BILL REQ. #:  S-1708.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/22/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to emissions from certain emergency power sources; and adding a new section to chapter 70.94 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 70.94 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Emergency engines or backup generators with a brake horsepower rating greater than two thousand are in compliance for use at hospitals, sewage treatment plants, data centers, and other vital public services without further state air quality requirements if the emergency engines:
     (a) Meet United States environmental protection agency emission standards;
     (b) Are fueled by ultra-low sulfur diesel or ultra-low sulfur biodiesel, with a sulfur content of fifteen parts per million or 0.0015 percent sulfur by weight or less; and
     (c) Are operated for maintenance, testing, or other nonemergency use:
     (i) A maximum of fifty hours per year;
     (ii) Only during daylight hours; and
     (iii) Only one at a time.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, an emergency engine means a new, diesel-fueled, stationary compression ignition engine that is:
     (a) Installed for the primary purpose of providing electrical power or mechanical work during an emergency and is not the source of primary power at the facility; and
     (b) Operated to provide electrical power or mechanical work during an emergency under the following conditions: (i) The failure or loss of all or part of normal power service to a facility and the failure or loss of normal power service is beyond the control of the facility; or (ii) the failure or loss of all or part of a facility's internal power distribution system.