Grants Available Up To $2.5 Million To Reduce Diesel Engine Emissions Using Clean, Propane Autogas
“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.”
“In EPA Region 6, DERA funding has helped schools, municipalities, and even airports contribute to improving air quality,” said regional administrator Anne Idsal. “We encourage a wide variety of applicants to take advantage of this opportunity to upgrade their fleets and be part of cleaner, healthier communities.” EPA’s Region 6 encompasses the five south-central U.S. states named above.
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 that covers their geographic project location. The maximum amount of federal funding that may be requested varies by region:
For Region 1, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, proposals will be accepted requesting up to $1 million in grants; Region 2, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, proposals requesting up to $2.5 mil- lion in funds are sought; Region 3, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, $2.5 million; Region 4, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, $2 million.
Region 5, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, $3 million; Region 6, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, $2.5 mil- lion. Region 7, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, $1.5 million; Region 8, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, $2.4 million; Region 9, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands, $4 mil- lion; and Region 10, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washing- ton, $1 million.
Diesel-powered engines move about 90% 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-movement 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 to 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 about $9 million in rebates to public school bus fleet owners and operators to help replace or upgrade older engines. This was the sixth rebate program to fund cleaner school buses under DERA. The rebates have sup- ported nearly 25,000 cleaner buses across the country.
Since the first year of the DERA program in 2008, EPA has competitively awarded more than 530 grants and 390 rebates across the nation. Many of the projects funded cleaner diesel engines that operate in economically disadvantaged communities whose residents suffer from higher-than-average instances of asthma and heart and lung disease.
(SOURCE: The Weekly Propane Newsletter, January 14, 2019)
For additional information and to access the Request for Applications, visit epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-national-grants. For more information regarding the National Clean Diesel campaign, visit epa.gov/ cleandiesel.
OUR DIGITAL PARTNERS