EPA awards funding to cut diesel emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $3.6 million in funding for initiatives aimed at reducing emissions from diesel engines in equipment such as school buses, trucks, agricultural machinery and generators. The funding comes under the terms of the federal Diesel Emissions Reduction Act and applies to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, where the operation of the act is administered by EPA’s West Coast Collaborative, a clean air partnership between the agency’s Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest regions.

The newly funded projects target the use of diesel engines in economically disadvantaged communities with higher-than-average levels of asthma, heart disease and lung disease. The projects involve the replacement of old, polluting engines, or the installation of idle reduction and retrofit technologies to these engines.

In Alaska, as part of the new funding, the EPA has awarded $286,241 to the Alaska Energy Authority for the replacement of old diesel engines by modern engines in power generation systems. The state will provide $310,094 in matching funds, EPA says.

“By promoting clean diesel technologies, we can improve air quality to protect community health and support green jobs,” said Dennis McLerran, regional administrator for EPA's Pacific Northwest office. “Public-private partnerships like the West Coast Collaborative are leading the way to reduce harmful diesel emissions and support local economic development.”

- ALAN BAILEY