State OK's deal to cut bus emissions

Massachusetts has agreed to pay $22.5 million to dramatically reduce air pollution from every public school bus and regional transit bus in the state within four years, a landmark deal designed to offset pollution from the Big Dig, according to state officials.

The state's executive offices of Environmental Affairs and Transportation is scheduled to announce the agreement today. It also includes a promise to connect the two separate MBTA Silver Line bus service routes by building a tunnel under downtown by 2016.

"This will significantly reduce pollution," said state Environmental Secretary Robert W. Golledge Jr. "It's truly a remarkable effort."

Some 7,800 diesel-powered school buses and 600 regional transit buses will be retrofitted with filters that are expected to ultimately reduce emissions by as much as 90 percent when used with a cleaner fuel many of the vehicles now use.

The agreement adds to a major effort across the country to lower diesel pollution from buses that belch soot into the air. Tiny soot particulates can cause respiratory ailments and exacerbate asthma, one of the most common diseases in children. Youngsters are particularly at risk from bus diesel pollution because their lungs are still developing and they spend so much time on school buses and waiting at bus stops.

The state has already retrofitted its MBTA buses with the filters or switched them to natural gas to reduce emissions.

The Boston Public Schools system has also reduced diesel pollution from its bus fleet. But many communities, while eager to retrofit buses, have been financially unable to do so, state officials say.

The agreement is to compensate the public for long construction delays in the Silver Line, which was designed to offset any increased vehicle or construction pollution from the $14.6 billion Big Dig tunnel and highway project by connecting Dudley Square to Logan Airport. The line is only partially complete, with two unconnected bus routes.

The final piece -- connecting them under the city -- has been delayed in large part because the state has not secured federal funds to do so. Originally, the state anticipated securing funding by 2005.

"This retrofitting is a great plan," said Carrie Russell, a staff attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, an advocacy group that has fought to make sure the state abides by its Big Dig environmental promises. She said she has not seen the agreement and still wants to make sure it meets the air quality goals laid out in 1990.

"But the reason retrofitting these buses is so important to children is that they are exposed, potentially for long periods of time, to bus exhaust. It will have an immediate improvement," said Russell.

In recent months, other Big Dig-related environmental projects have been resolved after years of delay and bickering.

In a lawsuit settlement last month, state officials agreed to design a $264 million tunnel connecting the MBTA's Blue and Red lines, and guaranteed an extension of the Green Line to Medford and Somerville and the reconstruction of the Fairmount commuter rail line running through Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury. State officials also agreed to an expedited schedule to finish the Greenbush commuter rail and modernize Blue Line stations, and to hold public hearings on how to improve transit and air quality along the Arborway corridor, according to Russell.

As part of the deal, the state's transportation agency will pay $7.5 million annually in 2007, 2008, and 2009 to retrofit the buses.