California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 160

Introduced by Assembly Member Hadley

March 30, 2016

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 160—Relative to vehicular air pollution.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 160, as introduced, Hadley. Motor vehicle idling: children.

This measure would encourage motorists to not idle their motor vehicles near places where children congregate.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Idling of motor vehicles contributes to global
warming and is linked to asthma, decreased lung function, cardiac
disease, cancer, and other serious health problems; and

WHEREAS, Children’s lungs are still developing and are
especially at risk of developing health problems when they are
exposed to elevated levels of pollutants. Monitoring at schools has
shown higher levels of benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and
other air toxics during the afternoon hour coinciding with parents
picking up their children; and

WHEREAS, Asthma is the most common chronic illness among
children, the largest cause of school absences, and is the third
leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of
15 years; and

WHEREAS, An idling car wastes about half a gallon of gasoline
per hour, and a gallon of burned fuel emits about 20 pounds of
carbon dioxide; and

WHEREAS, One minute of idling puts more carbon monoxide
into the air than smoking three packs of cigarettes; and

WHEREAS, Idling produces between 10 and 12 percent more
emissions than driving for the same amount of gas used due to
incomplete combustion and ineffective operation of the catalytic
converter; and

WHEREAS, Idling motor vehicles emit particulate matter,
nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide; and

WHEREAS, On a daily basis, Americans may be burning as
much as 3.8 million gallons of gasoline from voluntary idling,
resulting in about 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Annually, the
cumulative effect is the useless burning of 1.4 billion gallons of
gasoline and the emission of 13 million tons of carbon dioxide;
and

WHEREAS, Most people waste one to two tanks of gas every
year by idling, and one hour of gasoline engine idle time equals
33 miles of driving; and

WHEREAS, A common myth is that idling is better than turning
the car on and off, but idling is actually bad for the car. It is better
to turn off the car if the driver is going to idle for more than 10
seconds because it takes about 10 seconds worth of fuel to restart
the car. This uses less gas, increases fuel efficiency, and is better
for the car; and

WHEREAS, An engine runs at less than ideal operating
temperature when idling, which causes water vapor to accumulate
in the exhaust system and leads to corrosion; and

WHEREAS, California prohibits school bus idling for any
amount of time at schools and within 100 feet of a school (Section
39640 of the Health and Safety Code and Section 2480 of Article
1 of Chapter 10 of Division 3 of Title 13 of the California Code
of Regulations); and

WHEREAS, At least 27 other states and the District of Columbia
have laws imposing restrictions on idling at schools; now,
therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature encourages motorists to
not idle their motor vehicles near places where children congregate,
such as schools and parks; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.