It's hard to believe but off-road construction vehicles are not subject to vehicle emission standards. There are 200,000 of them in New England alone. The Massachusetts Highway Department will pay about $11,000 per vehicle to install catalytic converters and particulate filters on 70 contractor-owned backhoes, cranes, and other equipment on the Central Artery-Third Harbor Tunnel project, retrofitting 25 percent of the equipment on the Big Dig. This will eliminate pollution equivalent to that from 1,300 diesel buses.
"This is a model for other major construction projects across the country," says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's John DeVillars. The state's voluntary action could help it comply with federal air pollution standards which are likely to toughen soon.
Source: GreenClips: greenclips@aol.com
