Salt Lake City seeks to improve air quality by limiting vehicle idling

SALT LAKE CITY — Van Turner rarely idles his vehicle longer than a minute.

The Salt Lake City councilman says that's about how long it takes the engine in his 1988 Jeep to sputter and die.

Though it's not necessarily by choice, Turner already is complying with a proposed city ordinance that would limit vehicle idling in Utah's capital city to less than two minutes.

The purpose of the ordinance is to improve air quality in the Salt Lake Valley. City officials say more than 50 percent of air pollution in the valley comes from vehicle exhaust.

"It isn't healthy for the community," Mayor Ralph Becker said during a City Council work session Tuesday.

If the City Council approves the ordinance as currently written, motorists idling their vehicles anywhere in the city for more than two minutes could be fined between $50 and $210, depending on the number of offenses and how quickly fines are paid.

Some council members say they would prefer that limit to be set at three minutes, which appears to be the standard among states, counties and cities that have passed anti-idling laws. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the issue Oct. 25.

Enforcement of the ordinance would follow a public awareness campaign and a grace period to make sure Salt Lake City residents and visitors understand the new law and the need for it, said Bianca Shreeve, assistant to the mayor's chief of staff.

According to the Salt Lake City Attorney's Office, the law also would apply to private property, meaning residents could be fined for idling their vehicles in their driveways for more than two or three minutes.

The likelihood of that happening, though, is very slim. Parking enforcement officers will be the ones writing the tickets, and there simply aren't enough of them to worry about motorists warming up their cars for longer than allowed by city ordinance.

Shreeve said enforcement likely will be complaint based. The hope is that the law will help educate people about the importance of turning off vehicles when idling isn't necessary.

Becker says that's already happening. People both for and against the proposed ordinance are talking about the idling policy, and it's raising awareness about idle-free practices, he said.

"The discussion alone over the past month or two has been a real positive," the mayor said.