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Agencies Selected to Receive Almost $5 Million in Diesel Emission Reduction Grants

Release Date: 09/24/2008
Contact Information: EPA Region 7 - David Bryan, 913-551-7433, [email protected]; OOIDA - Tom Weakley, 816-229-5791 or 800-444-5791; Grace Hill - Barbara Kasten, 314-584-6904; Missouri Department of Natural Resources - Renee Bungart, 573-751-4465; Iowa Department of Natural Resources - Mindy Kralicek, 515-281-7832; Kansas Department of Health and Environment - Mike Heideman, 785-296-4363; Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality - Brian McManus, 402-471-4223

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Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., Sept. 24, 2008) - Region 7 organizations have been selected to receive in excess of $4.8 million in Clean Diesel Program funds to reduce diesel emissions in the region's four states under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA).

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), headquartered in Grain Valley, Mo., was selected to receive a $1.13 million grant as part of the national Smartway Clean Diesel Finance Program. OOIDA plans to rebate small business truckers approximately 40 percent of the purchase price of auxiliary power units, engine replacements, retrofits, and other devices that cut diesel emissions. OOIDA was one of three Finance Program grants awarded nationally.

Three agencies from Region 7 have been selected to receive funding as part of the Blue Skyways Collaborative competitive process for the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. The Blue Skyways Collaborative includes EPA Regions 6 and 7 and encourages voluntary emission reduction programs in America's Heartland Corridor. Six grants totaling more than $4.7 million were awarded as part of the competitive process in the 10-state Blue Skyways region. These funds leverage an additional $4.8 million in matching funds to reduce emissions. Blue Skyways incorporates ten states: Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is selected to receive $1,525,524 to reduce diesel fleet emissions in the Kansas City Metro area and Wichita. KDHE hopes to develop proactive measures to reduce ozone precursor emissions, particulate matter and air toxics. KDHE and the Kansas State Pollution Prevention Institute (PPI) will work with two of Wichita's largest refuse haulers, Waste Management and Waste Connections, to retrofit and/or replace some of their trucks with EPA/CARB verified diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) with crankcase filters. KDHE and Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) will work with the Board of Public Utilities in the Kansas City Ozone Maintenance Area to retrofit utility trucks with EPA/CARB verified DOCs and with the Government of Johnson County to retrofit county vehicles with DOCs.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) was selected to receive $726,227 to reduce the emissions coming from Missouri Department of Transportation fleets in the St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield Districts through the use of emission control devices, idle reduction equipment, engine upgrades, and early vehicle replacements.

Grace Hill Settlement House, a St. Louis-based nonprofit organization was selected to receive $454,960 to retrofit more than 400 St. Louis city public school buses with crankcase filtration systems (CFS).

Additional funding was granted to each of the states in Region 7 under the State Clean Diesel Grant Program through a population-based formula.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources was selected to receive $196,880 in federal funds that will emphasize reduction of emissions from school buses through Iowa Bus Emission Education Program (BEEP) Funds that will be used to replace an older, higher polluting diesel school bus with hybrid school buses, highlighting this emerging technology.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment was selected to receive $295,320 in federal funds with $196,880 in state matching funds to develop the Kansas Clean Diesel Program grant competition for public and private fleet owners and operators across the state. Eligible projects will include EPA or California Air Resources Board (CARB) verified retrofits, certified engine replacements or repowers, and verified idle reduction technology.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources was selected to receive $295,320 in federal funds and $196,880 in state matching funds to develop a grant program to support diesel emission reduction projects in the state's three largest metropolitan areas (St. Louis, Kansas City, & Springfield).

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality was selected to receive $196,880 federal funds with a goal to retrofit diesel powered vehicles in the Omaha and Lincoln areas, including school buses, and to raise awareness of the need to retrofit more vehicles, reduce diesel engine idling and encourage use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel.

EPA will now work with each of these agencies to develop work plans before agencies can receive their funds.