Chapter 160 of the General Laws as appearing in the 2014 official edition is hereby amended by inserting after Section 252 the following new sections:-

Section 253: Stopped locomotives; operation of engine; time limit; penalty

No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the operation of the engine of a locomotive while said locomotive is stopped for a foreseeable period of time in excess of ninety minutes while said locomotive is stopped in a residential area.  This section shall not apply to (a) locomotives being serviced, provided that the operation of the engine is essential to the proper repair thereof, or (b) locomotives engaged in the delivery or acceptance of goods, wares, or merchandise for which engine assisted power is necessary and substitute alternate means cannot be made available, or (c) locomotives engaged in an operation for which the engine power is necessary for an associate power need other than movement and substitute alternate power means cannot be made available provided that such operation does not cause or contribute to a condition of air pollution or significant disturbance of said residential areas. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars for the first offense, nor more than five hundred dollars for each succeeding offense.

Section 254: The department of transportation, hereinafter the department, shall post signs relating to prohibited idling where practicable and include the maximum penalty that may be imposed for a violation of Section 253 herein.  Said signs shall be posted at other appropriate locations throughout the state, as determined by the department, including but not limited to, locations for which a municipality receives a substantial number of complaints of idling locomotive engines.

This act shall take effect 180 days following passage.