EPA Announces $1.5 Million in Funding for Four-State Region to Reduce Emissions from Diesel Engines
Lenexa, KS… The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $1.5 million grant funding in EPA Region 7 to implement projects aimed at reducing emissions from the region’s existing fleet of older diesel engines. EPA anticipates awarding approximately $40 million in Diesel Emission Reduction Program (DERA) grant funding nationally to eligible applicants, subject to the availability of funds.
“By
financially supporting projects that upgrade aging diesel engines, EPA is
helping improve their efficiency and reduce air pollution throughout the
nation,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “From our grant programs to our new
Cleaner Trucks Initiative, EPA is taking important steps to help modernize
heavy-duty trucks and provide cleaner, more efficient methods of transportation
that will protect the environment and keep our economy growing.”
Diesel-powered engines move approximately 90 percent of
the nation’s freight tonnage, and today nearly all highway freight trucks,
locomotives, and commercial marine vessels are powered by diesel engines.
EPA is soliciting
applications nationwide for projects that significantly reduce diesel emissions
and exposure, especially from fleets operating at goods movements facilities in
areas designated as having poor air quality. Priority for funding will also be
given to projects that engage and benefit local communities and applicants that
demonstrate their ability to promote and continue efforts to reduce emissions
after the project has ended.
EPA anticipates releasing a separate Tribal Clean Diesel
funding opportunity in late 2019.
In October, during Children’s Health Month, EPA announced the
availability of approximately $9 million in rebates to public school
bus fleet owners to help replace or upgrade older engines. This is
the sixth rebate program to fund cleaner school buses under DERA,
that have supported nearly 25,000 cleaner buses across the country for
America’s school children.
Since the first
year of the DERA program in 2008, EPA has competitively awarded over 530 grants
and 390 rebates across the country. Many of these projects funded cleaner
diesel engines that operate in economically disadvantaged communities whose
residents suffer from higher-than-average instances of asthma, heart and lung
disease.
Eligible
applicants include regional, state, local or tribal agencies, or port
authorities with jurisdiction over transportation or air quality. Nonprofit
organizations may apply if they provide pollution reduction or educational
services to diesel fleet owners or have, as their principal purpose, the
promotion of transportation or air quality. Applicants may apply until
Wednesday, March 6, 2019.
Under this competition, EPA anticipates awarding between
40 and 80 assistance agreements. Applicants must request funding from the EPA
regional office which covers the geographic project location. The maximum
amount of federal funding that may be requested per application varies by
Region.
•Region 1
(Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) will
accept proposals requesting up to $1,000,000 in grant funds.
• Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, U.S.
Virgin Islands) will accept proposals requesting up to $2,500,000 in grant
funds.
• Region 3 (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia) will accept proposals requesting up to
$2,500,000 in grant funds.
• Region 4 (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee) will accept proposals requesting
up to $2,000,000 in grant funds.
• Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio,
Wisconsin) will accept proposals requesting up to $3,000,000 in grant
funds.
• Region 6 (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Texas) will accept proposals requesting up to $2,500,000 in grant funds.
• Region 7 (Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska) will accept proposals requesting up to
$1,500,000 in grant funds. For questions about the regional program,
contact Greg Crable, [email protected] or
913-551-7391.
• Region 8 (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South
Dakota, Utah, Wyoming) will accept proposals requesting up to $2,400,000 in
grant funds.
• Region 9 (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Guam,
American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands) will accept proposals requesting up
to $4,000,000 in grant funds.
• Region 10 (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington) will
accept proposals requesting up to $1,000,000 in grant funds.
For more information and to access the Request for
Applications, visit www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-national-gran....
For more information on the National Clean Diesel campaign, visit www.epa.gov/cleandiesel.