Imposes restrictions on vehicle idling.

A1134

ASSEMBLY, No. 1134

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

SYNOPSIS

���� Imposes restrictions on vehicle idling.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning motor vehicle idling restrictions and
supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes
.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in
P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill):

���� �Autobus� means any bus of any
size or configuration, whether registered in this State or elsewhere, that is
designed or used for intrastate or interstate transportation of passengers for
hire or otherwise on a public road, street, or highway or any public or
quasi-public property in this State, including, but not limited to, autobuses
under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Department of Transportation pursuant
to Titles 27 or 48 of the Revised Statutes; autobuses of the New Jersey Transit
Corporation and its contract carriers; autobuses that are subject to federal
motor carrier safety regulations; school buses, as defined pursuant to R.S.39:1-1;
and hotel, casino, charter, and special buses.

���� "Diesel bus" means
any diesel-powered autobus or motorbus of any size or configuration, whether
registered in this State or elsewhere, that is designed or used for intrastate
or interstate transportation of passengers for hire or otherwise on a public
road, street, or highway or any public or quasi-public property in this State,
including, but not limited to, autobuses under the jurisdiction of the New
Jersey Department of Transportation pursuant to Titles 27 or 48 of the Revised
Statutes; autobuses of the New Jersey Transit Corporation and its contract;
autobuses that are subject to federal motor carrier safety regulations; school
buses, as defined pursuant to R.S.39:1-1; and hotel, casino, charter, and
special buses.

���� "Diesel engine"
means a compression ignition type of internal combustion engine.

���� "Diesel-powered"
means utilizing a diesel engine.

���� �Gasoline-powered motor
vehicle� means a vehicle powered in whole or in part by a hydrocarbon fuel
other than diesel fuel, including, but not limited to, gasoline, natural gas,
liquefied petroleum gas, or propane or powered by alcohol fuels, hydrocarbon-alcohol
fuel blends, or hydrogen.

���� �Motor vehicle� means all
vehicles propelled otherwise than by muscular power, excepting such vehicles as
run only upon rails or tracks, low-speed electric bicycles, low-speed electric
scooters, and motorized bicycles. �Motor vehicle� does not include electric
vehicles.

����

���� 2.��� a. No person shall cause
the engine of a diesel-powered motor vehicle to idle for more than two
consecutive minutes if the vehicle is not in motion, except:

���� (1) a motor vehicle that has
been stopped for three or more hours may idle for up to 15 consecutive minutes
when the ambient temperature is below 25 degrees Fahrenheit; and

���� (2) a diesel bus may idle for
up to 15 consecutive minutes during any 60-minute period while the bus is
actively discharging or picking up passengers.

���� b. No person shall cause any
emission control apparatus or element of design installed on any diesel-powered
motor vehicle or diesel engine to be disconnected, detached, deactivated, or in
any other way rendered inoperable or less effective, in respect to limiting or
controlling emissions than it was designed to be by the original equipment or
vehicle manufacturer, except for the purposes of diagnostics, maintenance,
repair or replacement and only for the duration of such operations.

���� c. The provisions of this
section shall not apply to:

���� (1) any motor vehicle idling
in traffic, or a motor vehicle other than a school bus idling in a queue of
motor vehicles, that are intermittently motionless and moving because the
progress of the motor vehicles in the traffic or the queue has been stopped or
slowed by the congestion of traffic on the roadway or by other conditions over
which the driver of the idling motor vehicle has no control;

���� (2) a motor vehicle whose
primary power source is utilized in whole or in part for necessary and
definitively prescribed mechanical operation other than propulsion, including,
but not limited to, operating lift gate pumps and controlling cargo temperature.�
This paragraph shall not apply to passenger compartment heating or passenger
compartment air conditioning;

���� (3) a motor vehicle being or
waiting to be examined by a State or federal motor vehicle inspector;

���� (4) a motor vehicle that is
actively engaged in the performance of� emergency services, including, but not
limited to, fire vehicles, police vehicles, public utility vehicles, military
tactical vehicles, and snow removal vehicles;

