News Releases

News Releases from Region 10

EPA Awards $1.9 Million to Reduce Diesel Emissions in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington

10/27/2015
Contact Information: 
Suzanne Skadowski EPA Public Affairs (skadowski.suzanne@epa.gov)
206-553-2160

(Seattle - October 27, 2015) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $1,919,653 in Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) funding to Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to reduce diesel, greenhouse gas and black carbon emissions from large polluting diesel sources, such as trucks and buses.

In the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Regions, the DERA program is administered by EPA's West Coast Collaborative, a clean air partnership which leverages public and private funds to reduce emissions from the most polluting diesel sources in impacted communities. Public and private partners in Alaska, American Samoa, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington received a combined total of $5,435,116 in 2015 DERA funds to retrofit and replace old, polluting diesel vehicles and equipment, including school buses, trucks, and generators.

The 2015 DERA grants are funding the following projects in the Pacific Northwest:

Alaska
  • Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation received $248,212 to replace five diesel generators in four rural communities: Clark's Point, Golovin, Hughes, and Perryville.
Idaho
  • Idaho Department of Environmental Quality received $118,286 to retrofit 23 school buses with anti-idling and emissions control technology.
Oregon
  • Oregon Department of Environmental Quality received $192,762 to replace seven older school buses.
  • Metropolitan Contractor Improvement Partnership received $548,326 to retrofit 12 vehicles and non-road equipment and replace six heavy duty trucks operating in Portland, Oregon.
Washington
  • Washington Department of Ecology received $212,067 to retrofit 76 school buses with anti-idling technology.
  • Puget Sound Clean Air Agency received $600,000 to replace 51 dieselpowered airport ground support equipment with all electric replacements at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
This funding is part of EPA's DERA fiscal year 2015 allocation which include engine replacements, repowers, idle reduction and retrofit technologies to clean up a variety of older diesel engines. EPA's standards make newly manufactured diesel engines more than 90 percent cleaner, but many older diesel vehicles and equipment remain in operation and emit large amounts of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. These pollutants are linked to health problems, including asthma, lung damage, and other serious health problems.

Since 2008, the DERA program has awarded more than 700 grants across the country in 600 communities. These projects have reduced emissions from more than 60,000 engines.

Today's selected projects fund cleaner diesel engines that operate near economically disadvantaged communities whose residents may suffer from higher-than-average instances of asthma, heart, and lung disease.

Reducing particulate matter emissions also reduces black carbon, which influences climate by directly absorbing light, reducing the reflectivity ("albedo") of snow and ice through deposition, and interacting with clouds.

Learn more about this year's West Coast Collaborative DERA projects: http://www.westcoastcollaborative.org

Find more information about EPA's National Clean Diesel campaign and the awarded DERA projects nationally at: http://www2.epa.gov/cleandiesel