The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering almost $50 million in grant funding to establish clean diesel projects aimed at reducing emissions from the nation’s existing fleet of diesel engines.
The funding, which was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and funded for the first time this fiscal year, will be administered by EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC) and its network of seven collaboratives, made up of EPA regional offices and public and private sector partners.
The funding is aimed at reducing emissions from the existing fleet of 11 million diesel engines that pre-date recent changes to clean-air standards for new diesel vehicles.
State, local, regional and tribal governments can apply for the grants, as well as non-profits and institutions with transportation, educational services and air quality responsibilities.
The grants are targeting school or transit buses, medium and heavy-duty trucks, marine engines, locomotives and nonroad engines. Grant recipients can use a variety of cost-effective emission reduction strategies, such as EPA-verified retrofit and idle-reduction technologies, EPA-certified engine upgrades, vehicle or equipment replacements, cleaner fuels and creation of innovative clean diesel financing programs.
Some EPA Regional offices have already started issuing requests for grant applications, called Requests for Proposals (RFPs), and, along with EPA Headquarters, will continue to roll them out throughout the spring.
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