corridors • Elevate the funding priority of projects that address bottlenecks

17. Freight Planning Air Quality Solutions • Examples: Staying Ahead of Capacity to Reduce Bottlenecks; encouraging mode shift Georgia Ports Authority Investing $36 million in rail infrastructure expansion Miami-Dade County, USDOT, FDOT & FEC Investing $49 million in Freight/Rail Restoration: avoiding 34 million gallons of fuel over next 20 years

18. Freight Planning AQ Solutions: Big Picture • Green Corridors • Green corridors an SEDC (regional) priority • Help establish green infrastructure along interstate corridors to reduce environmental impacts • Establish biofuel infrastructure to increase biofuel availability (e.g., B20 biodiesel blend) • Provide incentives for truck stop electrification and auxiliary power units to reduce extended idling • Electric vehicle charging infrastructure

19. Freight Planning AQ Solutions: State/MPO • Integrating AQ Considerations into Planning • MPOS and state freight plans should take into consideration the following, when developing freight routes and plans: • Areas where people live and work: Inhabitants of buildings located closer than 300 m to the edge of the road may be exposed to roadway exhaust. • Pedestrian traffic volume: Reducing truck traffic in areas with heavy pedestrian use can alleviate safety concerns as well as air pollution exposures. • Commuter traffic volume: Avoiding heavy commuter routes or encouraging off-peak use of the highways & interstates can reduce congestion and also diesel exhaust exposures for car passengers (some cities have designated car-only roads).

20. Freight Planning Air Quality Solutions • Communities with a high proportion of young children, seniors, or a combination of the two, should receive special consideration. • Roadways with schools and day care facilities located in close proximity to traffic are not good options for freight corridors.

21. Reducing Local Exposures • Miami-Dade County example: Density of senior citizens was considered in prioritizing waste hauler retrofits 5-10K 5-10K >10,000 >10,000

22. Reducing Exposures: Mitigation • If there are no good alternatives for redirecting a freight route, in some cases exposures can be mitigated. • Roadway configuration affects downwind exposures • Vegetative barriers may reduce fine and ultrafine PM exposures • Strategic location of air intakes and the use of filtration devices on buildings can reduce exposure to occupants living near heavy freight corridors

23. Improving Air Quality: Opportunities • Survey state, local and regional transportation agencies for existing studies identifying trucking patterns and needs • Identify strategic locations for truck parking facilities and seek competitive funding opportunities as a region • Develop comprehensive recommendations to include in all MPO and state freight mobility plans • Improve integration of MPO, state and regional planning • Continue federal funding to speed up emission reductions through retrofit projects • Partner with communities disproportionately affected to problem-solve local challenges

24. Improving Air Quality: Opportunities • Develop virtual freight networks as part of ITS and Transportation System Management and Operations • Establish software application to provide “load matching” for shippers and truckers to alleviate “deadheading” of empty trucks • Establish performance measures (e.g., VMT reduction) and emissions reductions monitoring • Support clustering of distribution center facilities to support more rail/intermodal use and economic development • Zoning laws and incentives • Innovative strategies such as off-peak delivery schemes or ship to rail projects that eliminate need for drayage truck operations

25. Contact Information • Thank you for your interest and attention! • Rebecca Watts HullMothers & Others for Clean Air • rebecca@mocleanair.org • Alan Jones • Tennessee Department of Transportation • Long Range Planning Division • alan.jones@tn.gov