The Port Townsend City Council approved an ordinance banning vehicle idling in city limits for more than three minutes, with exceptions for extreme temperatures, emergency service vehicles, and other …
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The Port Townsend City Council approved an ordinance banning vehicle idling in city limits for more than three minutes, with exceptions for extreme temperatures, emergency service vehicles, and other situations.
Drivers who breach the potential new rule could receive a maximum punishment of a $50 fine for committing a civil infraction.
The ordinance was unanimously given the green light by the city council during its June 6 business meeting. It will return to the city council for second reading and possible approval at a later date.
Students from Port Townsend High School’s Students for Sustainability proposed the vehicle idling ban to councilmembers back in May, and city staff worked with the teens to put the ordinance together.
The ordinance comes with exceptions for emergencies and health-related situations.
The idling ban will not be enforced when a motor vehicle is stopped by police, if idling is needed for the health and safety of the driver or passenger, in extreme weather conditions (below 30 degrees or above 85 degrees), for authorized emergency or law enforcement to operate equipment, for repair or maintenance of a motor vehicle, and other niche situations.
Supporters of the ban stressed the damage idling vehicles pose to the environment.
A single hour of car idling wastes a half-gallon of fuel, releases 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, and contributes to ground-level ozone, according to the U.S. Department of Ecology.
At a larger scale, yearly personal vehicle idling wastes around 3 billion gallons of fuel per year and generates approximately 30 million tons of carbon dioxide.
While potential rule-breakers of the new ordinance could be handed a $50 fine for idling for over three minutes, the intent of Students for Sustainability and the city is rather to educate the public on the harmful effects that idling for long periods of time can produce.
In the ordinance, the city expressed that rather than issue punitive measures like fines, most of the enforcement of the idling ban will be through education and information.
