What will the MBTA do to limit diesel locomotive emissions?
All MBTA diesel locomotives systemwide will be modified as required to comply with new EPA regulations limiting locomotive emissions. These regulations take effect in 2007 and when fully phased in by 2010 will reduce nationwide locomotive emissions of NOx by two-thirds and emissions of hydrocarbons and particulates by half. In fact, the MBTA has already begun to implement these new measures nearly a decade ahead of the deadline. In addition, the MBTA is now using Low Sulfur Diesel on all of its trains, nearly four years ahead of the deadline switching to that fuel type. These two voluntary measures as well as others, provide even greater air quality benefits than what were originally anticipated for the Greenbush line, so much so that the very small increases in NOx described above may not in fact, occur.
