Cutting energy waste in idling vehicles. (Environment).(Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Transportation and Air Quality fields research applications)

EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) has been fielding applications for research that will identify ways to reduce fuel waste and air emissions due to vehicle idling. While the Bush NEP (National Energy Plan) specifically addressed truck idling, OTAQ finds that reducing locomotive idling is also consistent with the NEP's intentions, and is including locomotive idling as a significant means of meeting the NEP's directive. Efforts to reduce idling also yield an array of other potential benefits beyond emissions and fuel reductions, including reduced preventative maintenance and oil change costs, reduced noise levels, improved driver rest and health, and enhanced business/community relations.

In the area of truck idling emissions, the precise number of trucks in the country that idle is difficult to determine with …