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Contractors are working to adjust to new rules requiring cleaner diesel equipment on sizable city of Portland construction projects.

The city’s rules are for its projects with values greater than $1 million. The requirements are phased to take effect beginning Jan. 1, 2020, through Jan. 1, 2026.

Multnomah County and other local agencies have been involved in ongoing work on the rules and are expected to follow by adopting similar requirements.

Portland’s Clean Air Construction Procurement Standard, approved by the City Council in December, requires significant particulate matter emission reductions from older diesel engines. The rules apply to non-road diesel equipment with 25 horsepower or more, and road-going dump and cement trucks.

Diesel emissions contribute to soot and ground-level ozone, and are classified as a potential human carcinogen. Diesel emissions have been linked to lung conditions, autism and neurodegenerative disease, according to public health authorities.

In Portland, 65 percent of diesel emissions come from non-road equipment 鈥� mostly from the construction industry, according to the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

North and Northeast Portland had particularly high levels of diesel particulates, according to the biennial Portland Air Toxics Study in 2017. Beaverton, Aloha and Hillsboro also fared poorly.

Yet for small contractors, upgrades to cleaner equipment may be an economic burden, some industry officials said.

鈥淲hen you consider that about 80 percent of the contractors in Oregon are small businesses, it’s pretty easy to conclude that the impact would be substantial, if not devastating,鈥� said Mike Salsgiver, executive director of the Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter.

Contractors are in the process of conducting a survey of diesel equipment, Salsgiver said. 鈥淥ur advice would be to await the outcome of that data,鈥� he said.

The AGC chapter did not comment on the city’s diesel standard, Salsgiver said.

鈥淲e have not, frankly, been engaged in that process, and for that matter the city didn’t reach out to us,鈥� he said.

AGC has been more engaged with policy development concerning diesel emissions at the state level than at the local level, Salsgiver said.

Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, the Port of Portland, Metro and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality have also been involved in the effort to reduce construction emissions. Multnomah County is expected to soon become the second jurisdiction to issue diesel rules.

Portland will house the program in the Office of Procurement Services.

鈥淧ortland has the highest volume of construction across the region,鈥� said Kyle Diesner, climate action program coordinator for the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. 鈥淚n general, the city does the most construction work, so it made sense for our procurement office to house the program.鈥�

A rule to limit idling will take effect first in Portland. Non-road diesel equipment must be shut off after it has been idling unused for five minutes. By Jan. 1, 2024, no pre-2007 engines will be allowed.

California has enacted a similar standard for 25 horsepower equipment. Portland originally proposed a 100-horsepower standard, but lowered it to meet California’s threshold to ensure the city doesn’t become a secondary market for older, dirtier equipment.

City officials also found a significant number of excavators fall below 100 horsepower, Diesner said.

鈥淩esearch has shown it’s the earthmoving equipment that has the biggest impact in terms of diesel emissions,鈥� he said.

The rules are likely to spark a round of spending by construction firms on pollution-control technology, new equipment or engine overhauls, or equipment that doesn’t burn diesel, such as electric or propane-powered equipment.

As the standard spreads throughout the Portland-metro region, the cleaner equipment will also be used on more private-sector projects, Diesner said.

鈥淲e think as contractors make these investments, they will be using this cleaner equipment on private-sector jobs,鈥� he said.

The city is pursuing funding to help disadvantaged minority-owned, women-owned and emerging small businesses upgrade their equipment to comply with the new rules. Some funding could come from Oregon’s portion of the Volkswagen emissions settlement 鈥� if approved by the Legislature 鈥� and from federal diesel emissions reduction grants.