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EPA West Coast Collaborative announces more than $2 million in grants to reduce harmful diesel emissions in western states and Pacific Island territories

Release Date: 12/19/2013
Contact Information: Nahal Mogharabi, [email protected], 213-244-1815

San Francisco– The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced over $2.2 million in Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) grants to partners along the West Coast and Pacific Island Territories. The 14 grants are administered through the West Coast Collaborative, an EPA Region9 and Region 10 public-private partnership aimed at reducing diesel emissions and leveraging an additional $6 million from public, private and nonprofit partners.

The EPA-funded projects will clean up 93 medium- and heavy-duty diesel engines, and reduce over 262 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 16 tons of particulate matter (PM) and 8,317 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) over the life of the projects.

“Public-private partnerships like the West Coast Collaborative continue to advance emission reductions,” said Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator for EPA’s Pacific Southwest Office. “By promoting clean diesel technologies, we can save lives locally and play a leadership role on climate change globally.”

“These grants will help deploy clean technologies and provide immediate emissions reductions in communities where these older diesel engines operate, many of which face environmental justice challenges,” said Dennis McLerran, Regional Administrator for EPA’s Pacific Northwest Office.

Investments in diesel emission reductions lead to significant public health benefits. Every dollar invested in clean diesel projects, generates between $7 and $18 in public health benefits. Leveraging federal resources with the private sector helps achieve even greater benefits.

In addition to the important health benefits of reducing emissions from diesel engines, there are also climate change co-benefits. Black carbon, found in the particulate matter emitted from diesel engines influences climate by directly absorbing light, reducing the reflectivity (“albedo”) of snow and ice through deposition, and interacting with clouds. More information about black carbon can be found on the EPA website at https://www.epa.gov/blackcarbon.

The 2013 West Coast Collaborative DERA grant projects are summarized, below:

California Air Resources Board (CARB) received $205,152 to install diesel particulate filter (DPF) retrofits on heavy-duty diesel school buses.

Pima Association of Governments received $150,000 to replace heavy-duty diesel school buses with compressed natural gas (CNG) and propane (LPG) buses.

Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) received $391,614 to replace heavy-duty diesel refuse trucks with compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks running on renewable natural gas (RNG) generated from food waste, and heavy-duty diesel agricultural tractors with equipment that meets, or exceeds U.S. EPA’s Tier 4 exhaust emission standards for nonroad compression-ignition engines.

South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) received $391,613 to replace older diesel school buses with fully electric and compressed natural gas (CNG) powered school buses in the South Coast air basin.

Port of Oakland received $415,932 to repower diesel rubber tire gantry cranes with Ecocrane™ Hybrid Electric Power.

Arizona Governor’s Office of Energy Policy received $81,993 to repower older construction equipment with at least Tier 3 engines.

Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) received $75,442 to replace an older model year public fleet vehicle with a 2011 model year vehicle.

Guam Environmental Protection Agency received $17,978 to retrofit school buses with exhaust treatment technologies.

Commonwealth Utilities Corporation - Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) received $26,677 to retrofit power generation units to enable fueling with ULSD.

American Samoa Power Authority received $17,978 to offset the cost of purchasing cleaner fuel for use in power generation and trucking fleets.

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) received $200,000 to replace diesel short haul trucks with liquefied natural gas trucks.

Columbia River Corridor Association received $216,349 to replace drayage trucks.

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) received $116,172 to replace yard dump trucks

Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) received $77,448 to retrofit school buses with emissions controls.

In addition, EPA expects to award grants next month to two Pacific Northwest Tribes that have been selected to receive 2013 DERA funding.

More information about these DERA grants can be found at: http://www.westcoastcollaborative.org. For more information about the National Clean Diesel Campaign, please visit: http://epa.gov/cleandiesel

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