US EPA funding opportunity |
The Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative has announced a grant program to reduce diesel emissions from our communities. This funding opportunity will cover diesel retrofits, cleaner fuels, vehicle replacement/repower, and idling reduction technologies/ upgrades. Eligible applicants can be non-profits, municipalities, county and state governments, school districts, or metropolitan planning organizations. The deadline is June 12, 2008. Applicants may apply for funds between $100,000 to $750,000. To read about the grant click here. (external link)
Ohio EPA has created a grant program to help districts retrofit with pollution controls and switch to cleaner fuels. Grants are funded through civil penalties collected by the Agency.
Grants are funded from civil penalties Ohio EPA collects from environmental violations. Since the program began, Ohio EPA has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to over 13 school districts that retrofitted more than 293 school buses. Columbus Public Schools, a member of OEC’s coordinated Franklin County Diesel School Bus Working Group, received a grant to retrofit 88 buses with diesel oxidation catalysts. For more details. (external link)
| Diesel Emission
Reduction Act (DERA) |
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OEC has worked with Senator
Voinovich and a diverse stakeholder group in developing
legislation to create a comprehensive national diesel
retrofit program. The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act
of 2005 (DERA) establishes voluntary national and state-level
grant and loan programs to promote the reduction of
diesel emissions.
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The legislation:
- Authorizes $1 billion over 5 years
($200 million annually);
- Provides that 70% of the funds
are distributed by EPA;
- Allocates 20% of funds to states
to develop retrofit programs with an additional 10%
available as an incentive for state’s to match the
federal dollars being provided;
- Establishes priority areas for projects
– such as those that are more cost-effective and
affect the most amount of people – and focuses the
federal program on public fleets; and
- Includes provisions to help develop
new technologies, encourage more action through non-financial
incentives, and require EPA to outreach to stakeholders
and report on the success of the program.
EPA estimates that this billion dollar
program would leverage an additional $500 million leading
to a net benefit of almost $20 billion with a reduction
of about 70,000 tons of particulate matter. This is a 13
to 1 benefit-cost ratio.
DERA was signed into law as part
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Efforts are now underway
to ask the Administration to include the full $200 million/year
appropriation in US EPA’s budget. Take action.
What
you can do to help clean-up dirty diesel engines:
Concerned about the health effects of diesel emissions?
Want your local school district to change their bus idling
policy? Need help figuring out where to start? You
can be part of the solution!
| Ohio Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program |
The Ohio Department of Development has released its Ohio Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program (ODERGP). Diesel fleets can apply for a grant to cover emission control retrofits, anti-idling equipment, replacement of older vehicles and repowering engines. This grant program covers 80% of the cost with a 20% match from the applicant. Click here for more information. (external link)
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