���� (5) a motor vehicle while it
is being repaired or serviced, provided that operation of the engine is
essential to the proper repair or service;

���� (6) a vehicle equipped with a
sleeper berth and which is equipped with a model year 2007 or newer engine, or
has been retrofitted with a diesel particulate filter that is connected and
properly functioning, while it is being used by the vehicle's operator for sleeping
or resting in an area that is not zoned as residential. This exception shall
not apply to a vehicle that is equipped with a functional auxiliary power unit;
or

���� (7) the operation of
technology designed to reduce engine idling, such as auxiliary power units,
generator sets, and bunk heaters, provided the vehicle's main engine is not
operating. �����

���� d. Any person who violates the
provisions of this section shall be subject to penalties pursuant to section 2
of P.L.1966, c.15 (C.39:3-70.2).

���� 3. a. No person shall cause
the engine of a gasoline-powered motor vehicle to idle for more than two
consecutive minutes if the vehicle is not in motion.

���� b.� The provisions of this
section shall not apply to:

���� (1) autobuses while actively
discharging or picking up passengers. This exemption is limited to 15
consecutive minutes in a 60-minute period;

���� (2)� motor vehicles idling in
traffic, or motor vehicles other than a school bus idling in a queue of motor
vehicles, that are intermittently motionless and moving because the progress of
the motor vehicles in the traffic or the queue has been stopped or slowed by
the congestion of traffic on the roadway or by other conditions over which the
driver of the idling motor vehicle has no control;

���� (3)� motor vehicles whose
primary or secondary power source is utilized in whole or in part for necessary
and definitively prescribed mechanical operation other than propulsion,�
including, but not limited to, operating lift gate pumps and controlling cargo
temperature. This paragraph shall not apply to passenger compartment heating or
passenger compartment air conditioning;

���� (4) motor vehicles being or
waiting to be examined by State or federal motor vehicle inspectors;

���� (5) motor vehicles that are
actively engaged in the performance of� emergency services, including fire
vehicles, police vehicles, public utility vehicles, military tactical vehicles
and snow removal vehicles;

���� (6)� motor vehicles while
being repaired or serviced, provided that operation of the engine is essential
to the proper repair or service; or

���� (7) motor vehicles
manufactured with a sleeper berth while being used, in a nonresidentially zoned
area, by the vehicle's operator for sleeping or resting, unless the vehicle is
equipped with a functional auxiliary power system designed in whole or in part
to maintain cabin or sleeper berth comfort or to mitigate cold weather start-up
difficulties.

���� c. In no case shall the
provisions of this section relieve any person from compliance with any
applicable local, State, or federal laws.

���� d. Any person who violates the
provisions of this section shall be subject to penalties pursuant to section 2
of P.L.1966, c.15 (C.39:3-70.2).

���� 4. a. Notwithstanding sections
2 and 3 of
P.L. , c. (C. and C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), no person shall cause the engine
of a motor vehicle to idle:

���� (1) for more than two
consecutive minutes when that vehicle is parked in a parking space with
available electrification technology or� in a residential, condominium,
townhouse development, or apartment complex; or

���� (2) with the exhaust pipe of
the motor vehicle facing toward any unit entrance, entryway, or window where the
parking space is within 50 feet in a townhome, condominium, or apartment
complex.

���� b.� In no case shall the
provisions of this section relieve any person from compliance with any
applicable local, State, or federal laws.

���� c.� Any person who violates
the provisions of this section shall be subject to penalties pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.1966, c.15 (C.39:3-70.2).

���� 5.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill bans
gasoline-powered and diesel-powered motor vehicles from idling for more than
two minutes with certain exceptions, including for traffic congestion on a
highway and for emergency service vehicles.� The bill is based on current
Department of Environmental Protection regulations and prohibits idling in
residential neighborhoods, condominiums, townhouse developments, and apartment
complexes, as well as focusing on creating buffer zones to protect entry ways
and windows leading into residences from exhaust fumes created during the
idling time period.

���� The bill also makes any
individual who violates the provisions of the bill subject to certain civil
administrative penalties.